Originally Posted by
Daulnay
My daughter used to play Istaria passionately. She levelled her dragon, Malaquion, to adult and built a lair. But we were unable to afford to maintain the sub for a while, and all the work she put in on her lair disappeared, and with it went her enthusiasm for Istaria. Sometimes people just cannot afford to maintain a sub, and destroying their home just ensures that they don't come back when finances improve. That model has driven me permanently away from three other MMOs (AC1, DAOC, and LotRO) as well.
4) Give players a way to 'mothball' their plots, for a small fee or micro-subscription, so that they can come back without having lost much of their work. [Edit: An alternative is to designate some of the unwanted out-of-the-way plots to have a very long time before the home is forfeit. Sort of like a vacation home, that's only lived in a month out of the year.]
The old-school style of games (hard, challenging, with a real feel of accomplishment) has come back into style. So has retro gaming. Istaria is one of the few old-school MMOs left, so there's a real opportunity to draw people in right now.