PSO2: Anyone else disappointed with "Hard Mode?"

[Enforcer MKV]

Here's the worst part: we may very well see the implementation of an ass slider long before any new content, or even a fix to latency. Why? Well that's an easy one. The demographic they are aiming for is quite clear and I'll assure you it's not the age 20 to 26 hardcore gamer demographic.

That's positively dreary to think about....at least there are hints of a mines-esque zone being released.....hopefully they'll continue to give us new playable content instead of just increasingly skimpy outfits for the females.

EDIT: In terms of the miss/hit argument: here's an idea; Instead of introducing an outright 'miss', introduce a glancing/normal/critical hit type system. What I mean by glancing is instead of a 'normal' hit of say....20, you do a glancing hit of 5. That way, instead of outright missing attacks, you're still doing (albeit lower) damage, but there's still a mechanic that's akin to missing.

[BIG OLAF]

Well, I've already explained my thoughts about you and your character. You do both, which a lot of people don't do. People tend to stick to one or the other. I actively see you doing both, which is admirable. I think Sega will benefit most from people like you.

You don't mean the 'waifu' comment, do you?

Trollolol. But yes, I don't see the problem with taking a game seriously sometimes, and goofing around other times. There has to be a happy medium. Being a lazy "lobby-dancer" (I think that may be my official name for lazy people on PSO2, like how '4thie' was my term for them in PSU) all the time is stupid. But, on the opposite end of the spectrum, being a hard-ass, no-nonsense elitist all the time is obnoxious, as well.

It's best to be a touch of both, in my view.

[Enforcer MKV]

It's best to be a touch of both, in my view.

Happy mediums are good, yes.

[GreenArcher]

Yeah, maybe. I just don't find it very fun to level from 20 to 25 with only 4 hard mode missions available to me. Once I hit level 25 and can do the rest of the missions on hard mode, I still need to get from level 25 to 30 in the desert just to be able to get into the free field quests and start killing real bosses. This frustration is coming from the fact that I need to gain 10 levels by grinding through tedious and boring quests just to get to the free field stuff and start doing what I actually want to do.

Two words:

OPEN.
BETA.

[Flevalt]

I can't feel you there at all.
I'm 22 now and haven't even unlocked hard mode. Been just multi-party grinding in the free desert for the last 2 levels today. So many drops and so much fast exp.
You also shouldn't forget to take on some grinding missions for a few thousand extra exp.

It's really easy lvling.
And if I got enough of the multi-partying, I'll just go re-do some missions.

I can agree with one point though, they shouldn't make rare drops only available through certain missions. With the next patch they'll add some body part weapons so hopefully those will make a good start into the direction of "I can farm specific enemies for specific rares"

[Porkmaster]

But, on the opposite end of the spectrum, being a hard-ass, no-nonsense elitist all the time is obnoxious, as well.

It's best to be a touch of both, in my view.

Admittedly, I've never been in to the whole "I have to make my character look the best it can possibly be" type thing. I was messing around with the character creater and eventually settled on a big giant robot with a cowboy hat because it looked bad ass.

While I do consider myself a hard-ass, I'd like to think that I have at least some sense. I definitely wouldn't consider myself elitist, either. I prefer intelligent discussion more than anything, but that doesn't mean I'm going to automatically agree with someone just to keep a conversation going. If I disagree with someone, I'll tell them exactly what it is I disagree with and exactly why I disagree with it.

I just wish that Sega had a balance. They are definitely catering more towards the people who want to make the perfect character more than anything.

[Zyrusticae]

I just don't understand.

See, I'm having fun with the game and I don't even need a tangible sense of progress or a sense of real danger to enjoy myself. If at any point the game starts feeling like a "grind", I just stop playing or switch gears and play another mission. I'm not concerned with leveling up quickly, or getting uber rares, or any of that - I just play the game.

So I guess I just don't get it. While I do optimize my character for efficiency (I have +Tech Power on all my units and a +10'd lightning rod for the desert mobs), I don't put any focus on any particular goal other than what I can do right this very moment.

I'm afraid I cannot process the idea that one's enjoyment of the game hinges on the risk of dying at any moment.

[AC9breaker]

Sega won't fix shit. They can't even fix the lag issues that the past 2 maintenance updates were "supposed" to fix.

Business as usual with Sega

I'm starting to think (especially recently) that the players know the game better than the developers do. Put me in charge of decision making for Sega for one day. I might not fix the lag issues, but I'd sure as hell make the game more enjoyable.



I hope so. I really do, because right now I'm already finding it hard to justify spending any more time grinding on this game.

Once again business as usual with Sega and I feel like you hit the nail on the head with that one. It translates to all their other games as well not just PSO. It's funny to see all the stockholm syndrome in this thread and watching how people staunchly defend sega. I think the real challenge should be in a form of Ultimate mode though, thats how it always was in PSO. Assuming of course they have an Ultimate mode though. But I can't agree with you enough when you say that I hate when developers put limits on how you play and force you to play a certain way rather then letting you play how you want. Something that seems prevalent among developers now a days.

[Porkmaster]

I just don't understand.

See, I'm having fun with the game and I don't even need a tangible sense of progress or a sense of real danger to enjoy myself. If at any point the game starts feeling like a "grind", I just stop playing or switch gears and play another mission. I'm not concerned with leveling up quickly, or getting uber rares, or any of that - I just play the game.

So I guess I just don't get it. While I do optimize my character for efficiency (I have +Tech Power on all my units and a +10'd lightning rod for the desert mobs), I don't put any focus on any particular goal other than what I can do right this very moment.

I'm afraid I cannot process the idea that one's enjoyment of the game hinges on the risk of dying at any moment.

And that's completely fine! Everyone has their style. For people like me, who consider themselves hardcore gamers, risk of death and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. I like relying on my own skill and reflexes to survive rather than have the weapon I'm carrying do all the work for me. That's why I enjoy Demon's Souls/Dark Souls so much, because those games are purely skill based. It's one of the few games where you can cheat to get the best weapons/armor in the game, yet still get your ass handed to you and then laughed at, if you don't know what you're doing.

In PSO 2, it feels like my weapon is doing all the work, not me. I can't even remember the last time I had to dodge roll to avoid incoming damage and that's just sad.

Edit: It's time for me to catch some sleep, though. Since this thread will most likely get buried overnight, just wanna say thanks to the people who contributed to the thread with their own opinions and arguments about hard mode. Til next time.

[Zyrusticae]

It's funny to see all the stockholm syndrome in this thread and watching how people staunchly defend sega.

Yes, because it's utterly impossible that people could genuinely be enjoying themselves in spite of what you think are obvious flaws.

And that's completely fine! Everyone has their style. For people like me, who consider themselves hardcore gamers, risk of death and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. I like relying on my own skill and reflexes to survive rather than have the weapon I'm carrying do all the work for me. That's why I enjoy Demon's Souls/Dark Souls so much, because those games are purely skill based. It's one of the few games where you can cheat to get the best weapons/armor in the game, yet still get your ass handed to you and then laughed at, if you don't know what you're doing.

In PSO 2, it feels like my weapon is doing all the work, not me. I can't even remember the last time I had to dodge roll to avoid incoming damage and that's just sad.

Actually, I feel much the same way about games where the gear/skill divide is too stilted in favor of the former. I think I've just learned to accept that RPGs are NOT the type of game you should be looking to for anything remotely skill-based, simply because the developers will inevitably put a heavy emphasis on the loot.

I invested a lot of time in Aion before I eventually realized an uncomfortably large number of my victories in PvP were determined a. by my class and stigma skill setup, and b. by my gear, and likewise with my defeats. After taking a few months' break, I came back to find that I was getting steamrolled more often than not simply because some seriously dedicated players just had more stats than me.

Months later, repeat the exact same process (though heavily accelerated, replace months with weeks) with Tera, even though the game's biggest selling point was the action combat. [rant] This was seriously exacerbated by the god-awful community that took gear score (an aggregate of your average item level) as freakin' gospel, absolutely refusing to allow you into the party if you didn't fulfill some of the most arbitrarily absurd requirements I have ever seen, even though the game content was more than easy enough to be completed without it. What the fuck, douchebags?! [/rant]

At this point, I've been getting pretty disillusioned with the whole online RPG thing. PSO2 has been an exception, simply because the minute-to-minute gameplay is good enough (and there's no PvP to push my hyper-competitive side over to the brink) that I've been having lots of fun even though I'm largely steamrolling all the enemies I run into. Dragon's Dogma is much the same way - though it begins far more difficult than most RPGs I've played, eventually my characters (pawn included) become so powerful that I can pretty much squash all my enemies underfoot with minimal effort - but the core gameplay is fun enough that I just don't care, and just keep on truckin'.

I am of the mind that one really shouldn't seek challenge in progression-based games. By very nature of that progression, a lot of your "challenge" can be completely fake, dictated by inferior stats instead of genuinely challenging enemies, and likewise you will eventually trivialize a lot of the content simply because you're constantly leveling up and gaining more gear. Dark Souls/Demon's Souls is a very rare (in fact, almost one-of-a-kind) exception. Sorry to say, that's just how it is at this point. Perhaps some day SEGA would be so kind as to give an option for such greater levels of challenge, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it if I were you.