"This is due to bad game knowledge AND SERVER DESIGN. To make all classes playable first of all you need retail buff. Without that nobody cares for anything other than archer and maybe mage. Epic jewels must be checked. Some (even low) servers make them OVERwork to an extent that an archer can kill ANYTHING and die by nothing bcz the item is not proper. And ofc this goes for duel might.. It's not working as intended. Ok usually this happens bcz admins want money.. And what is easier than making money out of stpids wanting to 1-2 shot anything? Sagi making 7-10k to mage same items and to titan at the same time.. Makes 0 sense. Nobody wants to play the support class anymore bcz they can't find parties as all ask for destro to roll to archer or pure mages especially sps/necro REGARDLESS of server RATE.. But having active pp/se/cat/pony makes a lot of difference.. yet the prefer servers with 2-3 boxes to use them purely as a buff and nothing more. Which makes me wonder why bother to go to a x1-x10 if you want to play the archer of a x10000? :/ (and don't tell me he is weak on IL.. He is not by any means.. But you need to know how to move around, how to buff and what you should kill first and actually using the few skills this class has..)
For me the biggest problem of all is this stupid mentality that all buffers should be boxed and that ppl want only 2 working classes.. A summoner on true buffs environment AND class skills AND weapons/armors working is a difficult opponent for any class. Same goes for tyrant or even a SWS or BD on HIGH levels. Heck even warcrier can be a pain if all IL features work and nothing is modified to satisfy crying donators (usually) and cry babies that are accustomed to x10000 balance.
Botting is the least of server problems and the easier to defend a server to IF you use basic guards and most importantly active gms. Toxic players where never the issue as nobody rly cares if someone says "fck your mom" or whatever other flamming crap you can think of.
Another problem is the cp mentality. Cp is not bad by itself. Excluding everything is though. What I see from 99% of cps these days is the following: 1) Need bp/ov, 2)need archer/titan, 3) need bd/sws and rarely 4)need sps. Why? Bcz all play 2 pt formations and box the rest. When was the last time a tank, se, pp, summoner was able to EASILY find a pt to go to?.. Heck even sph is thrown to the wolves along with basic fighting classes. The usual argument is that they are not as efficient but it's not true. By allowing boxes you just steal more active spots. Say you have no boxes, can you really make a pure destro pt to farm? No. Why? You need to many slots for buffs. Would you make a pure sps pt to farm? No.. Toooo many spots for buffs and you need atleast 2 EE.. This happens bcz of bad server design to ease the players that have no time. The problem though is this.. IF you have no time why join a x1-x10? and secondly why care so much to be the top of the top? can you compete whoever is playing 10+hours? No. And neither you should. As it doesn't happen in real life a well.. You go to the gym 1 hour per week vs going to the gym 3 hours per day 5 days out of 7. You can't built the same body even with steroids. You won't have the power. So why in l2 you demand the same progress and strength by playing 3hours per day 3-4 time a week vs players that play 10hours per day 5 times a week? And then the bots start.. The dona starts.. premium buffs start, buffers, pots, scrolls in shop, quests in shop, etc.. But the admin does nothing.. And the server goes down in flames..
It's a 3 sided issue. And the 3rd is paid players (either from clans or a gm). It's not bad on its own. It always existed and still exists. The problem is that even though the get money they get greedier and greedier and they either play 2-3 weeks and cash out and move to next or simply quit to not lose their name and keep getting hired. BUT money should be the secondary. Even if you get 2k from jewel it's your side money. But to get them again you need a second win. Not just jump around like a clown. You need time to form competition if you are not already a ready made cp. You don't get that time anymore. Server is dead long before you are ready. And the crazy thing is ppl will buy the jewel or the ++ weap for a server that died.. Call it human stupidity.
And another huge issue is admin interfering.. A good way to solve the cp problem would be to "break" their mentality. If you are so stupid as to share password LET them get robbed. Don't butt in bcz they cry to give the item back.. If a member breaks pt to get the epic and manages to do it LET it. It takes skill and it's allowed. Stop whipping their tears and let them get fooled as they should. It was MEANT to be played this way.
IL or L2 is not dead.. And no updates to newer chronicles is not the solution imo. Some simply don't like h5+. if you allow the server to be fully alive without butting in and have the correct server features endgame is not 2 days. am+10 is not 2 weeks.. etc etc etc.. It takes a lot more to be completely full in 1 class to get sooooo bored to leave. Imagine wanting to play more than 1 class (subclass).. It will take a looooooong time with a lot of pvp in between. But to make this happen you need to attract the RIGHT kind of player, or atleast change the way of the old.. Which is not easy. And hence servers fail after 1 hero, castles, epics, etc..