Next Update (Video) 12/20/2017

[Kondibon]

you ever play any other RPG/MMO's aside PS series?

Yes I have, and pretty much any modern game worth its salt knows that balancing progress around incredibly tilted drop rates for the entire game doesn't fly. In a lot of MMOs super rare random drops are balanced either by being able to trade the items, or by making the items entirely optional with no effect on gameplay. In cases where something is untradable but only comes a drop it's usually not that rare in the first place.

and entitled casuals, i mean come on you havent seen how the trend in games/in real life now a days is? everyone gets a trophy bud, even you, you get a 14* for just logging in if that was the case

The fact that you look at randomly getting something as a trophy or accomplishment doesn't make any sense to me. Unless you're also the kind of person who would argue that winning the lottery because they bought more tickets makes someone more "hardcore" at it than someone else. And I'm not saying people can't be entitled and childish about it, I'm just wondering why wanting something other than random chance to determine core progression is somehow entitled or "casual".

That said, I'm not against purely random drops being in the game for optional minmaxing or gimmick stuff, but in terms of just keeping your chin above the bar, no, absolutely not. You call it people acting entitled... but I'd argue that people ARE entitled to being able to equip their characters at the basic level of whatever the current power creep is it just by playing the game normally. Obviously, people shouldn't expect to just be allowed to jump into expert groups when they can't carry their own weight. I actually think your idea for locking gear for expert blocks isn't enough, but I'm going on a tangent.

Basically I think there should be a mix of raw drops, and easy to acquired baseline gear, and I'm not sure why you think only having random drops would be a good thing for anyone, or why having measurable progress on something is bad.

[Maninbluejumpsuit]

you ever play any other RPG/MMO's aside PS series? and entitled casuals, i mean come on you havent seen how the trend in games/in real life now a days is? everyone gets a trophy bud, even you, you get a 14* for just logging in if that was the case

I feel like many people here already know I came from WoW, and FF14 by now.

Comparing how PSO2 handles things to the aforementioned traditional MMORPGs is just a bad comparison in several ways.

FF14, and WoW (less so in Legion where the game went more in the direction of a Korean grinder for gear), what separated 'hardcore', from 'casuals' was the difficulty of the content you managed to do. Gear was a means to an end.

Not wanting to sit in Ult Nab before stones came out to kill possibly thousands of Angas for a weapon THAT ISN'T EVEN MY CHOICE IF IT EVER DROPS doesn't make me a casual. It makes me rational. Killing Anga thousands of times in a 12 person kill squad where I could just AFK doesn't make me hardcore. Doing self-imposed challenges like Ponthi does is a better representation of what 'hardcore' is, and should be.

I don't understand your fascination with defining 'casual' as your unwillingness to play a slot machine with poor chances.

[isCasted]

Random drops are not "rewarding". Word "rewarding" implies that you put in effort and succeed as a direct consequence of your effort. Random drops are not given to you because the game acknowledges your prowess, they're given to you for no reason whatsoever. It's like a form of preferential treatment, which is condescending in nature. It's even more annoying for PSO2, because you need 2-3 copies of things for them to be even usable, and in this case a single random drop is more like a form of tease.

"Everyone does it, therefore it's good" is also a shit argument, because it hinders innovation. Genre staples of all media change and evolve all the time for sake of making things more appealing or diverse. Calling yourself "hardcore" for enjoying a mild form of gambling in a game that, by the most part, appeals with its respect of merit and belittling others for preferring more fair systems is very much being entitled.

[SteveCZ]

CF is a good thing to happen to keep up in the game, and therefore makes drop-only weapons feel more as a reward. I think SEGA have done well on this.

But it won't be good if we have to choose between these two. CF-only is boring, and drop-only is/can be frustrating.

While I could agree that these weapons can be far better for the players when they're tradable, but I don't think that's what SEGA wants in terms of play time and profit, not to mention player security issues (stealing and stuff) they have to deal with. For example, letting a Player to get a 14* sword in a team when everyone knows he doesn't use it will motivate others who want it to keep playing; you know, the emotional swings. That's definitely what SEGA wants which apparently, from what I see, works until now.

[echofaith]

I think getting the wrong 14* will cause more frustration that hope for both parties because is essentially a "lucky moment" wasted. Cant recycle or trade or anything.
Not happy with the drop only thing, but if its tradeable, I guess is fine. Though after getting spoiled with CF and stones, I am not running RNG only content unless there is something else, like cubes. I rather just wait for the next CF content and use my ridr there.

[Aexorcet]

FF14, and WoW (less so in Legion where the game went more in the direction of a Korean grinder for gear), what separated 'hardcore', from 'casuals' was the difficulty of the content you managed to do. Gear was a means to an end.

Yeah this is something PSO2 is really missing. I've only been casually collecting new weapons for my main class since the difficulty of the game doesn't warrant increased attack, and many weapons become obsolete as soon as the next series comes along anyway. Sega did say that they were going to implement more difficult content, but they really are taking their time with that. If they gave us more to do they wouldn't need to push new overpowered weapons all the time as incentive to keep us playing.

[the_importer_]

I think getting the wrong 14* will cause more frustration that hope for both parties because is essentially a "lucky moment" wasted. Cant recycle or trade or anything.
Not happy with the drop only thing, but if its tradeable, I guess is fine. Though after getting spoiled with CF and stones, I am not running RNG only content unless there is something else, like cubes. I rather just wait for the next CF content and use my ridr there.

Ever since I came back, 13★ weapons have been dropping like rabbit shit, but nothing I ever need. There should be a way to trade that stuff like they did for Anga weapons where you get stones to buy one you actually need. That or lock rare drops to weapons for the main class you're using or something.

[Moffen]

Yeah this is something PSO2 is really missing. I've only been casually collecting new weapons for my main class since the difficulty of the game doesn't warrant increased attack, and many weapons become obsolete as soon as the next series comes along anyway. Sega did say that they were going to implement more difficult content, but they really are taking their time with that. If they gave us more to do they wouldn't need to push new overpowered weapons all the time as incentive to keep us playing.

Too bad SEGAs idea of difficult is just a few changes in HP and Damage Values

[GoldenFalcon]

Too bad SEGAs idea of difficult is just a few changes in HP and Damage Values

What else can they do?

[Aexorcet]

What else can they do?

One of the things I'd really like to see is more dynamic mobs. Quests like Dengeki and the first half of Deus just feel pointless when everything is Zondeeled into oblivion. Spread mobs out and have their AI keep them spread out so that grouping them takes effort on the part of players. Then give the mobs tools and strategies that allow them to fight back. Like we have those shield darkers and the teleporting scythe darkers. Instead of having them just attack randomly, let the shield ones attack first and actively try to block damage while the scythe ones teleport and gang up on players stunned by the shield enemies. If they don't want to go that far, more varied and random AI behavior would help. The problem with bigger stats is that player will just end up memorizing the patterns anyway. Boosted Elder/Loser was the best EQ in a long time, but the difference in MPA performance from the beginning of the week to the end was significant.