All these keyboard warriors pretending like they are or played against the best players ever 8-9 years ago. Totaly different game now, skills that would define you in the past aren’t necessary anymore now, and vice versa. So many things we used to have to do manually or with tedious setups like bookmark farming, t-train, etc etc are now either built into the game or scripted. Some of the scripts available to us today would make an oldschool player who never used any scripts before look like a first time player. Stats from 10 years ago don’t matter.
Needless to say the statement “I played against the best players ever on W13 that’s the only reason I got rimmed” is bullshit. You got rimmed before and they weren’t the best who ever graced the game. There are other servers, people who played worlds you didn’t. You need to get that stick out of your arse and learn to respect everyone you don’t know, cause until you know how good they are, anyone can be better than you. Now you just sound like you like jacking off to your own selfies before bedtime. Get over yourself.
I think I largely agree, speaking as someone who hasn't played in a good ten years and was a top 20 player on a number pre-w30 and early worlds, and led multiple top tribes, here are my two cents. Having started this game in beta (pre-w1) I think I have a decent perspective. I also am still in the top 5 posters of this forum so must have discussed this game a fair bit!
Firstly, while it's true methods like bookmark farming and t trains are no longer relevant now, these were widely used by several hundred players on any server. They didn't make you a top player.
What made players top players was tribal cooperation, strategy, and simple know-how over startup and growth techniques. It was a much more strategic, calculated and tribal game. How many know now that with each level of mine increases the cost by 26% but resources by only 16%, then offsetting that factor against the 2:1 ratio of iron on the market? Or the considerable judgement it took when deciding between a early axe/spear, LC rush or mines strategy, depending on the barb/active ratio, inactive/active ratio, competition and tribal composition in your immediate area. Does it even matter anymore?
There were no quests, no accumulated flag bonuses, paladin bonuses, pp purchases, events or inventory. There wasn't a few thousand players as we talk of now but tens of thousands, with no PP farming accounts, no growing barbs or bonus vills (till a bit later) and a lot less people restarting. There was therefore a lot more aggressive farming of active players and less so barbarians which tended to be less in number and have very low level mines (so FA may not have been quite so useful...). There was also far less elitism, players were ok with multiple 150 player tribes and family tribes on top of it. You could be a very good player, taken out by the masses at a time when there was no fake limits and a lot less individualism. Coplayers were also therefore far less prevalent, as there was a much increased focus on the tribe rather than player. It took a hell of a lot of communication, skill and activity to get ahead. Even the gaps between players were much lower due to lack of purchases. Diplomacy and tribal dynamics were therefore much more important, part of the reason why the forums were so active.
Premium purchases have now completely removed the skill of the early game. There is now much less competition, while the game has increasingly become about multiple coplayers and how much PP you can cram into your account to farm you into the mid game. There was also no account manager so players would not mass noble barbs then rely on it to build it up for them. Nobling barbs was actually a terrible strategy, now it's a very good one (even if a bit dull). The gaps between players were also considerably less back then, while there were considerably more players, the game was therefore much more difficult. It truly was much more 'tribal wars' than it is now.
There is also a fundamental level of bias in this thread given this discussion is between players playing now. There also seems to be no recognition here that there is a level of plateauing in regards to skill and know-how in this game, making activity and now also PP a much more deciding factor once you are comparing the top 100 or so. Good players love the hero myth, but that doesn't make it any less a myth. There is declining returns to knowledge and experience in this game, something that is irrefutable.
So why do I largely agree? Well the premise of his statement is clearly bullshit, shit players survive and good players get rimmed all the time, now and then. Secondly, I agree it's now a completely different game. I would believe it is fundamentally flawed by PP, but even if it weren't, scripts and activity requirement has vastly increased. However, to say there is more skill now is quite clearly bullshit also. There may have been different mechanical requirements, but the requirement for strategic skill and tribal cooperation was considerably higher back then. Not to be overly negative, but it is no longer quite the strategy game it used to be. I am enjoying my return, but this game is and will remain, a shadow of its former self.