The "new" HD is appauling.
I get flawed in some spars and cannot hit anyone in CTF.
It is an absolute joke and I hope it gets removed as soon as possible. This is not a HD, it is a mockery of Classic and everything about the server.
The HD is supposed to be the most important part of Classic; since that is what you predominantly do on the server: Spar, PK, and events. Clearly this is not the case as it is not taking into account the majority feeling of the change, (90% are not happy with the new HD. Click source:
HERE )
If pretty much everyone (excluding who made it) hates the HD, then they won't play the server. Simple. That explains why Classic's playercount has decreased all of a sudden, and won't get back up until this HD is sorted out because without the HD the server is virtually unplayable.
I agree with Xaphan's post entirely. Along with Xaphan (although a bit earlier) I started Graal/Classic 4-5 years ago, and I've seen the changes it's gone through, and I've seen the failures that have come and gone, but Storm has been the center of it all and has focussed on his "life" more than Classic, his care factor wasn't there or else he would've left his position long ago - someone else which was more active would have taken his spot and fixed things, made better decisions, hired people who aren't idiots and make Classic go in the right direction.
Over the past 5 years I've seen virtually no change in Classic, there have been no quests or anything major. It's always been tiny minor releases which have made the players angry, frustrated and made them realise that over the past half-decade there has been nothing major added. So what have they been doing all this time?! created a crappy unplayable HD, that's what.
The problem with Classic is that it's stuck between it being unable to go back in time and be the same as the successful Graal2001 version it was back in the day but also not with the current times. It's stuck inbetween those two eras and failing at being either one.