ARKS Connect Memories results

[TehCubey]

Character popularity results are out.
Girls (http://pso2.jp/players/event/8th_anniversary/vote/01/)
Guys (http://pso2.jp/players/event/8th_anniversary/vote/02/)

I am really disappointed in bad taste at display here. Kyokuya got robbed, I tell you.

Class popularity results here (http://pso2.jp/players/event/8th_anniversary/report/01/). Etoile's (relative) lack of popularity is not unexpected, but I honestly thought we'd see more phantoms than heroes. Everything else seems about right.

As usual the site has more info too so feel free to search around.

[Anduril]

Heathens! How could best girl Huey only get 6th place?!

[silo1991]

Heathens! How could best girl Huey only get 6th place?!

what are you talking Afin its the best girl , if it was in the poll , there could be an unfair advantage

[echofaith]

I expected Shiva to be popular, but she even beat Matoi. If I remember right, back in episode 4 Mother also got 1st place. Now I wonder which would be more popular between Mother and Shiva.

[Mega Ultra Chicken]

I expected Shiva to be popular, but she even beat Matoi. If I remember right, back in episode 4 Mother also got 1st place. Now I wonder which would be more popular between Mother and Shiva.

Kinda hard to tell. Shiva's probably considered the more "badass" of the two (though some argue she was too powerful) and may have the edge design-wise. (And Mother didn't seem to inspire as many memes when her SG Scratch items came out.) Mother, meanwhile, gets more Woobie points and seems like a pretty swell lady... when you get past her all-consuming revenge plot, of course.

But still, it's kind of a shame Kyokuya lost. Losing to Luther's kinda understandable. But I didn't see him losing to #StanShiva coming.

[TehCubey]

Luther vastly outstayed his welcome in the polls and barely has any presence in ep 6 to begin with. He's on the same level as Double or Apprentice (neither has scored because they're not Luther with his legion of fans), and he actually has far less screentime than Stratos, who also didn't place.

But I get it. People can't get enough of their skinny incel bad guy, shit taste but I get it. What I don't get is 7% votes on Mitra. Bwuh? Even Varuna the simp has at least some personality to him, but Mitra is just... there. Were these meme votes? Did people like her character design that much? It puzzles me.

[Shoterxx]

https://i.imgur.com/Y6kMcTD.png

In all seriousness, I kinda wish PSO2 took a dive back in the older PSO/U style. It's getting increasingly busier and unoriginal IMHO, but I guess that's what people want nowadays, and so I get more depressed every time I see these results.

[oratank]

I expected Shiva to be popular, but she even beat Matoi. If I remember right, back in episode 4 Mother also got 1st place. Now I wonder which would be more popular between Mother and Shiva.

Matoi need to change her face type

[TehCubey]

In all seriousness, I kinda wish PSO2 took a dive back in the older PSO/U style. It's getting increasingly busier and unoriginal IMHO, but I guess that's what people want nowadays, and so I get more depressed every time I see these results.

The characters who consistently dominate the polls are both from ep 1/2, before PSO2 was "ruined" by weeaboos (ep 3), highschool slice of life (ep 4) or isekai fantasy (ep 5).

[sonisei]

PSO2 was "ruined" by weeaboos (ep 3), highschool slice of life (ep 4) or isekai fantasy (ep 5).

pso2 in a nutshell :wacko:

[LinkEP]

What I don't get is 7% votes on Mitra. Bwuh? Even Varuna the simp has at least some personality to him, but Mitra is just... there. Were these meme votes? Did people like her character design that much? It puzzles me.
I thought Mitra's appearance looks cool, and her personality fits with her role. Her low-key/flat/robotic personality is like an empty canvas, she can paint whatever she wants to copy.

EDIT:
I wish voting system will be account-based and one-time vote. It's not fair if someone can vote more than twice a day.


PSO2 was "ruined" by weeaboos (ep 3), highschool slice of life (ep 4) or isekai fantasy (ep 5).
EP3's oriental civilization isn't terrible imo.
EP5's dreamworld omega, while the theme is seemingly isekai fantasy, I guess they tried to emphasize dream and nightmare since they are part of Phantasy Star lore (e.g. Alisa, Laia the 3rd, and Eusis's nightmare). I think it's not really that bad, especially this is the first time for modern Phantasy Star to present the idea of dream.

[Meteor Weapon]

Just gonna leave my opinion on the male characters

Luther-once again wins without doing anything lmao. I'm not sure what made him still rise to the top in EP6 popularity despite him just taking the backseat for the entirety of the EP6. It was understandable in EP3 and EP5 but here? Huh, I guess he just left that much of an impression in his past role it just overshadowed everyone....or everyone just wants to pair him with Shiva just for the sake of memes lol

Varuna-didnt really leave me much an impression in EP5, but his loyalty with Shiva and redemption at the end was a pretty nice touch. I just still dont get why he'd switch sides like that.

Kyokuya- an tryhard chunni edgelord, at least he's aware of it and having fun with it but it kinda ticks me off with how he treats Lucotte when she first introduce so I may have just a neutral stance on my opinion of him. Not bad guy, just constantly makes a bad impression for me.

Sadly I couldnt take the time vote for any of the characters, but if i could I'd vote for Regius for simply being a badass oldman and willingly to fight till the end.


EP5's dreamworld omega, while the theme is seemingly isekai fantasy, I guess they tried to emphasize dream and nightmare since they are part of Phantasy Star lore (e.g. Alisa, Laia the 3rd, and Eusis's nightmare). I think it's not really that bad, especially this is the first time for modern Phantasy Star to present the idea of dream.

Which they apparently ditched it completely because somehow game balancing rework took way too much of their time and resources and with how Alisa's reception among the fanbase they're too scared to explore any further and took the easy way out.

[TehCubey]

EP3's oriental civilization isn't terrible imo.
EP5's dreamworld omega, while the theme is seemingly isekai fantasy, I guess they tried to emphasize dream and nightmare since they are part of Phantasy Star lore (e.g. Alisa, Laia the 3rd, and Eusis's nightmare). I think it's not really that bad, especially this is the first time for modern Phantasy Star to present the idea of dream.

I was being sarcastic btw, hence the quotation marks.Personally I think Harkotan and its characters are the best parts of ep 3 and my problems with ep 5 have nothing to do with its setting - if anything it wasn't explored enough.
Also ep 4 is pretty good and people who think it's "just highschool slice of life" or "PSO2 was a videogame all along and we escaped into the real world" clearly weren't paying attention to what's going on.

[Meteor Weapon]

Early part of the game is pretty much a filter that stops most people(mostly gaijin i mean) from playing EP4's story(or end up hating it, like me lol).

Mother's part was pretty ok, then Ardem's part came and it felt kinda rushed(tho Ophiel getting his ass kicked by Phatlegs was gold). Phantom Angel's concept looks great kinda wish there was more.

Mother, Aratron, DIOphiel, Phaleg and Hagito are pretty well written characters Belthor has potential but got killed a few scenes after he got introduced.

Hitsugi is the least favourite main female protagonist in the game compared to Matoi and Harriet in the japan fanbase. Hell she didn't even get to top 10 lol. Funnily enough for me Enga is a better character than her imo lol.

EP4's weird pacing is what gripes me the most with dumb cliffhangers being the major guilt of that.

[Shoterxx]

The characters who consistently dominate the polls are both from ep 1/2, before PSO2 was "ruined" by weeaboos (ep 3), highschool slice of life (ep 4) or isekai fantasy (ep 5).

Ep.3 is still fine by me, it fits decently well into the game, and is relevant for homeland players as a theme.

Ep.4+ however, feels like the game started having an identity crisis. By the end of 4, I was only paying attention to the main story, and by 5, I was just skipping the story all together. It just feels like chewing gum flavored in whatever popular trope they found relevant.

Phantasy Star already has plenty of lore behind, and I feel like its gone to waste.

[Kondibon]

Ep.4+ however, feels like the game started having an identity crisis. By the end of 4, I was only paying attention to the main story, and by 5, I was just skipping the story all together. It just feels like chewing gum flavored in whatever popular trope they found relevant.I find this funny if only because episode 5 tied into PSO2s overall story and lore a lot more than episode 4 did.

[ralf542]

So why are Hunter and Hero the most popular(regular and advanced) classes? Isn't Fi or Ph just better?

[Anduril]

So why are Hunter and Hero the most popular(regular and advanced) classes? Isn't Fi or Ph just better?

People like big swords.

[TehCubey]

So why are Hunter and Hero the most popular(regular and advanced) classes? Isn't Fi or Ph just better?

Most players don't care for the top meta build as long as whatever they play feels fun and powerful enough to play. GU and FI are great and have been some of the strongest classes for most of pso2's lifetime yet they're also the least popular ones, with only Techer (a pure support in a game without the tank-dps-healer trifecta) being less popular.

Also, the sword is a protagonist's default weapon. Doubly so for Hero where the class name itself yells "I am the main character here!"

[echofaith]

A little surprised about Hunter being most used, but overall all main classes seem to have very low usage and are close to each other in general.

But Hero makes sense, as it still has the lowest skill floor of any class, while also having high DPS when playing properly. Only real downside is playing harder content with Hero Boost liability, but I guess both extremes of the playerbase find that irrelevant(for different reasons ofc ). That and swords :p

Sadly I am in the middle and went with a more forgiving Phantom, but I still use Hero for dailies/weeklies or anything that doesnt demand efficient play.

[TehCubey]

I'd say ET's skill floor is the lowest out of the three successor classes. It's a very safe class, and also one where you can just use any PA and deal big dick damage (unless you're playing Wand). Yet not only is it the least played of the successors but somehow managed to evade the "oh, shiny!" syndrome, where everyone plays the new class because it's new. Did damage balancer turn people off, I wonder?

BTW the MPAs I'm in have consistently more Phantoms than either Heros or Etoilles, while these two seem about equal in numbers. Not representative of the game average at all - I wonder is it because expert players are by definition more likely to go for the top meta pick, or is ship 10 just a weird statistical anomaly.

[Kondibon]

also one where you can just use any PA and deal big dick damage (unless you're playing Wand).I think you got that backwards. Wand is the one where you can just do whatever and do a ton of damage. If you don't abuse DB and DS's mechanics they don't actually do that much damage.

Also, based on what they said about where and when people use Etoile it seems like the main reason it's not used is because its attacks are slow and heavy. That's not as useful in content where you're fighting through groups of weak mobs that die to faster attacks that do less damage per hit.

[echofaith]

I think a big part of the usage is outside actual meta content. For example, Hunter may have extra because of many people intending to subclass it. So besides actual main Hunters, many others Mains(Fighters, Rangers, Bravers, etc) played it even if it was just to rush to 95.
Similar thing may happen with successors. I do see more Phantoms in EQs too, but in my case at least, my other 2 characters whose only purpose are weeklies are Hero 24/7.

As for Etoile, the class main appeal is being safe, but damage balancer isnt as "free" as say automate. You get to play safe with lower hp and avoid 1hko, but you lose potential facetanking other classes can do(middle of resta spam, megiverse, SSA, passives) and you have an actual downtime from manual mates if you get hit too often. The PAs and regulars themselves look pretty and their DPS isnt bad by any means, but they are slower and feels less smooth than the previous 2 classes, while also lacking technics, so that may also keep many from playing it. For me, Etoile feels like a Hunter that loses part of its tankiness for more fluidity in their moves.

[Cyclon]

As for Etoile, the class main appeal is being safe, but damage balancer isnt as "free" as say automate.
From my experience, Eoile facetanks just fine, especially since Etoile Boost all but nullifies multi hit attacks. I doubt that's part of the problem.

I was expecting bigger numbers on Su. I guess my brain is confused since they stick out a lot more than everything else. Outside of that, apart from Hero being super high, I'm not seeing a lot that's surprising.

[Zephyrion]

From my experience, Eoile facetanks just fine, especially since Etoile Boost all but nullifies multi hit attacks. I doubt that's part of the problem.

I was expecting bigger numbers on Su. I guess my brain is confused since they stick out a lot more than everything else. Outside of that, apart from Hero being super high, I'm not seeing a lot that's surprising.

I really think the core of it is Etoile is a regular class disguised as an advanced class. By that I mean, both Hr and Ph are insanely fast with ubiquitous PAs, access to techs and encourage a fluid and very nervous playstyle with straightforward weapon mechanics and multipliers
Meanwhile Etoile is slower, has multipliers that need you to work around them (mainly the same arts/tech arts rotations), very specific learning curves on their weapons, and no techs (very similarly to how HU or FI would deal with all this).

Those points don't make it any less fun, but they make it less appealing as a "pick and play" class and doesn't exactly allow to get fast weeklies and stuff.

[Kondibon]

I was expecting bigger numbers on Su. I think a big hit against Su is that you can't transfer pets and/or candies as easily as weapons, so people are less likely to use Su on multiple characters. Heck the reason successor classes are so high is probably people using them for alts, since they don't need sub classes.


Those points don't make it any less fun, but they make it less appealing as a "pick and play" class and doesn't exactly allow to get fast weeklies and stuff.

This is actually what I meant by the class not being as good for easy stuff. Though, to be honest, even I've been playing it less.

[Dark Mits]

I'd say ET's skill floor is the lowest out of the three successor classes. It's a very safe class, and also one where you can just use any PA and deal big dick damage (unless you're playing Wand). Yet not only is it the least played of the successors but somehow managed to evade the "oh, shiny!" syndrome, where everyone plays the new class because it's new. Did damage balancer turn people off, I wonder?If I had to guess, the cause may have been the presentation of the class. It was advertised as a class with emphasis on being defensive, with no techniques and with support abilities. This possibly pushed some potential players away, for the same reason that Techtor/Techer pushed potential players away from the description of "support".


BTW the MPAs I'm in have consistently more Phantoms than either Heros or Etoilles, while these two seem about equal in numbers. Not representative of the game average at all - I wonder is it because expert players are by definition more likely to go for the top meta pick, or is ship 10 just a weird statistical anomaly.I guess we should wait for Sega to release "official" numbers, but in Ship 2 non-expert EQs Phantoms are almost 40% if not higher of the total populace. I also do not remember the last time I saw a Summoner despite them having a new pet recently. Fighter and Bouncer are also about 1% or less.

[Kondibon]

Su is in a weird position right now because it's a good class in terms of potential damage output, but like etoile it has a hard time "keeping up" with other classes that can just attack without needing to worry about positioning a pet or the setup Redran needs. On top of that, bosses in UH content tend to chew through most pets, even Melon.

[TehCubey]

I think you got that backwards. Wand is the one where you can just do whatever and do a ton of damage. If you don't abuse DB and DS's mechanics they don't actually do that much damage.

Also, based on what they said about where and when people use Etoile it seems like the main reason it's not used is because its attacks are slow and heavy. That's not as useful in content where you're fighting through groups of weak mobs that die to faster attacks that do less damage per hit.

I should be more specific here - I weren't saying that the class actually deals good damage but rather that it feels like it does. It's not with every class that you can use any PA and see a 6 digit number appear as it hits the enemy. As for the attacks being slow so the dps isn't actually that high - well, you can't really calculate dps on a napkin so that's less important. Actual power matters only when you deal with people who use parses, read online guides, etc. What matters is perceived power.

But apparently I was wrong since people disliked how slow and heavy the class is, while I thought that's what they'd like about it. Kinda makes me wonder why Hunter is the most popular legacy class then.

[Kondibon]

I should be more specific here - I weren't saying that the class actually deals good damage but rather that it feels like it does. It's not with every class that you can use any PA and see a 6 digit number appear as it hits the enemy. As for the attacks being slow so the dps isn't actually that high - well, you can't really calculate dps on a napkin so that's less important. Actual power matters only when you deal with people who use parses, read online guides, etc. What matters is perceived power.That's fair. The same thing happened with rising slash on hero.



But apparently I was wrong since people disliked how slow and heavy the class is, while I thought that's what they'd like about it. Kinda makes me wonder why Hunter is the most popular legacy class then.It's less that people dislike how slow it is (I love it personally), and more that in daily content or guruguru quests with a bunch of trash mobs that die fast the class feels clunky. Nothing sucks more than using a wand PA only to have the enemy be die midway through or someone else kill it and you try to move and aim it off in some other random direction. I think if the other two weapons were a bit more well rounded then it wouldn't feel as bad for that kind of stuff. I don't know if the DB buffs really addressed that though.

[ArcaneTechs]

and also one where you can just use any PA and deal big dick damage (unless you're playing Wand).
Wand does big dmg wtf are you even talking about? lol all of them do big damage just Wand out DPS's the others easily, especially DBs.


BTW the MPAs I'm in have consistently more Phantoms than either Heros or Etoilles, while these two seem about equal in numbers. Not representative of the game average at all - I wonder is it because expert players are by definition more likely to go for the top meta pick, or is ship 10 just a weird statistical anomaly.

It's across all ships, was reading the other day about how mpa's are consistently roughly 40-90% PH's or a mix of Ph/Hr and w/e else that fills in. Maybe varies on the content but people will flock to low effort = high output classes, just how it always is in MMO's

[TehCubey]

Wand does big dmg wtf are you even talking about? lol all of them do big damage just Wand out DPS's the others easily, especially DBs.

Read post #29 for an explanation. tl;dr version: Wand might be the best DPS but it doesn't feel as strong as the two others. It's only when you measure the damage (via a parse, training dummy or whatever) then do you realize how that feel was inaccurate.


It's across all ships, was reading the other day about how mpa's are consistently roughly 40-90% PH's or a mix of Ph/Hr and w/e else that fills in. Maybe varies on the content but people will flock to low effort = high output classes, just how it always is in MMO's

The part where people play PH because it's strong and not hard to play is not surprising. The surprising part is that Hero still outshines it popularity-wise. And since MPA composition doesn't reflect that - then what are all those Heroes doing?

[Ransu]

The surprising part is that Hero still outshines it popularity-wise. And since MPA composition doesn't reflect that - then what are all those Heroes doing?

It does say it counts it based on characters logged in during that time so I'd assume lots of people with Hero on alts or just casual players who only play Hero really.

[Kondibon]

It does say it counts it based on characters logged in during that time so I'd assume lots of people with Hero on alts or just casual players who only play Hero really.

If this is what it is, then yeah, a lot of people probably just have hero on alts because it doesn't need a lot to just safoie through dailies and normal attack with TMGs.

[ArcaneTechs]

Read post #29 for an explanation. tl;dr version: Wand might be the best DPS but it doesn't feel as strong as the two others. It's only when you measure the damage (via a parse, training dummy or whatever) then do you realize how that feel was inaccurate.

gotcha


The part where people play PH because it's strong and not hard to play is not surprising. The surprising part is that Hero still outshines it popularity-wise. And since MPA composition doesn't reflect that - then what are all those Heroes doing?

pretty much agree with the others, my other thing was just people who are returning who are too used to Hr maybe from its OP glory days. honestly couldnt say, the class has gotten better and better, keeps getting better. its become one of the least played classes for my mains because i just got bored of it over time