Novice,
Your other points are almost laughable but I will concentrate on this:
The vanity of keeping the same character (as huge as that is for some of us, myself included) isn't comparable to dealing with making CB continue to be a viable long term game.
What will make CB a viable long term game? That is what we have tried many times as a community to address. The NCB is borked. We get 1 character every 6-12 months making it to the top ranks. Right now someone is using an obviously very broken item to fight as high as possible to make his run.
We have stated numerous times that the NCB is a huge reason people leave. They do not have the money to make a run at the top since we had to be fair to NWO. They do not have 6 months of uninterrupted play to make a run at the top. People, contrary to reports, do like their older characters. Ones they put a lot of prior time and money into.
And this gem:
For now it'd be nice to hear what you all think could be done to help with what we've got rather than bashing a system that is at the very least functional.
Have you been reading the forums the past 5 years? There have been countless suggestions and threads with respect to making the game better. Very few get enacted.
The NUB/NCB is a huge problem with players. One of the major problems in keeping people and people leaving. Fixing it will go a long way to player retention.
I understand you are a cheerleader for CB now. However, it would be very prudent to actually read and understand what the common people (non-admins) of CB feel about the game and how they think it can me made better.
Best not get into the fact that no real changes of game play consequence have been enacted in years. No new item introduced in years and no changemonth for years.