Why I left PSO. (warning, conflicting opinions might ruin yo

[digigram]

I was going to post this as a rply to the "what other games you play other than PSO thread". Then it seriously evolved into my personal complaint of why I think PSO is a horrible game. Item finding excluded, because almost anyone can get addicted to mindlessly trying to find a rare item.

Well I stopped playing PSO completely and now I ONLY play Anarchy Online. Meaning, my wife, 2 dogs, and profession are priority, and Anarchy Online is the game I play again.

AO was my original love, and still is. I had played it almost since It had come out and haven't played it in 2 years. Recently the creators started offering a free subscription for one year, due to all the paying customers playing in the many expansions that have been made for it. So as to allow newcomers to check out the game for as long as they want, without the epxansions. So I went back. You should check out anarchy online if you have a PC and a decent video card.

anyhow.

PSO was fun for a while until I realized that aside from the gameplay being pretty good-sort of fun, that the game itself is totally horrible. Yes this is my opinion, don't bother arguing it, because i'm not stating it as FACT. You might enjoy this style of redundant gameplay, but i don't.

Battle system = nice is one of the only gameplay elements that I barely find enjoyable (see:challenge mode)
Items = fun and addicting to hunt for (to me the ONLY reason people continue playing it, which is absurd)
Content & Levels = Horrible. why? A lack of it.
character creation and modification = based solely around simple avatar creation of the same characters other people can color differently and aquiring the items everyone else can get and look the same. The stat development of the game is non-existant and requires one to gain the items of the game to change the very small amount of stats you have in the first place to be within a 20-30 PT difference than the same person sitting next to you,with the same armor and weapon, at the same level. (ATP,DFP,ATA,MST,EVP,LCK) thats 6 stats (I am not bothering to add the elemental protections because they are not customizable and apply to what I am saying about getting rare items). No specializations per character, no weapon specializations aside from not being able to use certain weapons with certain classes. No custom stat modifications one can do to a character to make that character unique to you only (perhaps pts attributed to like MECHGUN usage and mastering or anything like that.) It's just 6 stats - That you cannot change without leveling or finding items that add to it for a fixed amount in the end, thats some personalization. Yes, FO's can use LVL 30 techs, that is amazing.

If I can list the levels in less than 10 words, that's rediculous. Sure it's fun for new players, but once you have finished all challenges, all of Ep1 and 2 and done all quests (can be done in one week for most, and takes time to level a character to finish the rest, ie: PW4).

Other than that, it's a lust for items that make NO substantial difference in the story and environment of the game.

Let me correct myself, content is there, but kills braincells due to aging to attain. So in short, the content revolves around gaining rare items that you may not get, and the rest of the game, is there to gain the items. If it weren't for going online and randomly calling people noobs to make yourself feel better or to show off the item you found that can be attained by ANYONE, one cannot dispute that PSO, is a game, where you look for rare items, and thats IT.

To me, the game should be the focus. The story, the character development (aside from heathcliff flowen and red ring rico and what happened to them, wow, thats complex character development), and how you can change the balance of the game due to how you develop your character, should be the focus of any game like this. This is essentially, a collectors game. Somewhat like pokemon.

Not = I have spent 2000 hours playing this game to get a aura field and a double cannon and to level to 200, I can now kill the same things over and over again, just more efficiently.


Of course, I expect to get flamed so bad that i'll have a rash on my eyes. But I don't think I care really. I just wanted to share my experience with PSO and the people that play it.

To sum up. PSO, is a boring, redundant, cyclic, visually bland, not interesting, soul draining, simplistic, fictionally horrid, empty, mind-numbingly addictive game, that doesn't have enough story to make it worth while playing more than a once through with 1 or 2 characters at most.

If you have gone past this limit, like I have. You too, are addicted. seek help.

(this all, after hearing someone on xbox, say that playing PSO had broken up relationships with friends and significant others).

See you guys around. Play PSO. But not too much.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: digigram on 2005-03-24 09:14 ]</font>

[RicoRoyal]

Alrighty, let's get this party started.


Yes this is my opinion, don't bother arguing it, because i'm not stating it as FACT.

Oh... umm... well... zuh?

*does not bother to read anymore*
[Generic post goes here]

See you around, digigram.

[Calx]

1: Dude. You played PSO for over 2000 hours. Someone did something very very right.

2: Dude. You played PSO for over 2000 hours. Look to this for the real reasons as to why you are now a little sick of it.

[Dhylec]

hm.. looks like the last burst of flame before going out..
well, good luck with whatever you are doing & see ya around

[ai_no_usagi]

I totally agree with everything you just said O.O
pso is great, yes, but it's only really so great when you're bored and need a time killer.
something I really can't stand about pso is the almost absolute lack of any story. and aside from that, it's just not challenging enough. I mean, yeah, some of the enemies are hard to beat, but what I mean, is that there's no puzzles to solve, or anything just plain difficult. it's basically a beat em up/collectors game.

[Calx]

In my opinion ST did really well on the story part. They give you just enough to make you keep guessing, thereby keeping the story alive, and at the same time they don't flesh it all out for you with a nice, neat ending and all the answers. That's what a real RPG is for, and if I'd had all the answers after I finished off Olga the first time, I wouldn't have had the same sense of discovery That I've had for such a long time with PSO. I hope they do the same kind of thing for the online part of PSU.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Calx on 2005-03-24 10:39 ]</font>

[BoarDemon]

I don't really agree with everything you just said but whatever...*goes off to raise mags*

[digigram]

1: Dude. You played PSO for over 2000 hours

I never said "I" played for 2000 hours. I said
"Not = I have spent 2000 hours playing this game to get a aura field and a double cannon and to level to 200, I can now kill the same things over and over again, just more efficiently. "

As a generalization of what someone would have to do just to be a clone in the game.

Total character time on all my challenge mode characters and normal characters probably go up into about 500-600 maybe. over 2 1/2 full xbox character blocks.. which is small compared to most of the people I used to play with.

over a year and a half.

I'm not saying no one should play it.. It also isn't a post slamming anyone for playing it, so stop with the fucking disgruntled reply as if I hurt your feelings for liking it.. jesus.



BTW dhylec. how is my post a flame? .. i'm not pointing fingers and i'm definately not putting anyone down by saying PSO is boring. so uh.. huh?


and yes calx, you like the game, you feel intrigued, good for you, i wasn't saying you shouldn't enjoy it.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: digigram on 2005-03-24 11:13 ]</font>

[Solstis]

Well, someone finally made the topic, eh?

I usually tend to not agree with you, digi, but you've pretty much hit my feelings on this game head on.

By this point, any non-new players are playing challenge mode (until they finish it off and get enough S-ranks) or are trying to find some uber-rare to complete their collection/outfit.

Fun? No. Addicting? Yeah, on a basic level.

If it was free, I would still be playing it.

[ABDUR101]

On 2005-03-24 11:09, digigram wrote:
BTW dhylec. how is my post a flame? .. i'm not pointing fingers and i'm definately not putting anyone down by saying PSO is boring. so uh.. huh?


Nah, he meant the last flame within you that burned to play PSO. Like, you're burnt out, need something else now.

I agree though, the game itself, it's simple and not much to it, but when you really get into it, it's a real addiction.

I can remember playing for just ungodly hours and all I was really waiting for was the kill that would land a red box on my screen, everything else was zoned out.

Long since moved on to other games(EVE Online, WoW, tons of other stuff), and it's cool. Can't blame anyone for still enjoying PSO, and I even tried loading up the GC version last week, and easily within 10 minutes I had a headache, like the past years of playing it all slammed into my head and left me like "...wow..thats right, there's nothing more for me here."

Hope you still have fun on the forums here atleast, don't worry about playing PSO or not. Never know what the new release of PSU might bring and all that, but meh, who cares. Have fun.

[HUcastShinobi]

What happened to the good old, reach for lvl 200?

[ABDUR101]

On 2005-03-24 12:01, HUcastShinobi wrote:
What happened to the good old, reach for lvl 200?


That died after the release of DC Vers 2. Reaching 200 isn't a small feat, and it's a huge time sink.

I'd say the mere ambition to reach 200 isn't held by many, it's more so the fact of everyone just playing and having fun until the game is wore thin.

[Calx]

On 2005-03-24 11:09, digigram wrote:
I'm not saying no one should play it.. It also isn't a post slamming anyone for playing it, so stop with the fucking disgruntled reply as if I hurt your feelings for liking it.. jesus.


and yes calx, you like the game, you feel intrigued, good for you, i wasn't saying you shouldn't enjoy it.


Lol, calm down man. I think you're the disgruntled one here. I was merely saying it looks to me like you got your money's worth from the game. Not many games provide 500-600 hours of entertainment before you get sick of them. I've been sick of PSO many times after which I can't stand the sight of it for long periods of time. I just started playing again about a month ago after almost a year away from it. I completely understand how other people would get sick of it too. It's just that with the number of hours of enjoyment most people get from this game before they reach that point, it's clear that ST provided something that's very appealing.

If you want only replies that agree with you on every level, you should have either said so or maybe not have posted on a public message board.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Calx on 2005-03-24 12:36 ]</font>

[Solstis]

I'm sorry Calx, but give me a liter of Cherry Coke, a few munchies, and 2 hours.

In that amount of time, I could have whipped up the plot for PSO and half of the dialogue.

People make fun of Halo 2's ending, right? Notice how the plot twists? How it takes you by surprise? How it is completely involving until the last moment (matter of opinion)?

The "addiction" factor of PSO took a back seat to the storyline.

Ever play Skies of Arcadia? The movement system and the random battles were some of the most infuriating in the RPG universe. Yet, its story made up for that.

PSO makes up what it lacks in plot with the "omg! rare!" factor. Sure, it works, but looking back, I feel duped.

The game requires *you* to make it interesting. *You* provide the background for your character. *You* give the avatar motivation. That is the lure of PSO... you can do with it what you please (storywise). Why? Because it doesn't have one!

[edit]: Cliff Notes: PSO is to RPGs what Olive Garden is to Italian food.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Solstis on 2005-03-24 13:00 ]</font>

[Calx]

On 2005-03-24 12:58, Solstis wrote:
The game requires *you* to make it interesting. *You* provide the background for your character. *You* give the avatar motivation. That is the lure of PSO... you can do with it what you please (storywise). Why? Because it doesn't have one!


Exactly! That's what I commend them for! It does, however, give you just enough framework for you to create your story within. I think it was a great choice. Almost as great as Cherry Coke.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Calx on 2005-03-24 13:11 ]</font>

[Solstis]

On 2005-03-24 13:03, Calx wrote:


On 2005-03-24 12:58, Solstis wrote:
The game requires *you* to make it interesting. *You* provide the background for your character. *You* give the avatar motivation. That is the lure of PSO... you can do with it what you please (storywise). Why? Because it doesn't have one!


Exactly! That's what I commend them for! It does. however, give you just enough framework for you to create your story within. I think it was a great choice. Almost as great as Cherry Coke.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Calx on 2005-03-24 13:04 ]</font>


It's magnificent... for a cop-out.

[Calx]

We'll just have to do the boring thing and agree to disagree on that one, then. There have always been two camps on this subject, anyway.

[Solstis]

On 2005-03-24 13:09, Calx wrote:
We'll just have to do the boring thing and agree to disagree on that one, then. There have always been two camps on this subject, anyway.



Depends on your level of "jaded," I suppose.

[Scejntjynahl]

Some like it, some hate it. Been all said before. Everyone has different tastes and needs. If that was not the case we would all be wearing, eating, watching, playing, and saying the same damned things for the same damned reasons. Its all about what "one" gets out of it anyways.

[KodiaX987]

PSO has a get-up-and-go factor, which isn't present in other RPGs. Other RPGs require you to learn about the mechanics and which skills to use when and all that and don't disconnect in a danger zone and so on and so forth.

PSO doesn't have that. In PSO, the first thing you do is take the porter and go whack a Booma. The shallowness of the game is actually its strength. There's no stress, there's no clans or PvP or someone pressuring you to level up or whatever. Just pop the CD in the drive, load your character, and go kill stuff. It's that near arcade-style gameplay that made PSO a refreshing change from the other RPGs. In PSO, you can save and quit anywhere you want. You can play with anyone you want. Creating a team is easy. You don't need to break your head over which spell to use. You can learn the bulk of the game in less then 2.5 minutes. Fast & easy. And there's nothing else like it - no one so far has made a game that mimics PSO.

As empty as the PSO experience seems to be, it just works. It's the kind of game you play to relax. Get your sword, whack the rappy, easy does it. Keeps your fingers on the go like arcade games, and doesn't give you long periods of passiveness like traditional point-and-click RPGs (RO and Lineage 2 come to mind) or classic RPGs full of animations when all you want is just get the battle done ASAP (FF7, FF8, Evolution and Evolution 2 come to mind.)

[Sayara]

I got to agree with you. The main thing that keeps me going though is people i play with.

Ya know that whole freinds are cool to play with syndrome. If i were Off only, like hell would i keep playing though.

[Mixfortune]

I will have to agree with the point about a game giving hundreds or thousands of hours worth of playtime cannot be as bad as some make it out to be, however I do also agree with a lot of the reasons digi posted.

Myself, I'm more into WoW and such, and pick up PSO for a quick run every once in a while. At the moment there are "bigger and better" games coming out, while PSO has held on to the same things for too long. That may or may not change with PSU, and at the moment that's not really a concern.

How a game that has changed relatively little since it's initial release on DC and still maintained such a hold on this many players did something right. But yes the system does get repetitive, as does any game after it's been mastered and replayed for just as long... PSO is not really any worse for it. I'd love for someone to make a game that gets as much replay as PSO, while not getting boring or repetitive. Quite a feat.

Of course, doesn't help much that it didn't seem to change much since the DC version, at least compared to the "normal" changes on would expect in a newer version. It was revolutionary on the DC, and an above average game come ver.3, but yeah, games get old, and PSO takes it's lovely time doing it.

So to wrap this post up, PSO did something right, Nearly any game will get tiresome if you play it just as long, addictiveness IS a game quality, and have fun wherever you decide to head off to.

And yeah, feel free to continue posting here and such, a good number of PSOW members don't actually play PSO anymore. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[BoarDemon]

On 2005-03-24 11:09, digigram wrote:

I'm not saying no one should play it.. It also isn't a post slamming anyone for playing it, so stop with the fucking disgruntled reply as if I hurt your feelings for liking it.. jesus.

BTW dhylec. how is my post a flame? .. i'm not pointing fingers and i'm definately not putting anyone down by saying PSO is boring. so uh.. huh?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: digigram on 2005-03-24 11:13 ]</font>


Well then why did you put (warning, conflicting opinions might ruin your day) in the topic title if you didn't intend for this to be of any kind of put down? O_o



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: BoarDemon on 2005-03-24 14:40 ]</font>

[Ness]

I left PSO because it got boring.

[digigram]

boar demon.. please understand the terms of context in a review.

People get flamed for disliking something in game magazines that other people find amazing, just for the reason that the person expressed "why" that particular item being reviewed was bad in their opinion.

It's a battle of opinions. I expect people to be infuriated when someone else expresses views or opinions that conflict with their own.

In this matter though, I am not flaming nor am I saying anyone that plays PSO are a bunch of losers. I played the fucking game didn't I, and I enjoyed it for a short period of time until ultimately, I found that their is only a few things promising in it that make it worthwhile, especially on Xbox, (used copies are now like 9.99 at gamestop).

which are
1: Friends to go online and play with, talk smack (with voice chat even more) and talk about shared interests.
2: The gameplay itself, which kodiaX pointed out and I agree with, is very refreshing when it comes to RPG's, that it doesn't take research to figure out how to push A A A A A A in time to kill something, btw kodiac, very contructive reply, I like it http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif....

Which last all but a month or so.

After that, it is the familiarity of the game and the time one has been playing it, that keeps them going and continually finding reasons to continue. One being, finding that first secret gear, or H&S justice. until one is in ultimate, and then it's simply and medically, obsessive. Which is why I thought up this post in first place. Originally I was about to reply stating what games I am playing other than PSO and remembered that I refuse to play it anymore. So I ended up going too far and constructing this experienced and thought out review of sorts, after having been playing the game for a year and a half. Look at my profile, there are my characters, I'd say if I were putting down anyone, i'd be putting down myself for having been sucked in for so long.

The chars in my profile are all that PSO allows me to post in my profile. and those ones aren't even updated.

I have 1 1/4 banks of characters worth (15 characters) that are 120 and above to 150. 2 1/2 character banks total.

almost all except my 2 hucaseals have completed challenge mode.

There are people, in up to their eyeballs, much worse than I have been, and I was 'bad' addicted. Not just addicted. But bad. Mind you, I have a job and a wife, I work from home with my partners in the UK and belgium during the day doing audio work. So I never let the game interfere with my life, but when I wasn't outside, or working, I was playing this game.

anyhow.. I'm glad i'm not being pwn'd by leet teens expressing how much this game is the awesome'est'ier, and thanks soltis for finally agreeing with me for once.

Yeah abdur and dhylec, i'll stick around, I haven't been playing PSO for about 2 months now and I still come back to read rants and who's complaining in cheaters (I used to be one of the complainers, untuil I realized there isn't anything you can do to keep mothers from raising bastard children).

http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[PJ]

To go back to the discussion on the story, I like how there IS a story, but it's made so generalized that you can put your character either into that story, or make your own. That, and the rare hunting (Despite my drought) keep my playing. So, basically, exactly what Solstis said (I think)

Otherwise, the only game I'd be playing is Pokemon. Weirdness.

[BoarDemon]

On 2005-03-24 11:09, digigram wrote:
Total character time on all my challenge mode characters and normal characters probably go up into about 500-600 maybe. over 2 1/2 full xbox character blocks.. which is small compared to most of the people I used to play with.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: digigram on 2005-03-24 11:13 ]</font>





On 2005-03-24 15:48, digigram wrote:

I have 1 1/4 banks of characters worth (15 characters) that are 120 and above to 150. 2 1/2 character banks total.

almost all except my 2 hucaseals have completed challenge mode.


How did you do all of that in that amount of time?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: BoarDemon on 2005-03-24 18:45 ]</font>

[Omega_Nova]

Without a doubt PSO requires you to make up a story for your character, I don't play it as much anymore but I remeber a time when I actually re-enacted Phantasy Star 4 in Ult. hehe

[KodiaX987]

Well!... Own story, own story - the story's as good as the guy is. How many of us have written fics where our PSO character happens to be Tyrell's man of confidence who defeats all the enemies and gets the girlfriend and all the honors and whatnot after battling some randomly obscure enemy (most often a brother who wanted a little love) and dealing with his own inner demons?...

Yeah, that's right. A shitload of us.

A MMORPG, by definition, doesn't have that much of a backstory, so of course you can make up your own for your character in particular... Though honestly, most often it doesn't amount to much. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gifiaspprove:

[BoarDemon]

On 2005-03-24 20:16, KodiaX987 wrote:
Well!... Own story, own story - the story's as good as the guy is. How many of us have written fics where our PSO character happens to be Tyrell's man of confidence who defeats all the enemies and gets the girlfriend and all the honors and whatnot after battling some randomly obscure enemy (most often a brother who wanted a little love) and dealing with his own inner demons?...

Yeah, that's right. A shitload of us.

A MMORPG, by definition, doesn't have that much of a backstory, so of course you can make up your own for your character in particular... Though honestly, most often it doesn't amount to much. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gifiaspprove:



Yeah, I made a story behind all of my characters...they were a little different than hero stories though...

[Blue-Hawk]

I think that PSO had it's time, and now it's other games turn to be the reigning MMO. ST is going the way of Capcom with the Street Fighter games. They haven't learned how to go on without rehashing the games with better ways to play and actually adding a story into it. After playing the game on the DC V1, V2, PC V2 and the Cube version's including EP3, I have seen that the game is indeed old. The battle system, while at first fun, is annoying. I could go on, but I have too much to say on it. Needless to say, I quite and you can too. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
I quit and have been happier and a little more motivated to do other things now. Like get into a newer MMO, namely Guild Wars. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Skorpius]

On 2005-03-24 11:52, Solstis wrote:
If it was free, I would still be playing it.

Offline has a fee?

[ABDUR101]

On 2005-03-24 23:34, Skorpius wrote:
Offline has a fee?


Dur, obviously he means online. >=

I'd prolly still be playing if it did'nt have a fee, but why bother paying for GC PSO when for basically the same price I could have EVE or WoW.

Playing offline, heh. After you've played for so long, offline play is just pointless. If you don't have interaction, alot of enjoyment is taken from the game.

[Solstis]

On 2005-03-25 00:01, ABDUR101 wrote:


On 2005-03-24 23:34, Skorpius wrote:
Offline has a fee?


Dur, obviously he means online. >=

I'd prolly still be playing if it did'nt have a fee, but why bother paying for GC PSO when for basically the same price I could have EVE or WoW.

Playing offline, heh. After you've played for so long, offline play is just pointless. If you don't have interaction, alot of enjoyment is taken from the game.



My fault for not covering my ass just in case of snide remarks.

*cough*

Yeah, after losing all joy from playing online, offline (though I do play for 20 mins or so, every now and then) doesn't have much appeal.

[Skorpius]

On 2005-03-25 00:01, ABDUR101 wrote:
Playing offline, heh. After you've played for so long, offline play is just pointless. If you don't have interaction, alot of enjoyment is taken from the game.

Subjective, really. I actually enjoy offline mode more than online mode. :shrugs and leaves topic:

[Calx]

On 2005-03-25 00:44, Skorpius wrote:
Subjective, really. I actually enjoy offline mode more than online mode.

Same here. Online is great when you're in a team where everything just clicks, but I far prefer offline to a mediocre online game. That said, I like having access to both.