Tempted to come back...Should I?

[EnixBelmont]

I originally played at launch, and absolutely loved the game - for the first 30 levels, then I realized all I was doing was De ragan runs over and over. I got to the original level cap, then stopped playing for a while. It got very repetitive because everyone grinded the same levels over and over and it took too long to get anywhere.

Then, back during the summer, I tried coming back to try again. The prices were all ridiculously inflated, and it felt like I'd never get anywhere, with the PAs I wanted being 99 PA frags each and leveling still taking forever. I didn't play long before I cancelled again, adn went back to PSOBB.

But now, with the expansion that just came out, theres a lot I want to try. Whips are my favorite weapons like ever(if you can't tell by the Belmont in my name), they have the new timed attacks and all like PSO, and a lot of levels and stuff that make the game more like PSO. With the level cap higher, I would assume the early levels got easier to level during(as well as all the new levels probably being better), and a lot of my issues with the game were fixed with the expansion.

Is the grind still terrible? Is the inflation still bad?(on PS2/PC) Are there a decent amount of low leveled players still playing? Call me lazy for not wanting to work too hard to get places, but I don't want a second life, I want a fun game to play in my free time.

Thanks for any opinions in advance.

[amtalx]

There's a LOT more to do now. I would suggest coming back. Leveling has been adjusted so that it is balanced more towards lower level players. Grinding isn't really an issue anymore.

[EnixBelmont]

On 2007-12-27 06:44, amtalx wrote:
There's a LOT more to do now. I would suggest coming back. Leveling has been adjusted so that it is balanced more towards lower level players. Grinding isn't really an issue anymore.



That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear. How exactly was leveling balanced, anyway? Just wondering. Less experience needed? More experience gained? New missions that give more experience?

I'll probably come back, its only 10$/month anyway.

[scraggy]

I came back and never regretted a minute!

[Krltplps]

I just came back myself, and I'm loving it so far. Lots new to learn, I'd recommend hitting the casino http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Itchee]

I was in the same boat as you....started playing at launch and sorta got tired of grinding back in April and quit. Started playing again bout 2 weeks ago, and imo, i think its a bit better and there are some welcome changes. The expansion is great and alot of the issues i had at launch have more or less been addressed. The search by condition option when looking for items in shops is a godsend...leveling up weapons and synthing isnt quite as soulcrushing as it used to be...and theres some really cool new weapons and areas to check out (the casino is extremely cool....even if youre just hanging out there watching ppl lose all their money. haha). People still have a habit of grinding the same missions over and over (ie. White Beast & Electronic Brain) ...but thankfully....the new expansion missions give much better rewards and experience.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Itchee on 2007-12-27 09:41 ]</font>

[chibiLegolas]

The pace of missions are a lot quicker now with the JA to melee and increased damage to rods if you're a FT. So the grind is more fun in that regard. The rebalancing of elemental % to armor and weapons makes them more useful, even if they're low %. PA's still need work to level up. But each kind levels at different rates. Some are still painful to level. And with enemies dying so quickly, it might be tricky to level certain PA's without soloing. But it's still fun to kill things with friends and comrades in arms. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif
And there's tons of missions out now. Though ppl still migrate to hot spots. But at least when you grind said missions, you'll level in no time. I joined at the end of 1up cup (less than 2 months ago?), and I'm already level 95. lol

[Saner]

ya level grinding is virtually no longer an issue that it's fun building up new characters/races too! I have 3 although one is my main for now. and I might start a 4th later on.

[Flamingo99]

Doing continuous runs is still an issue, and is why I am taking a break from the game. Everyone and their mother is doing Electronic Brain right now. The game does feel a lot more like PSO though. I'd wish they would balance out the Mission Points received by some missions along with balancing out the experience gained by some enemies. Rares are a little more common, but its nothing like PSO.

I've been pleased over all at where they are heading with the game, but there are still some issues that have dissuaded me from playing the game.

I'd say that you give it a shot. If you don't like it now you may like it later on.

[Fure_Rakune]

On 2007-12-27 09:03, Saner wrote:
ya level grinding is virtually no longer an issue that it's fun building up new characters/races too! I have 3 although one is my main for now. and I might start a 4th later on.
http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/burger.gif

Fix'd

[Dragwind]

Just about everything is hella easier now. Come back, see if you like it or not. Fool with every aspect of the game, not just grinding stuff.

[Pengfishh]

Yus!

[AnamanaAU]

You're still going to reach a point where you're bored of what content is out. You'll still be grinding the same one or two missions for MP or EXP. But at least you have variety on other missions.

I'd say, wait until the Festa or Max Attack G to come out.

[Soukosa]

On 2007-12-27 06:44, amtalx wrote:
There's a LOT more to do now.

There is? It's still the same old spamming some mission over and over again in the pursuit to level up your cute character so you can go and hunt for rare cute weapons for them to use, that you'll likely never find. Okay, so there's more areas to do it now... if you want to call them new since over half are just reskinned versions of older areas. Most of those are then filled up with older enemies and badly designed reincarnations of PSO enemies in attempt to pull those that see how much PSU fails to move to it.

[AnamanaAU]

Basically, there's more stage layouts now. If you played around march 2007, you would have already seen every stage "Skin", all thats been released since then is Co-op missions, difficulties and new stage floor layouts. As for AotI content? Sure, there's a handful of new weapons and some more stage reskins, but it's pretty much more of the same. Kind of hard to expect anything else from a game in the PSO universe.

[Krisan]

I'll give you a short and clean summary of it:
The game had a piss poor launch that was ridiculous in any way. shape. or form you could ever possibly define the word of "content." Now though, the game is pretty much complete for all intents and purposes, and very much playable by comparison.

[AnamanaAU]

On 2007-12-28 05:22, Krisan wrote:
I'll give you a short and clean summary of it:
The game had a piss poor launch that was ridiculous in any way. shape. or form you could ever possibly define the word of "content." Now though, the game is pretty much complete for all intents and purposes, and very much playable by comparison.
Playable as in, the system got all the right fixes. It's a lot more lenient towards casual gamers now. However the grind and tedium is still there, it's just much more bareable.

[Krisan]

On 2007-12-28 05:43, JubeiSaotome wrote:
Playable as in, the system got all the right fixes. It's a lot more lenient towards casual gamers now. However the grind and tedium is still there, it's just much more bareable.

This game is suppose to be repetitive, it is the successor to PSO after all.. And we all know how small and repetitive that game was. Didn't make it any less fun though, nor does it make this game any less fun.

But yes, my point was this game had an absolute crap launch that was.. well, laughable at best. Compared to that, this game feels very complete now.

[AnamanaAU]

I'd expect a future successor to PSU & PSO would have the same teething problems transitioning to a new game with new features. That is, if SEGA is still around then.

[Evila]

I had taken a break and returned to PSU too. I don't remember when I began my break, but I came back when the Firebreak event started. 1UP Cup kept me around longer, and some friends that had quit even rejoined to play it and get ready for the expansion. But once the expansion came out, we tore through all the new content really fast... I still like the new stuff, especially the tweaked battle system, casino, and the room decorations. But the updates just spread content out too thin if you're gonna be playing often.

Anyways, for the less dire stuff... Shop prices aren't as crazy thanks to the 'search by condition' feature. People keep trying to undercut eachother to sell stuff faster. EXP and mission rewards have been adjusted too, so levelling and getting meseta isn't such a pain anymore. I saw more mid/low level characters running about too. My level 30 guy got quite a bit of play before I took a break again.

If you feel strongly about it, by all means come back and try again. But if it doesn't work out, then that's just how it is. =P

[Kion]

i strongly agree with evlia. content is too far and inbetween to keep the gameplay fresh. each update it takes a matter of minutes to try the one to three new missions released and check out deco's. after that everyone grinds like crazy to get the best gear which gets outdated with the next update and it begins again.

i've seen lots of people on the 40,000 id range with 500 hours of play have better stuff and more money than low id players with 2,000 hours or more because each update leveling and drops get easier. this game needs a huge content update to allow people to spread all over the place and hunt their individual desired high ranked drops, rather than forcing the entire population into a single mission for a month.

[EnixBelmont]

I've been playing the offline version of AoI, and I like it. I love whips, especially, and the new levels and the new PAs are fun to play around with. I'm only at level 31, though. How does offline leveling compare with the grind online?