Manastone spawn stoppage a bug or permanent, intended change?

[Drakkan Dragonsbane-CoB, Prexus]

Dear Brad, Verant, John, anyone :)

Is the stoppage of manastone spawn (1) a bug? (2) an
intentional change? (3) a temporary change? Since Wednesday the 13ths
patch nobody on any server that I have friends on has seen a manastone
drop off the Evil Eye in live side lower Guk. I personally camped the
EE for 24 real-time hours, going through 30+ evil eyes (not including
placeholders) and not one single stone was dropped. Everyone I've
talked to has said for the longest time the ratio is about 1 in 8.
Would somebody address this situation, because manastones at my level
(46) are very necessary. And by stopping the spawn, be it voluntary or
bug you encourage those who've camped and harvested and now allow them
to reap insane rewards and punish those who just never got the chance
to adventure and get the item.
------

On a lighter note, I find it interesting and ironic that every
class in the game but the Druid can use the Ivandyr's hoop dropped off
Lynuga in Innothule. AC 6, +6 Int, +6 Wis. Warriors, shadowknights,
clerics, everyone everywhere can use these except for the Druid.
Cough. I guess Druids can't figure out how to wear an earring? Or more
proof Verant hates Druids :)

On crafted, I have to say good and bad job. 2 Crafted pieces
were made really nice. +5 STR on the Gauntlets and +5 AGI on the
boots. 1 piece was made so-so, the bracers +2 dex (+2 int also but
warriors dont need int). The rest is shall we say....crap? Pauldrons,
2 magic resist? BS Mantle is better, by far. Helm- +5 WIS and +5 CHA??
Yeah, warriors need more mana and a lot more help for their charm
spells. Greaves- +2% resist on 2 attacks, whooppee. I'll take my large
steel kilt any day. More AC and no gay baby blue color. Store bought,
and better too. :p Chest plate? Well if +STA meant anything it'd be
nice, but it only adds extra HPS for 1 level, not all levels back to
you being a level 1 newbie. It's much better to add 5 or 10 STA at
newbie levels then obtain dex, agi, and str items than to try to get
more hit points at high levels by adding STA. Bottom line, crafted
stats stink except the gloves, boots, and wrist bracer. Helm is
totally useless statwise. Exe hood is much better. Most warriors I
know are picking and choosing the pieces since the rest stinks.
Why waste time modifying crafted with stats undesirable to warriors?
How about adding useful stats? Instead of +5 WIS and +5 CHA, add
something that a warrior cares about. Which would be AC, Health,
Strength, Dex, and AGI. Take your choice. Do the same for the other
pieces.

Zone overcrowding- It's got to stop. High level characters
have nowhere to go except Lower Guk or Solusek B. Yea we can chase
griffins around, there are 1 to 3 in 3 or 4 zones. And usually all
dead because of Druids. There's always giants, which don't yeild an
acceptable experience/loot to trouble ratio. Meaning, Giants have huge
amounts of health. For one giant I could kill 2 to 4 greater kobolds
in solusek B and reap better loot, xp, and skill rewards. Why would I
choose a giant as my prey? Giants are preyed upon usually by lowbies
once they reach level 29 and seek vengeance for all the times they got
squished medding on the beach in Oasis, etc. I'm just glad I'm level
46 now, cause in 2 months Solusek B will be so crowded on my server
nobody will be able to get any kills in. Tonight we had 4 newbies
wander into the Kobold King's room and sit down with us because of
overcrowding. Everything was dead and stayed that way, making it SAFE
to be in the dragon Lord Nagafen's domain. This is sickening. New
areas need to be opened so we can move on, and existing areas get
dangerous again. Keep working on that expansion, we're really hoping
you save the day.

Drakkan Dragonsbane
l46 Half Elf (re-roll my ass, EQ Druids) Druid of Prexus
Covenant of Blood

Also L22 Troll warrior, L9 Barbarian shaman, L 14 Dark Elf
Necromancer, L9 halfling Rogue