The history of thief.
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The Thief’s problems run deeper than even a summary of changes over years can show (despite most of those changes being nerfs). In my opinion, the far bigger issue is how the profession has been left behind.
From a development standpoint, there doesn’t appear to be any meaningful sense of passion for the Thief profession. Over time, this leads to less communication and hands-on attention, which naturally leads to receiving less of the changes (and subsequent power creep) that other professions have over time.
This lack of developer engagement also leads to the Thief being left out of game-wide systems changes, like when all remaining range-increasing traits were removed (and largely integrated as baseline range increases) over the series of a few patches… for every profession but Thief. Then, after months of asking for a response on Ankle Shots, it was quietly “bugfixed” (AKA hastily nerfed to give no range increase, as changing the base Pistol range would actually take effort).
The Ankle Shots and Withdraw debacles are very illustrative of just how hard it is to get any traction on even the smallest and most practical of requests. While Thief is not the only profession to suffer from this lack of attention over time, it is the worst off for it.
For a good comparison, look no further than Ranger, which was often neglected for months or years at a time itself. And yet, thanks to Irenio, it has received some baseline improvements over the last few months that are meaningful, even for those who DON’T purchase the expansion. All it took was a little love and attention! I think I may be sensing a moral of the story… 
(edited by Amante.8109)
Shawtell, Zen Verani, Rayshia Howen, Iyado, Colace Nzoir, Arteel Fyrien [Teef]
(edited by gamerfcapuno.1670)
[MAD] Malicious And Dangerous-Maguma
Worst Thief in the world, yes I am.