No, no sarcasm involved, i really do love this game :)
I'm just returning from a party with one of my friend in EV, we're trying to find his Purity spellbook from the Forest Runners drop (no luck til then though, the Satyrs dropped an Iron Will book that i will save for my Paladin), and i was just thinking how great this game is !
And unlike what some may think, i love the "hard" aspect of it, even the grind (well, the little grind that there is at lv50ish), that's exactly what makes me come back each and every time i think of leaving, after playing for 1.5 year i still have so much to discover and to learn about it, and there's always a higher point you want to reach (get a new Skill, get that awesome-looking armor, ...) !
It's a very deep and complex game, with every little thing so well linked to each other (Seven Signs, Sieges, Castles, Clans, Politics, etc...), every detail so important, so much different (and linked) possibilities of playing the game (PvE, PvP, fishing, crafting, ...), there's really some serious thinking behind all that !
Of course the economy sucks and the Quests rewards are laughable, but apart from that, this is without any doubt the best MMO there is out there at the moment !
(just felt like sharing a little bit of love for once :D)
He he :p
Well, because it's more fun to try to get it this way !
A bit harder, yes, but more fun !
Just like when i wanted my Hatchling, my Clan Leader offered me one, but i rather did the Quest to get it (for once a Quest with a rewarding reward), cos this way my little unwinged Dragon felt more "mine" :cool:
ive done that hatchling quest 5 times, and got twilight hatching 2 times ^^. Really annoyed the prophet in our clan who did it 10+ times with NO twilight from it.
Pfffff. I've done the hatchling quest more than 20 times during the time when the twilights could sell for upwards of 5 million and did not get a single one.
I've always felt L2 was the most under-rated game ever released in NA. It's understandable though. For a number of us, the great aspects of the game lessen the not so good ones; but many never give the game enough of a chance to even realize what they are missing.
The reason why most people never give the game enough of a chance is because the game targets a niche market in NA/EU. That is why it owns a lesser "legit" player population than many other MMOs (EQ/EQ2/WOW) and it's player retention rate is more a factor of time investment than fun factor. It is easy to get burnt out in this game and that's bad for an MMO, especially when a player hasn't even reached the halfway point in leveling/character advancement (which I equate to A Grade level).
If there was suitable Clan/Guild progression in the game, more class diversity, and more "acceptable" group content [across all levels] and raiding events, it would be awesome > any game out there. But everything in this game is so easy that it really defeats the concept of advancing in an MMO. You can buy everything, and to most MMO players (i.e. those that don't play L2), there is little satisfaction in that. There is another thread on the economy, so I won't bring that into this one :P
I think the community holds the game back, quite a bit. The Korean community requests changes as if they are the only group of people playing it, and the NA community does the same. At the same time, the community digresses changes that would actually open the game up to more diversified playstyles based on their personal opinion, what they had to do back in C#, or under the impression that the game is difficult and that is a distinctive characteristic of the game that will attract quality players and detract those that aren't quality players.
CT1 looks promissing even if there are parts that I digress, and I hope the further "chronicles" bring changes that "modernize" L2 and give it more "Western" features because I don't think I will last past CT1.
I know the there have been discussions about the anti-socialism of soloing. But someone needed help with a raid and I had to turn them down because I get 5% XP a buffround with OOP SE and the other 20 times that I went to help I got about .1 for 20 minutes and the raid mob didn't drop anything of use to anyone in the raid, except to suit the purpose of the person who needed it (noblesse raid).
The game makes me choose between fun-factor and advancement of my character, and that leaves an open wound.
Still here for the same reasons stated by the OP, but it's wearing thin.
I can pay for only 1 account in another game and advance just as quickly with more fun factor.
Probably open 2 EQ accounts for me and my roomate this weekend.
I guess I'm getting a little down about the game because there are so many debates that shouldn't need to be made. Debates about imbalances, illegit toons, etc. It's just a waste of player time and all of our money. If NCSoft cares about the our subscriptions they will do something about it.
Love the game, but the game is not "fine" atm. Sorry.
especially when a player hasn't even reached the halfway point in leveling/character advancement (which I equate to A Grade level).
Grr, just when I think I'm getting somewhere... I hate you.
lol, well, that might be true if you consider the xp "grind" but a player in A grade with 4% xp and a player in the same A grade with 75% xp are still going to be able to do the same things (just based on all things be equal).
Well, I couldn't resist tagging on to grazzt's thread. I too love this game--was just saying it again last night as a matter of fact.
I logged in and found I'd made 10 million in a weapon sale, jumped on my DA and found 125k in an adena field, played a couple buff rounds for a few % while chatting with friends, drank a beer, jumped on a low alt to accomplish something I'd been wanted to do with some recipe transfers, and then logged in my new little rogue for a few minutes...
I appreciate knowing that after about 19 months, an A-grade toon, a B-grade toon, 4 C-grade toons and probably another 15 varied D-grade toons----that I still have so much to learn about the game. There is so much content I haven't even looked up yet (because it hasn't arrived for my A-grader). That's what I like...that it's complicated and diverse and involved.
I still feel like there are years worth of stuff for me to learn and experience while I eek my way to 70 and beyond---which is cool imo.
~D~
EV is a wonderful place to level. On full settings it's just pure eye candy. Sadly none of the characters I have can level there anymore. Nearly all melee oriented mobs boo.