The reasons why this game doesn't hook me.

[Sir Víve]

I think I've figured out what I don't like about this gameplay and why it doesn't hook me. When I think of an open-world game, I think, let me log on and go explore and grind an area for resources and possibly PvP, maybe grind a boss if I want to. This game is all about, let me go beat the next boss and upgrade my castle and gear for the next area of progression.

Basically, it isn't open-world enough. It's a linear progression through a tree of upgrades to get to an end area and boss. There isn't really much to do besides that in-between. There is no option to randomly grind something that is of value through all progressions of the game.

For example, there could be a random drop required to repair gear and it always has value for all repairs on all gear. It could be gotten through just grinding random mobs in certain cities. Another example could be having reagents used in casting spells that can only be gotten through grinding spell casters. I'm sure I could come up with at least 10 things to grind randomly that's needed throughout the game.

It would keep me interested in logging on just to randomly grind something rather than this linear focus of gotta beat a boss to upgrade a crafting station, then gotta beat a boss to progress to next tier of gear, then move to next area and repeat till you get to the end. This just seems like a short, less open-world RPG playthrough when I'm looking for more of a random choice, open-world survival-crafter.

Survival crafters usually have the downfall of eventually stock piling so much that I don't really need anything else and "feel" like there's no reason to play the game other than to PvP. However, I think this could be fixed with a degradation system that keeps players from stock piling too much over what they plan to use in the next week, or by just limiting storage. I wouldn't even mind a system where I kill mobs over and over for a chance to find armor pieces, rather than crafting them permanently. That way there's a constant grind to replenish gear from decay, breaking, or losing them in PvP. It could even be an option as a choice of grind other than crafting armor.

Basically, when I do something in this game, there is barely any reason to repeat it more than once. Maybe gathering metals takes 2-3 runs before moving on to the next tier of stuff and so on, but that is barely what I would call repeatable content. Plus, most stuff can be auto-grinded through the castle gardens, graves, and servant hunts.

I'm sure there are some that don't want a grindy game, but if the game is fun to grind then why not. There are some grinds that are just boring, but as a PvP player it's what keeps the emergent interactions and game interesting if done in a fun way that feels immersive. To have a grind like this might be bad as just a PvE game; however, I really thought of this game as more an open-world survival crafter that you could immerse yourself in and find random things to keep doing.

When people talk of longevity in PvP games, this is what they talk of. As for PvE, they usually lose their novelty and interest no matter what compared to the competitive nature of PvP, unless they use rogue-like tactics or have some self-competitive nature with increasing difficulty or beat-your-own-score. This is usually the choice you have to make in game design when picking between PvP and PvE, as well and why compromising for both sides of the spectrum ends up feeling like there is something missing for both sides, or "watered down." However, I think this is a good one-time playthrough PvE RPG game and they definitely leaned heavy towards that design style. It's just disappointing for me and what I wanted or expected it to turn out to be.

[Hefutoxin]

I think people are mainly here to be a Vampire and build a cool castle. The rest is just gravy.

[Sir Víve]

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

I think people are mainly here to be a Vampire and build a cool castle. The rest is just gravy.

yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations

[Tanyon]

Originally posted by Sir Víve:

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

I think people are mainly here to be a Vampire and build a cool castle. The rest is just gravy.

yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations

"yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations"

No we are simply happy with the game.. and the game-play.. I have 560 hours in this game.. ALL PVE with friends.

They sold over 4M copies and it has a 87% positive rating.. I guess were all just a bunch of simpletons who have no taste. Sorry YOU were disappointed.. go back to RUST or whatever other game you feel is better. Cheers.

[MrJoeygoose]

I 100% agree. i dont care for the game on rails so to speak. i like it but it just doesnt captivate me.

[Sir Víve]

Originally posted by Tanyon:

Originally posted by Sir Víve:

yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations

"yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations"

No we are simply happy with the game.. and the game-play.. I have 560 hours in this game.. ALL PVE with friends.

They sold over 4M copies and it has a 87% positive rating.. I guess were all just a bunch of simpletons who have no taste. Sorry YOU were disappointed.. go back to RUST or whatever other game you feel is better. Cheers.

I got my monies worth too. Mine is replaying PvP servers that die after 2 days because of this style of gameplay though, hence my post.

[mykidsnamedme]

Originally posted by Sir Víve:

Originally posted by Tanyon:

"yeah I understand that lots don't care and set low bars for expectations"

No we are simply happy with the game.. and the game-play.. I have 560 hours in this game.. ALL PVE with friends.

They sold over 4M copies and it has a 87% positive rating.. I guess were all just a bunch of simpletons who have no taste. Sorry YOU were disappointed.. go back to RUST or whatever other game you feel is better. Cheers.

I got my monies worth too. Mine is replaying PvP servers that die after 2 days because of this style of gameplay though, hence my post.

Because PVP in any ARPG dies though.

Just play a MOBA.

Not sure why devs even bother honestly.

[Sir Víve]

Originally posted by mykidsnamedme:

Because PVP in any ARPG dies though.

Just play a MOBA.

Not sure why devs even bother honestly.

I love MOBAs, but I have yet to see a good open-world survival PvP game. I've played a few that tried and failed because nobody seems to understand the game design concepts needed to make it good. Outside of Rust, which is good but depends mostly on other players to make the content, there aren't any good PvEvP open-world games that focuses and uses design choices that revolve around PvP progression and design.

The fact that games introduce PvP into games that don't have the correct game design or that compromises the game design with the thought of acquiring a wider audience, which ends up watering it down on both sides of design choice, is why I make this post.

I believe that there is still untapped potential for good game design, in this genre particularly, and that not everything has been exhausted to the point of nothing new ever being revealed. I know some things depend on the advancement of tech, but I've seen too many games miss the point or compromise the design to say that "this is just how it is."

I understand why you say this, though. It does seem, with the repetition of the same designs in games, that this is just how it is.