Abaddan

I wouldn't waste my breath. Cloak just likes to argue on these forums. Doesn't matter what it's about or even if it's the same topic.

This is probably why I dislike it when people skip mechanics as it robs me of the full battle experience

Go solo it all then. Full battle experience right there, literally 100%.

Basically all bosses are braindead even for solos. You get good enough at redeemers they become semi brain dead too. I have more fun smacking them then I do watching them float around though. I'd be more than fine getting rid of all cut scenes. Only hinders my chars already RNG dps. Once you run the new raids like 5 times they're more or less braindead already, don't put me to sleep with the same cut scene over and over.

I know for me personally as well as others they're forcing players to decide between running raids or running Onslaught. You either can choose to play OS for roughly 18+hours a month and raids here and there if you have the time or forget about OS titles and steel etc. Then by the time you're done running OS since it's such a "fun" thing to play for that amount of time every month you feel burned out and don't want to play vindi anymore. So there's that making it feel more dead than it is.
There's always been an issue with vindictus of not fast enough updates especially for this game type. Compare it to say MHW which has released an absolute unit of updates compared to vindictus in the same time span. The game is also not very newcomer friendly, and if you don't start the game out by playing with a group of friends it's not exactly fun for new members.
Remove:
OS titles from rewards.
Counterforce - this is just bullshit for new players all around considering how expensive it is just so you can run QB raids and do anytype of dmg in a new raid.
QB requirements. - Yet another handicap for any new players who need the drops more than the people that can run the QBs.
Add/Return:
8 man parties.
Community events that aren't trash. A soap event isn't anything great to boast about, games in this genre run regular events or community things for limited items, free things that aren't necessarily anything great or game breaking but add an aspect of care or thought to the players making them want to keep returning.
Character balancing and bug fixes. - Been asking for the latter for 8 years, not holding my breath to see it.
Optimization. This has needed addressed for 8 years as well.
Sad part is this games combat system is regularly talked as one of the best for this type of game and it really is IMO. Even to MHW this combat system I find more enjoyable. It's always had that going for it along with great potential, but honestly not listening to community feedback for so long has taken a big toll on the game. Adding things into the game that no one wants and then leaving or not changing things people bring up constantly for months and years drives players away. It's hard to keep a community happy and returning when you ignore and show no real effort to make them want to return. You don't have players, you don't have a game.
I'll give them credit at least since the new management came in it has gotten a sliver better, but it's still a far cry from where I'd consider a reasonable level. New players join but don't stay around for many of the reasons I've listed and the only players that really keep returning consistently are the ones that have been playing this game for years. If there were real attempts to listen to the community and interact with them and work with them, like they should, on their thoughts to improve the game, that would bring a lot of people in consistently. I've been on this game since basically 2010. These issues have slowly crept more and more into the game as time passed on and improvements to other games etc came around and Vindi kinda stalled. Not listening to the community drove it further down until where it's at today. Game will never thrive or at least have a chance to until they actually listen to the feedback that they say they do in every ticket I've ever sent in. BTW I've never had a ticket actually answered, I asked a question about OS to 3 different GMs and not one of them could give me an answer, just said to keep an eye on the forums and give feedback because they check that, I've never seem them listen to any of it but hey, I guess they treat it like spam, you see it while you delete it but that's about it. Wasn't a hard question either was just about the rewards, something any GM should be able to answer in a literal Yes or No and that be it. The game has always had a dedicated small player base that's never really left. Eventually some do and since the issues I've stated exist, you can't get new players to replace them.

The biggest issue killing this game is and has always been ignoring the community,time and time and time and time again.
Just my opinions from my 8 years playing this game consistently as well as others I've talked with saying the same things.

Edit: Typos

PVP in this game has honestly sucked since Kai release basically. It wasn't awful then but it made it worse. Then Hurk came out and it progressively has fallen since then. Boss Brawl was a way more fun version of OS, OS is honestly really terrible, but is still better than Free Match or any of the other modes now, so that should tell you something. I used to play Free Match all the time back in the day, I haven't touched it in years now, and probably never will again. If it wasn't for rewards from OS I'd never run that either because it also sucks. They can't fix issues with normal game play and raids, I'm not sure what makes them think they can handle a PVP mode of any kind before they can address balance issues in normal play as well as bugs and issues that have been out for years that heavily affect characters play.

Idk why they don't just make all the battles have the benefit, even from the board or in a premade party. The truth is though if you're hosting you get to decide what you want to do with your party. If you want to go you can if not tough for everyone else. They don't decide whether or not you press the depart button so it doesn't really matter how people feel about the subject, it's not going to change anything unless DevCat changes it to add the buff across the board. I don't see anything wrong with wanting to get a buff and enjoy playing a game with your friends since after all, that is the point of the game. This comes from someone who doesn't run much of anything with guild mates besides redeemers since I run things at weird hours everyone usually has them done or aren't on etc. It doesn't happen often but if I do join a guild run I just leave and host it or find another run, runs are usually always popping up every few minutes.

I'm sure Verdius is a fine person I don't really personally know them, but I will say just about all the times I've seen him play he's not that great, He's not bad but I would not put them in my top list of lanns that play/played. If we talk about people who used to play they drop a lot further on the list. He gets away with more because of the gear, which is true of anyone with better gear, but the people with good gear and good skills are the ones who you can truly tell shine. That's just not Verdius for me. Everytime he's told us he's soloed these raids, he come and be one of the first to die if not eventually die twice. Every time I've been in a raid with him his sole goal is to try and top dps. I remember a Dullahan I was hosting and he wouldn't bomb and instead continue to dps as well as continue dps and never try to lead the soul away. Eventually I told him something like "Dude you're not going to beat me in DPS can we just ****ing get the raid done?" and sure enough, he didn't beat me, he just made the raid take an additional 5-8 minutes. Since that day I've never been a huge fan of them, but I respect ones accomplishments. Credit where credit is due tho, I will tell you he did apologize to me after the raid, and I'm sure he did solo Neam/Balor, as the both are not that hard with practice to accomplish especially with the gear he has. Honestly surviving in a party is harder with some of the people that spin the bosses like a top, you better have some quick af reactions otherwise you get hit or die. A solo is a solo tho no matter how long it took or the gear they had and not everyone can do it. I've soloed Neam and tried Balor only a couple times and did well/got pretty far into the raid. That desire to solo things for me is not what it once was. I don't post proof as I don't care/have to prove anything to anybody. I did mine for the pure fun and to see if I could, plus that's how I learn the bosses anyway. LeXicO, who in my eyes is probably the best spear lann on this server, always start off the new raids with duoing, as for us it's easier to learn them that way. As for DPS there are simply characters you can not beat if they have equal the gear you do, even if they aren't as good.Certain raids also cater to chars better than others. The game isn't perfectly balanced and never will be. I played Cestus when they were the straight bottom of the dps ladder a long time ago. I didn't care, I love cestus pure and simple. Do I get a kick out of beating ppl that definitely should be doing more dmg than me? Hell yes. Even if Cestus went back to being the lowest on the totem pole I'd still play it until this game dies. Stop worrying so much about the damn damage and just enjoy the fight ffs.