Raising some issues

[Dnd]

Tbh, the argument of endgame content, lack of zones is quite a shallow one for simply not playing pso2, for a major start the game is still young, which wont help it.

The original pso had FOUR levels to pick from, then it increased to 8 with ep2 (12 if you count each part of CCA separately and east/west tower as one) then it increased to 10 (14) with crater and desert from EP4 and that took years to get to. I admit, recently I was thinking about how the games progress has slowed down in regards to actual content (Or restriction of content, ala parallel worlds and darkers den) but as many have said, its a free game and you can just take a break for afew weeks if your not happy...

Endgame content? Whilst I'd agree somewhat pso2 has no true endgame content, the simple answer to that is obvious - Pso2 hasn't hit 'endgame' yet and it wont for at least 3-4 years. Ignoring the annoying pre-requisites to enter the darker den, I would consider that current endgame - it truly was a pleasure to play that map and i cant wait to do it again, think a PW3 quest, but in pso2 and bingo. Even if the advanced quests are HALF as fun as the den was, I really have no worry for the future in regards to challenging content and/or pseudo endgame material.

Then again, even with all this being said, the true essence of PSO isn't the content (It does help) - I've always thought of it as the many, many epic and fun times spent smashing stuff up with a group of friends (And, of course, that elusive red box). To be honest, if it wasn't for that point alone, I don't think I'd even be playing pso2 to this day. Even tho, I have spent ~80% of my playtime soloing, its the 20% with groups that make it ALL worthwhile and I wouldn't trade it for anything from ANY other game.....

[Seany1990]

I like the game the way it is, I just wish we had more variety

[May0]

Anyway, this game's main strength is its gameplay, and you can't judge that if you don't play.

I am biased by my not playing the game I'll concede that. I will agree that PSO2 is all about the gameplay but there are many games that do what PSO2 does gameplay wise while at the same time offering more.

That's a grand total of 10 areas, 8 of which we can access on a whim (if you count the Chapter 7 Story Quest for the City or the semi-frequent Emergency Quests; otherwise it's 7).

I'll call it at 10 then. Nothing to sneeze at to be sure. Hows is the transition between these instanced areas? Does it feel like you going from one world to the next? Does it feel like your part of a massive universe? With 10 different unique environments to play with Sega can stretch things out and make the world(s) seem bigger than it(they) actually is(are). Do you think Sega is making a convincingly big universe to play in?

The reason I pose so many questions is (as previously mentioned) that I've yet to play the game so its hard for me to really understand every single aspect of navigation between environments and how it feels.

Endgame content? Whilst I'd agree somewhat pso2 has no true endgame content

I think I mentioned before but

Endgame can be rather ambiguous as it depends on what game we're talking about.

I said for WoW it would be a gear grab. I was hoping someone would dispute me and say it was PVP, or crafting, or completing every quest, or becoming the best fisherman. The point I didn't get to make earlier being this- endgame can mean different things to different people depending on how they play. Right now PSO2's end game doesn't offer much in the way of choices as to what you can do.

Both of the problems I've addressed- the environment and the endgame aren't set in stone. These issues can be resolved and the game can get better. In the interim I'm not that impressed. That's my fault for expecting Sega to do something extraordinary with PSO2 right out of the gate.


Forget the registration and english patch issues. There isn't much PSO2 offers at the moment. At least for me.

[Noblewine]

I plan to play on jp hub but uncertain about whether or not to spent money an extra character, mags or clothes.

[Valimer]

I'm not waiting, because look at what the core game play is. The thing I spend the most time doing. The thing that is suppose to be the most fun element in the game.

At level 1, you're beating up monsters.

At level 50, you're beating up monsters.

I play PSO2 when I feel like beating up monsters... or feeling lucky.

[Syklo]

PSO2 is an online game that still feels like a console game whenever i play it.
And my friends will occasionally be there (for JP at least) so we can team up whenever that time comes.
Other than that, SOLO ALL THE WAY!
Except for MPA's when i really want to accelerate my hunting pace, which is also an option ready to choose.

I just play....cuz i want to.
Sure when I say my usual routine: Check taco's (I only bother soloing normals), check team orders, partner FUN points, then whatever, sounds boring, i still do it. If it weren't for RNG, emergency codes, EQ's and the like wouldn't be there (or otherwise always predictable), in which case I don't know if I would still be playing.
I love the RNG. I hate it when the RNG fails me when I really need it not to fail, but for the times where it won't really matter, it's AWESOME.

[Cyclon]

I am biased by my not playing the game I'll concede that. I will agree that PSO2 is all about the gameplay but there are many games that do what PSO2 does gameplay wise while at the same time offering more.

I have no knowledge of such games. I'm not cynical when saying this, I just don't know any. What games are you thinking of?

Hows is the transition between these instanced areas? Does it feel like you going from one world to the next? Does it feel like your part of a massive universe? With 10 different unique environments to play with Sega can stretch things out and make the world(s) seem bigger than it(they) actually is(are). Do you think Sega is making a convincingly big universe to play in?

Areas are separated into planets/others. As of now, We have access to three planets, plus the darker's den, though we don't know where the latter is located. Areas on the same planet can be seen in the distance from other areas/(floating continent in the sky in caves, snowy mountains when in the forest, huge pillar/tree/thing from the ruin at the tundra...)
Otherwise they're all instanced separately. So huge universe... no. I wouldn't say that.
To be clear, you start at the Arks' spaceship, select a mission from there, then get into a campship, which is a separate instance with mostly everything you need to prepare for the mission, then you literally jump into the area. If you use a telepipe, or if you die, you get back to the campship. You can also select missions directly from it. Areas are made of blocks, from one to three depending on the mission, with the third usually being the boss fight. Exceptions excluded, these blocks look mostly the same and take place in one single area. Different areas aren't linked directly at any point, except through time attack, which goes by planet instead of areas. So the Lilipa-or desert planet- time attack, will have you going through desert AND mines, since they're on the same planet.

Forget the registration and english patch issues. There isn't much PSO2 offers at the moment. At least for me.

There is something important that you don't say. In Wow, while in my opinion being the worst part of the game, endgame is your goal. In PSO 2 it's not. Just like it wasn't in PSO, or Diablo. There is no real goal so to speak in these. Rather than that, there are myriads of smaller objectives here and there that you choose yourself, but these are not supposed to lead you anywhere. These are games that end when you're utterly bored to death with them, it's as simple as that.

Now if your problem is that you believe there is nothing to do, well allow me to tell you that you're wrong, because there is content to be experienced and there are things to be done to keep you busy. Even people complaining they have nothing to do may have merely chosen to ignore some part of the content, because they weren't interested in it(or have played for quite a lot of time anyway). But if you don't like the game there's no point, because that's not content that makes the experience feel brand new.

[May0]

Many people have noted this one but I'll go ahead and drop Dragon Nest. Not as deep with the character customization and I think of it more akin to a 3d version of streets of rage set in a fantasy universe. I would of played this game a bit more but World of Tanks won't let me go. From what I have played the environments really draw you in and even though they are instanced it doesn't feel disjointed. The action in that game is fast and fun. My only problem is I can't really find anyone to play with. Still

Then there's Vindictus, or as I call it Dragon Nest for adults. I've barely scratched the surface of this one. Stylistically I prefer dragon nest. Still despite it being published by Nexon it has a lot more polish than most give it credit for and is a challenging game. I kinda consider both of those games cousins.


Spiral knights- 4 swords link online
Raiderz- little bit of monster hunter and Tera mixed together


here are some games I haven't played but are on the horizon/out
Wizardy online- kinda like dark souls MMO from what I've seen so far.
Tera- I haven't played this one yet since the style wasn't that interesting but its going to be free to play pretty soon.

There's also a lot of free to play games that don't have the same gameplay as PSO2 but for this post I wanted to mention games in a similar vein.

because there is content to be experienced and there are things to be done to keep you busy

Please enlighten me. You don't have to go into any immense detail

Here are the main things to do that I've heard so far.
Time attacks/comparing scores after beating a level- never tickled my fancy
Hunt items-I don't like focusing heavily on RNG for item drops which makes me wonder why I care for PSO as a series as much as I do
monster mashing- I do like a challenge vs enemies and bosses alike.

[Cyclon]

Okay, you're obviously not looking into specifics there, but from what I've seen/played, Vindictus is the only one that might be truly similar. I'll try playing it myself so I can tell you for sure.

Otherwise, PSO 2 is not a button masher, each hit counts, and enemies in this game are neither trash nor bosses with huge lifebars that take ten minutes to defeat when properly prepared. Everything dies quickly in this game, wether it's you taking hits of the weakest monster of your level, or the strongest bosses if dealt with properly.
Speaking of bosses, they also aren't about mindlessly attacking while occasionaly dodging an attack, like most MMOs, and killing them efficiently is done by targetting certain parts of their body, which once destroyed, will stun them and grant more loot once they're down/take considerably higher damage. As a hunter in particular, hitting these require you to get out of your way or put yourself in danger, since they're rarely reached by simply walking to the boss and attacking, and hitboxes are quite precise in this game.

Which brings me to my next point, this game has a much more "vertical" gameplay than most other action-mmos; jumping plays a huge role, since every offensive/defensive action can be used in the air, enabling aerial combos for close ranged classes. Also, hunters cannot reach flying ennemies otherwise.
Some weapons are actually more efficient when used exclusively in the air, like daggers or launchers, and arguably mechguns.

Weapons are also unique and play differently from one another, the best proof to this being that we only have thirteen different weapon types(much less than PSO or PSU), and hardly anyone's complaining. You also make your own style of gameplay as a hunter, since you "create" your combos.
I have only spoken of hunter(which implies fighter as well, even though their weapon choices are quite different), but all three main classes play completely differently, aside from weapons that also play differently. While hunter could be classified as the most classic of the three, ranger and force are quite unique.

Also, one of this game's particularity is how randomized everything is. This might seem like a bad thing(and sometime it is), but it has its advantages. Anyway, areas are randomized, the people you will play with are too(sort of), and most important, there are what we call emergency codes, which are random events, that, while area bound for most, can take place at any time, transition into one another, and are numerous enough not to feel too repetitive.
E.g.; a random npc could need your help to fight enemies that are after him, an allied spaceship may crash near you and need your protection until it's done with repairs, items will appear troughout the block that you must collect and bring back to a precise location, or a boss that you must defeat or capture may show up. These are only some examples, as there really are quite a lot(some are very similar though).
There are other particularities, but let's not get TOO specific either. Since I didn't know for sure how much you actually knew, I thought I might as well be precise.

Please enlighten me. You don't have to go into any immense detail

Oh. Well I think there's a slight misunderstanding, but I'll try to list what I can think of anyway.

Matter board. Takes quite a lot of time to complete. Through the matter board you unlock story chapters, which are solo only. Catch is, it's mostly comprised of basic fetch quests. Also, japanese.

Emergency quests. Whole ship(server)time based missions; one out of about ten is selected and everyone can run it for a limited duration, depending on the mission itself; the shortest is fifteen minute long, the longest is an hour. These happen every two or three hours. You of course cannot access them otherwise. They're rather fun, and rewarding too, so most people participate in them. As of now, the final boss of this game is EQ only.

Interrupt ranking. Whole ship, kill this enemy as many times as you can during -I'm not sure how long-. The best ones out of you all will be rewarded with a cookie. These happen from time to time.

Cosmetic stuff, specifically MyRoom. It is a time limited feature that you must pay to access(thankfully they're never erased afaik), but technically you can get it for free. Otherwise it's pretty self-explanatory. It's an instanced place that's yours alone, but that other people can access. Note that this feature is far more interesting than it was in PSU imo, though it's account bound.
Also "dressing up" your character can take some time, if you're into this.

There is other minor stuff, like COs(client orders, the quests of this game), or simply building up your character(read subclass), but while not being things that take very little time(it would rather be the opposite), they're still about you killing monsters, even moreso than most of the above. They're more of a reason to actually do so. Note that most COs are repeatable daily/weekly.

[Rien]

Everyone waits around for content updates. I'd say they're slow, but at least they're somewhat steady. Though they're not always substantial.

But you don't really lose anything for playing right away and then sitting around bored all day waiting for next month's patch. There's no subscription. Most of my time is spent afk.

Endgame consists of doing the same thing you did to reach the cap, only slightly faster. All there is to do is get more money and upgrade your gear. For what? To get more money and upgrade your gear. Not like there's any gear checks or anything actually difficult that would require it, it's just raising numbers for the sake of raising numbers.

I say two/one-manning one of the newer Emergencies/quests is already a pretty serious Gear Check.