I felt like this was a well thought out post and worth answering:

Keep in mind that times have changed and the availability of time (for almost anyone that calls themselves a vet) is much more limited. Some of us are in business or have families. This means time is either money or takes away from another valued aspect of our lives.

You're right about the past. However, contemplate the newness of the past CF. There were a lot of things people could relate to (particularly non-original CF material). The areas of the game were literally crafted from books. Creativity among your collegiate peers was very high and we mostly didn't care whether it was RP or it wasn't. Keep in mind though, RP was highly rewarded back in those days.

There was a very obvious transition. Those that became Immortals were typically the ones that had superior RP. These personas ended up being the ones that Administrated the game and basically gave the game this unspoken vision which leads us to where we are now.

I'll be honest: I'm still not quite sure how to categorize the 'New CF. I was gone for nearly 5 years and it changed drastically. Immortals and players alike seem to alienate the "douchebags." There are still the same vocal people who abuse the game, it's mechanics and attemp to find loopholes in the rules. Unfortunately, I see the players siding with them quite often. I do see more Immortal interaction on the forums but I feel this has a lot to do with posting while not gaming. Both parties are still a little more jaded but what really, really stands out to me is this sense of entitlement the playerbase feels it has earned.

Bonus XP for rules, immxp for RP, empowerment, lack of global quests or of perks for doing certain things really has become a hot topic on multiple forums. I still can't discern if it's the lack of attention or the fact that players feel that this gives them a distinct "edge" over other players.

Remember - none of this was prelevant in the old CF. Maybe we players who have been given the rights to Administrate the game have fostered this environment by pushing XP for RP heavily. In either way, there are now a lot more unwrittens that even today I'm catching up on.

I think our biggest detriment is comparing the game to the past. In both rules and roleplay. It's really nowhere near what it once was. In some ways that's great - in others it's easily a downfall.

Anyhow, good to see you around. Hope to see you return.