These days, it's fairly common for a new MMO to have a Beta Test period before the release of a game. This generally takes place in 2 stages, a Closed Beta and an Open Beta - with Closed Beta being used to find and eliminate bugs, and Open Beta used to stress test the server to make sure they can handle the player base without server crashes and lag. Some games have a second closed Beta Test, this being used to experiment with new ideas and patches and gauge a response from the players. Atlantica is one such game.

The reason I mention this process is that many people are unaware of it, rarely does a game make significant changes in these tests and as a result they usually go by unnoticed. Atlantica chose a different path with their second Closed Beta Test, they chose to add a new gameplay element entirely, one that would later be known as Stamina - the destroyer of worlds.

 The Stamina system in Atlantica works simply, you begin the day with 100 Stamina Points (50 once you reach level 50), and after every battle one point is lost. Once you have consumed your daily stipend of Stamina you will no longer receive experience or loot from battles. At first glance this isn't really a problem, as while following the Main Story you would be hard pressed to spend 100 Stamina in a day, it could happen wouldn't really be an issue. But after playing for a while, you begin to realise just how taxing this new system is, and just how much it changes the game. "How does it change the game?" I hear you asking, well - let's take a look.

Crafting
 Atlantica uses a unique crafting system, in which you are required to fight battles to produce certain Items. To make a sword for example, one might need to fight 3 battles. However, making 16 swords (Which amount to a single +4 Sword when combined) could take over 20 battles - thus using 20 stamina points. I made hundreds of swords in the original closed beta, I spent hours and hours grinding away and leveling my craft, something that I found to be very enjoyable. (OK fine, the grinding wasn't enjoyable but the cash I sold the swords for was!) With the new Stamina system, I could do this for a few hours, but afterward I can no longer play the game and receive my experience and loot.

Monster Lore
One of the amazing features included in Atlantica was the ability to obtain information on monsters by fighting them. This happened in 3 stages, and usually took hours to complete. But for some (fans of 100% completion like myself) this was an enjoyable addition to the game, that added incredible depth and entertainment. Additionally, you are able to share this information with other players, giving the opportunity to help out new guys and friends. Once again, Stamina destroys this system, as with only a 100 battles a day collecting Monster Info falls low in the list of priorities.

Ashen Crystals
Once you have leveled a mercenary to level 20, you are required to spend 50 Ashen Crystals to upgrade them - making them stronger and gaining access to new abilities. As such, it was common to find many players grinding monsters to collect these crystals, so that they could upgrade their characters. Alternatively, you could sell them on the market and fetch a nice profit allowing those with the perseverance to grind a fantastic way to make money. This also is no longer a possibility, as 100 battles can be used up very quickly when farming these crystals.

Player-driven Economy
The economy in Atlantica is completely player-driven, this means that in order to buy or sell anything you must include another play in the process. Materials, Items, Weapons, Armour - everything is bought and sold through the game's market and in many people's opinion, all the better for it. Except now with the Stamina system, players are no longer able to influence this in the way that they could before, the prices of items have skyrocketed as with a limited number of them available they have increased in value. We all know that this ties in nicely with the soon to be implemented 'Cash-Shop', by using real money players will be able to beat the Stamina side-effects and perform better in the game. Yes, Atlantica is a F2P game and the company is required to make their money somehow - but is forcing us to spend money really the right way to do it?

Choice
My final example today is choice, as in it's core it is choice that affects us the most. The main difference between a Single-Player game and an MMO (Aside from the other players) is that in an MMO there is an entire new level of choice. Which way to go, what quests to do, where to explore, who to ally with, and who to kill. All of these choices and many more have become the key factor in why we play MMOs, and the inclusion of the stamina system has robbed us of that choice. We are no longer able to make choices without sacrifice and penalty, and this for many has forced them to stop playing Atlantica entirely.

In response to the cries of the public, the Stamina system was recently revised. Three changes were made to improve the system, they were:

1. If a player has Stamina points remaining, a maximum of 20 Stamina points for players Level 50 and below and a maximum of 10 Stamina points for players Level 51 and above will carry over to the next day at 6 a.m. PDT every day. (Stamina resets every day at 6 a.m. PDT.)

2. A player at Level 50 and above will regenerate 1 Stamina point every 10 minutes that the player is not in battle with monsters.

3. A player can earn 1 Stamina point by responding to a help request, sending a gift to a beginner, and sharing information.This type of point recovery will be limited to 5 times per day per method (total 15 times).

To which the people responded:

1. We have been saying that we will run out of Stamina in a matter of hours, and to help this problem you offer us the ability to carry some of it over? We dont have any left to carry over, that was the problem to begin with!

2. Although not a major addition, this is a step in the right direction... unfortunately it only really helps 5% of the players - the rest of us won't be making it to level 50 with the current system, thus it wont really be helping us.

3. Awesome. By spending hours of time and much of our money, we can at a maximum fight an additional 15 battles per day - that most likely wont cover the cost of obtaning them in gold, and will lose us much of our time. What happened to choice? The fate of our characters are no longer in our hands...

 In the end, it is the lack of choice that effects this situation the most. There are a number of reasons why Stamina should be kept, as I'm sure you have already heard from Tobias (and if you haven't then click the link at the bottom to check them out), but the core of this situation lies with the success of Atlantica, and the people have spoken - remove the Stamina system from Atlantica, or we'll remove Atlantica from our computers.