Originally everyone was using purple potions. This was the first age if I remember correctly. At the beginning of the second age mage classes were divided into necromancer, invoker, and arcane/shapeshifter. This is when the rod system initially went into place. At that time there was no sleek system, but there were three different kinds of wands. A few years later it was changed so that each character had a set of wands that were always available. This wasn't a widely known fact for years. Most people during those years complained about the fact that it was readily available.

What are people missing about today's cf compared to then? Today warriors get hp bonus, legacies, and better spec skills. The amount of damage reduction gained from wands has been reduced. Saves are much easier to gain from gear. Mage spells and affects have been toned down numerous times. If you have two equally skilled players with two very nice sets, the warrior will beat the mage almost every time. Exceptions of course being the lucky sleep necromancer or anti-paladin.

Mage classes have become much better to play in the lowbie-mid ranks. This is a HUGE improvement over the old system. Just didn't want you all to think I didn't notice.

I didn’t start the post to complain or whine about wanting the old system back. The intent of the post was to discuss whether or not we have the best system. My personal feeling is no, however I used to play a lot of mage classes. My experience with warriors is very limited, so my perspective could be skewed. That was the intent of the post