Adventure?

[Coatl]

Not sure about you guys, but playing ruins made me feel like I was truly playing PSO2. You know, the game that carries the name of PSO1.

[Chik'Tikka]

I'd love access to the city+^_^+ just wander around the boardwalks, smeelz flowers, sit at a cafe and eat Perori Mates+^_^+ maybe have some sort of mall with attractions and mini-games to kill the monotony of slaying mobs+^_^+

[GCoffee]

Arika pretty much nailed it. One thing I would want to add is the quests lack of a story in PSO2, something I consider one of the greatest factors that made PSO (and even PSZ) feel so immersive; it adds a lot of depth to the setting since everything you do seems meaningful.

Another thing is the mobs that almost die before spawning. I wonder if some people are even able to vaguely picture certain enemies in their head, seeing how they kill them almost instantly. This might be a long shot, but I think the enemies in PSO carried much more personality for the threat each single one represented.
Back then people used to talk about the enemies and their specific traits, but now in PSO2 all I can see are discussions about the areas themselves.

[Flame]

I'm surprised how closely the OP is mirroring my opinion of the game so far. It absolutely never feels like an adventure, it always feels like a slog. I think part of the problem is that the game is designed around 15 min play increments. The result is a shallow albeit more accessible game. Where are those lovingly crafted hour-long dungeons?

However, I do agree with you Coatl. Ruins is the first level that feels like its worthy of the original's name. Its a shame it took 7 levels to get to that feeling though.

[Shirokami]

I've just now realized what's missing from this game that PSO had... It's a sense of grand adventure. Even within the grind of PSO, that sense was there, but PSO2 feels like... a job. The ARKS organization is a cleansing crew, destroying the native population of other worlds, robbing their resources, and installing its own people, and my character then is just a tool.

Of course, this is one man's perspective and I'd love to be wrong, but I can't enjoy myself when I think of it this way and I so badly want to enjoy the game. So what do I do? How can I capture that sense of adventure?

But that's exactly what you did and what you do as a human O_O

[Ogni-XR21]

I want some kind of world tour which people can join while you are running it. Something that kind of resembles the Forest to Falz runs in PSO1.

[otaku998]

It was always some kind of adventure for me back when i still locked my room and fight with NPC like a loner. A lot of good memories like first time Vol suddenly appeared during the Catern quest and took me some 30 min to kill it and etc. Then i started to jump into society and flying through MPA then...i don't know lol, the game is still fun but everything is like a supermarket with every stores on sales 90% and every players are some housewives.

[Mike]

I want some kind of world tour which people can join while you are running it. Something that kind of resembles the Forest to Falz runs in PSO1.

You can already do that. Just put it in the title for your party and pick the next area from inside the camp ship.

[Sp-24]

I've never felt any sense of adventure in PSO. I did like the story and the atmosphere very much, sure, but it was all because of the loose ends and unanswered questions that, looking back at it now, are most likely the result of a rushed and undeveloped plot being tacked onto one of the first console action-RPGs with online capability ever for the sake of having one.

PSO2 can't have those pillars from the first episode, which were the only sign of progression that I saw there, because it's a terrible idea. In fact, we already have Matter Board if we want a chore, and it even gives progression as a reward. And while they probably could separate (or combine) story and grinding more elegantly, I can't say that it's much worse than what PSO did.

[DoubleCannon]

isn't adventuring is finding boxes of treasure and fighting mobs?

I tried this in the forest behind me, found a wolf, but never found any treasure boxes to give me any weapons. The wolf beat me. real life sucks lol