I agree with most of the sentiment here.
The combination of the unoffical and unfortunate announcement of the shards intent, the indication that it is not permanent, the glass swords, and the amount of time necessary to get beyond basics is most certainly off putting to many.
I will echo longshanks post that all of that still did not prevent me from playing.
The most derailing aspect to me remaining and being active for the duration has been having my vendors deleted, twice (?dev or bug?).
Other unfortunate circumstance, including my trammelized ignorance on Spellweaving availability and my lack on knowledge on Champion Spawn locations also had a contributing factor.
The Siege Comparisons have further been a distraction and an unfortunate aspect in my eyes.
I can only hope that future testing can still occur, and it can happen with enthusiasm of enjoying the shard for what it could be - a ?dev test center?
I will definitely log some more time up until it is taken down.
I would certainly enjoy far more testing and any shard or modification attempt to try things out.
many of you don't like it - i can understand that, but i have enjoyed it.