What Did EP4 Do Right?

[isCasted]

EP4 did many good things that made the game more enjoyable, but none of them were done right (as in without additional annoyances and frustrations) except for soundtrack and storage expansions.

[Zyrusticae]

Xaeris listed everything I can think of.

I feel like timing out collection files was a huge mistake, but eh. Still a net positive that we have them at all.

Soo... is it working?

Attachment 40450

Nah.

Wtf happened to the y-axis labels? They're upside-down and also not equally spaced. Da fug?

[Zysets]

Episode 4 has been (to me personally) one of the more interesting years in this game. I know some don't agree, but I love the Earth areas, and Skill Rings have been great so far. I'm also glad 12* Units focused on something besides straight defense and affixing, they've been unique in incorporating Skill Rings over set bonuses, been very useful to me as a Hu/Fi main. Besides gameplay, Franka's Cafe has been fun, whenever I want to meet up with friends, it's always there and the atmosphere of the area is nice and casual, a good change from the regular Lobby. The Sachiko Kobayashi concert is fun too, Youkoso ARKS has definitely gotten stuck in my head. Story is decent to say the least. I'm not as into as EP1-3, but it's kept me hooked enough to care, so I give it that.

I'm not gonna lie that some things have been broken or pointless, like I honestly thought Skill Rings and Gathering would have been part of existing crafting, but oh well.

I just hope Sega steps up next year, such as 14* weapons having more variety in potentials, and maybe keep adding ARKS quests for areas, I'm a bit disappointed Vegas didn't get one, considering Tokyo's was actually pretty nice for the most part.

[elryan]

I'd rather wait until the end of the episode to have this discussion. But, since we're here, Episode 4 did add several features that were a definite improvement to the game.

- Tier 6 graphics are wonderful.
- Collection Files put us less at the mercy of RNG, and free up space in storage now that we don't need several dozen varieties of space rocks anymore.
- NT grinding is cheaper and considerably less frustrating than OT grinding.
- We've gained a lot more storage with character storage, OTP storage expansion and PSO2es storage.
- Affixing is now in the easiest incarnation its ever been in.
- Layerwear opens up nice possibilities, though it is a double edged sword with its ticket implementation.

Plus, there's various little creature comforts that I can't be bothered to remember and list at the moment. While Episode 4 has stumbled in some very big ways (star gem scratch, frequency bonuses), in the end, I say it's a net positive.

All of that, plus these:
1. Quality of Life increased with mass untekking, unlimited duration stance, and recycle shop improvements.
2. Ultimate Amduscia and Necky's Challenge are challenging.
3. Expert block makes EQ much less frustrating.
4. Story is actually quite good. Sure it's abit like slice-of-life schoolgirl stuffs at the beginning, but the story gets much much better when nearing the end of the Episode.

[SteveCZ]

Wtf happened to the y-axis labels? They're upside-down and also not equally spaced. Da fug?

It's a rank. 1st rank is the highest, means more traffic / page visits. So, for example, that graphic tells that the page visit to pso2.jp is decreased since June 2016 and go down past the rank of Jan 2016 this month.

[Zorua]

Collection files have a lot of potential to make getting gear feasible for somebody like me who doesn't have time to sit around waiting for EQs. Now if only they weren't all locked behind EQs or given absurd collection rates *side eyes Vegas Illusia.* That said, we've already seen what it's like when it's done right. Ult Amduscia's collection file felt like a breath of fresh air to me.

[Great Pan]

EP4 was a mistake. 'Nuff said.

[Xaelouse]

collection files but sega seems to be going assbackwards with going back to drop only or the case with orbit gunslash...

They don't really want people quitting the quest after getting their collection files/stones done. A mix of both is actually smart.
Unfortunately you still can't really "hunt" them properly due to being tied to EQ or some quest designed with 12 people in mind (issues the game had for years).

What EP4 did right is the majority of that April 20 update, collect files, and rings.
What they did wrong is SG scratch and limiting certain things to scratches only. Maybe this stuff will become less limited at a much later date, maybe they'll honor their initial intent with introducing SG, who knows.

[Moffen]

collection files but sega seems to be going assbackwards with going back to drop only or the case with orbit gunslash...

Yeah that was by far the stupidest thing they've done so far and I havent touched the game for a while because of it as Neckys TD isnt worth anything to me now lol.

Felt like a middle finger from the devs to anyone who uses the gunslash.

[ralf542]

I would like to say that nothing was done right. But that wouldn't be true.

Story Board is better then Matter Board but it still sucks that you need UQ to clear all nodes just like with MB.
Las Vegas is a mistake, we try to make it great over and over but somehow it still stays bad. I'm curious how many people will get Astra series weapons.
Revolucio collection was good, but others not so. The problem is that the CF is limited time only and the EQ are only 30min long.
Pro Blocks are a mistake too. Everyone and their mother are there when it comes to CF runs. The free blocks either don't fill or we fail due to low on people. It's not so bad in the 1st 1-2 weeks but after that, good luck.
Layered wear is good, but it feels like wasted dev time to make underwear cuz you can't see it 99% of the time and most [Ou] are jackets.
NT grind is good cuz RNG can't screw you over so bad and it's way cheaper. But you need 6 copys to reach the power from OT weapons.
I can't say anything about skill rings, because we are still getting new ones and maybe later on we can affix 2 rings to 1 unit.


I got 2 weapon to 60 ele with the RDR boost week, i was busy after that. I would like to get a 3rd weapon to 60 ele, need 2 more copys. But i'm facing this problem whenever i have time to play:
Attachment 40455

But at this point i would rather pay RMT and buy 8 +5% attribute items then paying Sega for premium and hope that i can get into the Pro Blocks. And no, i'm not staying home watching blocks 24/7 so i can get in without premium and get kicked from there with DC.