AC not selling as well as before?

[EvilMag]

Message packs don't tell you about anything related to damage variance either. Or what to do with your mag. Or that you can exchange 10-11* weapons for Excubes instead of selling them to NPCs for negligible amounts of meseta. Or what elemental values on weapons actually do. Or importance of affixes...

Or the fact that the game doesn't teach you to dodge. Instead it just gives you a unit set that pretty much lets you face tank everything in N-VH.

[Qualia]

Or the fact that the game doesn't teach you to dodge. Instead it just gives you a unit set that pretty much lets you face tank everything in N-VH.

I mean not getting hit is kinda common sense regardless if you can take the hit or not.
Unfortunately, a ton of people in this game lack common sense.

[isCasted]

Well, that's not really true for a lot of action RPGs. Even in PSO1 Dark Falz had an attack that you couldn't avoid at all (heck, it OHKO'd FOnewearls on difficulties below VH). The genre evolved from classic turn-based ones, and only nowadays it shapes more into hack&slash.

[lostinseganet]

I've recently read a few posts as well as heard from some friends that Sega apparently mentioned that AC isn't selling the way it used to or as much as before? Does anyone have any source on this, I'm thinking it was mentioned sometime during the last stream maybe?

Assuming it is true: What changes to Sega's policies on AC do you think could be done to entice people to spend money happily again?

They need to reconn epsoide 4 this journey to earth is bumming me out. Pets need to take the place of mags, and each mag needs to be customizable just like clothes...I do not like that your mag disappears when you have a pet. Also keep the anime

[Xaeris]

I've been wanting to avoid contributing to the tangent this thread ran off on, but this "the game doesn't teach you well enough" notion is an odd sticking point to me. I'm not sure what some of you are expecting from Sega. It doesn't matter how much you dumb down a game, how explicitly you lay out rotations, or even if you make the tutorials for these mandatory; you can't make people who don't care about playing well play well. Moreover, people who want to play well will play well because the information that will help them do so is freely available to anyone who can use Google.

Those two facts have been repeatedly demonstrated through other games. WoW implemented the dungeon guide, an in game database containing in depth information on bosses' attacks as well as recommended strategies for each role to employ. It's a literal strategy guide at each player's fingertips with no need to download an add on, but the game's still rife with unskilled players that would wipe on LFR if not carried. FFXIV puts down, honest to god, glowing red orange circles of death where attacks will strike, and yet, we still have players eating even the most obvious and generous telegraphs.

Like, the game doesn't teach us to dodge? Is that really something that needs a tutorial prompt? "Avoid damage when you can"?

[TaigaUC]

Well, you're right that people who don't care about playing well won't play better.
But I think there are also a lot of people who have no idea they're not playing well.
I'm sure there are people who want to improve, but have no idea where to start, or don't have time to research and experiment.
There's also the fact that PSO2 punishes you pretty heavily if you make a mistake, so there are probably people afraid to mess around.
If a game is designed in such a way that improving is more clearcut and doesn't punish or require too much time/effort, then more people would probably "improve".
I have some gamer friends who don't like overcomplicated systems, or reliance on menus.
I'm sure there are a lot of people who don't want to deal with stuff like that.

In regards to dodging... I recently started another new character and ran through a bunch of quests on lower difficulties.
I was immediately struck by just how much easier Normal, Hard and Very Hard are.
Ridiculously easy. I took virtually no damage, and everything died super fast.
Then there's suddenly a huge jump from Very Hard to Super Hard.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but a game should ramp up its difficulty in a more coherent and consistent manner.
There needs to be some kind of learnable pattern so that people have an idea of what to do, what to aim for, etc.
But PSO2 often contradicts itself. It makes people believe something works a certain way, and then does the opposite.
Why would people feel the need to dodge when they had no need to through the first 50 levels of the game?

Part of my complaints suggested SEGA condense some of the systems that do the same thing but require so much extra research, time, etc.
I don't think it's dumbing down a game to remove or compress all these extra side stats/influences that are barely documented within the game itself, or that nobody uses.
I mean, some elements of PSO2 have lots of variations, but nearly everyone ends up using the same stuff and the same setup anyway.
It feels like they could get rid of all the meaningless stuff to clean the game up.
Otherwise, at the rate they're going, they'll keep adding more and more crap on top, and it'll keep getting more messy.
Look at how many weapons are in the game that absolutely nobody uses.
There are so many potentials that nobody uses, too. Those are just two examples.

I noticed they added that Touou Soul thing to try and get people to use unpopular souls.
Unpopular souls are still selling for such a low price though, because you can use any of those unpopular souls for the same result (I think).

That reminds me of something else. Whenever I affix stuff, I have to go look up the JP swiki to check which souls boost what chances.
I'm assuming everyone else has to do something like that too?
It's pretty annoying that the game doesn't seem to display that info.

[Tenlade]

Like, the game doesn't teach us to dodge? Is that really something that needs a tutorial prompt? "Avoid damage when you can"?

proper use of step and stuff like the stylish rolls for mechs or katana's counter could use some proper explination so new players dont need to trial and error it.

and well, we already require players to do a solo story mission to unlock free field tokyo, I wouldnt mind additional quests only unlocked by doing solo missons to prove you at least understand basic gameplay.

[TaigaUC]

Dodging is common sense IF YOU'VE PLAYED SUCH GAMES BEFORE.
Like I said, PSO2's playerbase mostly consists of casuals or non-gamers.
They don't know what to expect, they don't know what they're supposed to be doing.
I know this because I've been talking to those people. And yes, they are Japanese.
Stop assuming everyone obviously knows how to play games, because they don't.
There are a lot of people in this world, you know. Not everyone shares our knowledge and experience.

Besides, not all games require use of a mechanic, even if it's in the game.
My point is that the first 50 levels of PSO2 make people think there isn't a need for dodging.
Then, suddenly, when you reach SH there's very much a need.
It's like sending new recruits into a real life battlefield without any training.

Similarly, the strategy to beat Loser changes suddenly for XH. He's the only one that changes.
This means there will always be a constant flow of people coming in from SH and using the wrong strategy.
The game should be teaching people how to do something and then sticking to that flow/pattern.

Anyway, I came back to say something I just remembered:
PSO2ES has proper tutorials teaching people to dodge. It's not just a window of text either.
It puts you into battle, tells you how to dodge and then makes you dodge.
That kind of tutorial is much more effective.
It sets a precedent for new players to use as a reference for what's expected of them.
It also teaches people how to use chips, the kinds of chips there are, and how to grind them.
You can't get into the game until you've learned these things, unless of course you choose to skip.
You also don't get punished for grinding in PSO2ES.

Does PSO2 do that? Does PSO2 make people dodge and then grind?
I know they changed the start recently, but I don't know if it includes those things.

[LordKaiser]

I want to see the salt here when April 20 hits.