Next Update (Video) 12/20/2017

[Shadowstarkirby]

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

Really, dude? People are entitled because they don't want to spend hundreds of hours farming the same tired bosses/mobs with a minuscule chance to even get anything good, even less the one they want? Please. Not everyone has to enjoy farming endlessly the way you do, and the fact that you're abhorrent to the idea of there even being so much as an alternative to getting gear aside from doing repetitive shit and just blanket labeling anyone who chooses not to adhere to that method as a "casual", is laughably selfish. You're not "hardcore" just because you have more tolerance than others for some shit design choice, especially not in something as braindead easy as PSO2, lmao. If we can't have CF/stone exchanges, drop only stuff needs to be tradable on shop going forward.

[Zulastar]

This quarrel here is totally pointless. This whole game is just a fucking LOTTERY. Anytime when you play (which enter point on free MPA will you start, which mobs will appear, which emergencies you'll encounter.. e.t.c.) it's a fucking lottery. Even real money AC scratches. Got 14* - won jack pot.
I like this game 'cause of it's Beauty Salon, not much complicated gameplay and anime setting.
BUT I HATE LOTTERYS TO DEATH 'cause I have totally no luck in them.

[Maninbluejumpsuit]

BUT I HATE LOTTERYS TO DEATH 'cause I have totally no luck in them.

To some people's standards, if you want some systems in place to award effort, and earn something in your time to mitigate how much of this game is a lottery, it makes you a casual.

Hell, I don't think I would have had a single 13* sword at 60 element if it weren't for stone trade-ins/CFs/COs, but apparently that makes me a casual by the aforementioned standard. Not the content I can/can't clear.

[Altiea]

I'm cautiously optimistic for Dual Blades; Immortal Dove seems to counterpart Partizan's Assault Buster by having width while grounded, as opposed to Partizan's long reach but terrible horizontal hitbox. However, it seems to be able to cast Photon Blades even without having access to Gear, which also gives it an emergency ranged defense option, something that sets it apart from other melee weapons. Will have to see it in practice to place a verdict.

Twin Daggers seems like Round 2 of the Gran Wave shenanigans; Symphonic Drive seems functionally similar to Gran Wave, but with shorter reach and faster execution. Its counter will probably be Partizan Guard.

We're losing all Rods for Talis' Fake Nagrants, so it better be good to compensate. Not having a wide berth of options in terms of Tech pressure is a double edged sword for pushing or gaining advantage. However, Talis seems to be able to use Fake Nagrants as an answer to close-range assaults; Rod could only do that with Megid by firing it at the ground and was pretty helpless otherwise, so Tech players having a defensive option is actually pretty cool.

[Kondibon]

We're losing all Rods for Talis' Fake Nagrants, so it better be good to compensate. Not having a wide berth of options in terms of Tech pressure is a double edged sword for pushing or gaining advantage. However, Talis seems to be able to use Fake Nagrants as an answer to close-range assaults; Rod could only do that with Megid by firing it at the ground and was pretty helpless otherwise, so Tech players having a defensive option is actually pretty cool.

I feel like I mised something. What's all this about?

[Renderless]

I feel like I mised something. What's all this about?

Battle Arena

[Kondibon]

Battle Arena

Oh, ok.
I was confused because I thought the DB part was about the rest of the game.

[Dark Mits]

Spread mobs out and have their AI keep them spread out so that grouping them takes effort on the part of players.

But this would bring the counterargument that players cannot use their abilities effectively and that they have to chase mobs around. I mean, you must have seen the complaints that mobs spawn sporadically in Free Exploration and that players have to go back and forth to get them.

Improving AI would bring a heavy hit to the performance of the servers, so that is also out of the question.

Bigger stats is the "go-to" way to bring challenge. Some enemies already have attacks that require reaction of less than 1 second from the player (and you still can't avoid it if you have just begun an uncancellable animation). The other way to bring challenge was unfortunately not welcome by the playerbase, because let's face it, people like facerolling stuff and don't want to have to think much or defend; I'm talking about 80% healing reduction. Oh, there was another "You didn't succeed" mechanism that Sega implemented: Defeat boss within 5 mins or it's a defeat. We also saw how that turned out.

The rating system for quests has possibly been the best way to handle effort/reward, but has been entirely neglected. Imagine if the S/A/B/C ranking system wasn't just "kill 20/10/5/1 mobs" but instead took into account total number of non-EC enemies killed, damage taken, crates opened, number of ECs participated in and completed successfully, % of map explored, possibly other factors too. And to make it worth, S rank could give additional rare item drops from the area boss, or exp tickets, or SG tickets (even if just 1), FUN points, or higher chance for Parallel Area.

[Zulastar]

To some people's standards, if you want some systems in place to award effort, and earn something in your time to mitigate how much of this game is a lottery, it makes you a casual.

Well. Then how can you explain that shit when I'm can't kill Arathorn Phemut for a complete bingo.
For two days in a row I'm attending ALL Christmas EQs in schedule and it JUST DON'T FUKING SPAWN!

[Aexorcet]

But this would bring the counterargument that players cannot use their abilities effectively and that they have to chase mobs around. I mean, you must have seen the complaints that mobs spawn sporadically in Free Exploration and that players have to go back and forth to get them.

I see that as an issue when mobs are just fodder for you to blow up. If they actually tried to fight, then I don't think it's a problem. In that case it would be more fun. My idea is intended for EQ style quests more than free explore by the way, so I'm assuming that you have 11 other players to work with.

Improving AI would bring a heavy hit to the performance of the servers, so that is also out of the question.

I'm not sure. It will probably depend on how its done. Like my idea behind the cooperating darkers could just be an aggro override. If the shield guys stun someone, that player is bumped to the top of the aggro list for the teleporters. Spacing can be controlled sort of like it is in TD/BQ, with mobs told to prefer specific locations.

Bigger stats is the "go-to" way to bring challenge. Some enemies already have attacks that require reaction of less than 1 second from the player (and you still can't avoid it if you have just begun an uncancellable animation). The other way to bring challenge was unfortunately not welcome by the playerbase, because let's face it, people like facerolling stuff and don't want to have to think much or defend; I'm talking about 80% healing reduction. Oh, there was another "You didn't succeed" mechanism that Sega implemented: Defeat boss within 5 mins or it's a defeat. We also saw how that turned out.

Maybe Sega should try a different approach, instead of giving everyone the same level of difficulty, make the high difficulty stuff optional. That way they don't have to cater to everyone. It seems to work to a degree with Deus rematch, Solo XQ, and Solo PD. Regular Deus and Odin LQ heal mechanics failed perhaps because they annoyed the more casual playerbase.

The rating system for quests has possibly been the best way to handle effort/reward, but has been entirely neglected. Imagine if the S/A/B/C ranking system wasn't just "kill 20/10/5/1 mobs" but instead took into account total number of non-EC enemies killed, damage taken, crates opened, number of ECs participated in and completed successfully, % of map explored, possibly other factors too. And to make it worth, S rank could give additional rare item drops from the area boss, or exp tickets, or SG tickets (even if just 1), FUN points, or higher chance for Parallel Area.

The problem here is that if nothing about enemies is changed, there will still be steamrolls. I try to avoid expert blocks just to stretch out quests a little, but the last few non expert Deus still felt like racing to get 1-2 hits in before Deus recoiled into cutscene armor. For free field, it's so quick to mindlessly destroy entire maps that I think I would still finish with S rank on average under your system unless the spawns were terrible. I do daily quests on SH/XH by default. Ecode tends to be "use Gigrants once or twice" unless it's a boss, then it's "use Barantsion and possibly some Ragrants". Some HP/attack buffs on the AI would help here (XH on all maps please), but even then most stuff is going to get stunned to death.