I agree, if you uncap the stats, it will go a LONG way towards keeping the old-timers around. Once you get to the end of that long journey of maxing your two primary stats...you don't have much left to play for personally unless you are devoted to your guild and do all the guild related activities or you care about maxing constitution. And maxing con is only beneficial if you like to do the Mines or Hells...people still rip through me in Mystic Wars with max con.
If there is that much concern about "balancing" the game because of stats, then do this...Add one more ZERO to the hitpoint totals of every boss in the game, and uncap the stats. I'm game for it. People will really have to work for fame, bosses won't get steamrolled as much, you will actually need TEAMWORK if you want things done efficiently.
Let me show how everyone wins with the above scenario:
1) No way are the "heavy hitters" going to be able to just sit there and solo bosses after bosses for fame. Teamwork will be needed. The strongest hitters will fall asleep at their monitor having to raise a statue with just 2-3 people online. One Lolith taking ten times as long to kill? Oh yeah!
2) Game will become challenging. Yes of course, there will be a bunch of people crying about it, but do you want the game to be run by 2-3 Super Heroes per guild or do you want the guild to WORK together to accomplish stuff? More people working together means more people PLAYING the game. More people playing means more playtime and more GEMS spent. When gems run out, devs will hear the sound of $$$ in the distance. The high playtime people will either be playing to continue building their stats or because they are up for the challenge. Now with boss hp ramped up all across the board, you may actually see not the "usual people" with the same statue up each and every time.
3) With stat caps unlocked and boss hp increased all across the board, now the devs don't HAVE to feel the pressure of churning out an update every six months. Yes, I am personally greedy and love/obsess with this game (I swear it is an addiction that has consumed my soul) and I would sign up for an update every 4 months if it were me...but with stat caps unlocked, now EVERYONE that has two stats maxed has something to keep playing for and to tide them over for months. I personally wouldn't say a peep for at least a year with no updates if I had something to personally keep me going, like improving my stats. Why? Cause everyone wants to keep getting stronger. Being stronger means you can show off to your guild and friends, provide better, be in higher demand if you are thinking of changing guilds. You won't hear any talk about how the game is boring and there is no challenge left.
I'd love to hear a dev response on this. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved.