Currently at 775K (No Skysong buff) as a Felkin Hydran. Goal is 1,000,000+ HP as a Hydran.

Still working on getting max HP% from fategear and Mystic Tome HP stats. Soulcard set still in the works.

We're working on diagnosing the root cause. It's a lower level memory compaction process that is causing the lag. We keep fixing potential causes but so far none have fully resolved it. We're continuing to collect more info and monitor the situation.

I can certainly think of reasons why there should be balance in games if possible, e.g. so PvP is more interesting and there's a greater diversity in characters.

Diversity comes from inequality and uniqueness. If every character is made to be equal, the diversity vanishes. Each person is different and has a different thing to offer, isn't it? That's what makes each of us special, not weak. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Do you have an argument for why things should remain imbalanced (if they truly are) other than "this is the way it is" or "this is what the real world is like"?

I think the game is balanced as it is. The makers have introduced patches to expand the game over many years as the Zhu xian novel has progressed. If MD wants to restructure the game, you surely can but having witnessed new patches since the introduction of Athans, this outrage of newer factions being OP has somewhat lost its novelty. The patches have brought changes to every character. and, as pointed out by another user, OP is nothing but good gameplay. Any character can be OP.

There's also no magic in the real world but that doesn't mean we should remove mages from MD, right?

It's not just Mages. Every character is magical here. Harry Potter universe is magical, Middle-Earth from The Lord of The Rings is magical, Alagaesia from Eragon is magical, Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is magical, Westeros from Game of Thrones is magical...every fantasy work is magical but the philosophy that fuels these universes is not magic, it is plain and simple human. Truth, Lies, Good, Evil, Cruelty, Kindness, these are the same in the real world as it is in fiction, and where do you find equality? Please don't confuse a fictional element with philosophy. Equality is utopic, it can never be achieved but equivalence is always there. A mage cannot give good dps but can certainly do crowd control.

I didn't wish to offend anyone. I hope this post makes my meaning clear. And, also, One reason I have loved MD is because the characters haven't been interfered with. the game is moderately easy but one needs to put in effort nonetheless. If the characters are nerfed, in my opinion, it spoils the charm of the game.

Can any gm please fix the horrific lag in the server please?

  I think we need to rebalance most classes more! like celan, barely do anything (including most human factions) they have to be tweaked for sure, i mean they havent been changed in 7+ years and game has evolved and we all know we wont be getting official back so why dont we make the game more even for all classes. I think hydrans are needed how they are for instances 100% and in pvp they do die.... its just other factions not just lack dm but debuffs/bleed strength like modos/felk rayans cant kill hydrans because the bleed doesnt do shit. We should if anything buff affinities skills of lesser played characters and feature them in a video/forum post instead of nerfing ONLY 2 classes who can run endgame stuff. I can voice my opinions on dif forums for other classes but this is just my opinion.