A warning from an ex-player

[Violet]

I give a warning to those in steam who want this game and are wondering if it is worth it. I'll give my personal experience. I played the game for two solid years. I believe this gives me at least some experience with the old content, no experience with the new one though. I had a level 101 Venomancer, a level 70 Cleric, a level 67 Barbarian, and a level 50ish assassin. Now let's begin.

I'll start with the pros of this game, as being with a game for two years does merit a reason. The biggest pros was the small niche of friends I managed to accumulate over my time in PWI. I'll say this, an MMO is not made for it's gameplay or mechanics. It is made to be played with others and enjoyed as such. Running solo is NOT fun, never mistake that fact. The other things I enjoyed would have been trying the other classes, as they are all different and unique to the game and yes. The holy trinity is in full swing here and that makes parties fun and it is always nice knowing what class is responsible for what. The PvP, though broken, shined in the Territory wars. Seeing hundreds of players all lagging together in glorious harmony is amazing.

Now for the bulk... the cons. I'll keep these short and sweet, trying not to rant on a single topic for long. PvE... Oh PvE how I loved you. Let me just state here, this game is old school. As in, by the time you hit 30-40 you are spending your free time smacking monsters around. I mean, you'll get a quest that has you needing to defeat 20-30 monsters to get the reward. Doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that number increases as you get higher. When I finished with my high level veno I was having quests that required you to kill 50-60 of the same monster. Yes it is very tedious. Second, mid game grind. Leveling in this game can be a pain. The first few levels are easy, but this is how exp works. Every new level is twice as much exp as the previous. So lvl1-2 is 10 exp 2-3 is 20, 3-4 is 40, ect. Now early this isn't a problem. When you are spending your late game trying to get 1mil exp, then it is. Mid game is netorious for having a slow grind because there are few quests that give good exp besides your dailies. A full round of dailies can give a full level, until 60-70 when it gives maybe 20-30% of a level. Then it's back to grinding. This next one is a bit personal for me. Balancing. This game is not balanced. Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. Venomancers used to be the Queens of PvE because they had a pet that could tank for them. Ever since Tideborn came out years ago, the assassins took that niche. When a dps can tank and solo a world boss that would normally take a whole faction to complete... Then you have dev problems. The assassins can reach 5 attacks per second an have a self heal that heals per 2% damage dealt. That wasn't the greatest offense, there are plenty of others that I won't get into here. Finally, my biggest grivence. This game is pure, to it's core, pay to win. Want a quick exp boost? Pay. Want the best gear? Pay. Want to talk to the whole world? Pay. As with most PtW games, this problem doesn't become apperent until much later into the game. The end game, R9 gear, when the components are on sale, comes to around $1,000.00 Yep... Realisticly it's around 850-900 because you'll probably buy some of the gear with the gold you have earned, still it's rediculously expensive. That doesn't include the price to upgrade it either. If you want the absolute best gear... I'd wager you'll drop $3,000. into the game before you get it. That's if you get lucky. The best gear boosting shards (which increase stats like HP or defense outside of what the armor provides) are 100% random in packs. Most with a low percent to recieve. I'm talking 2-3% the greatest rewards are less than 1%. There is fair chances, then there's imposibility. PWI chooses imposibility.

This is my warning to those playing. End game gear, which if you are playing an MMO should be your ultimate goal outside of the social aspect, is a grind fest without money. I'm talking 400-500 hour grind and you still have a chance of someone hacking your account, taking everything, and having the mods do nothing to reimburse you for it. Even if you spent thousands of dollars. Now I'll stop before I feel my hair turning grey from reliving my old experiences. If anyone has questions, definitely post them below. I couldn't explain everything here in one big post. I'll be happy to answer to the best of my ability.

[Sapphic Meow]

All Perfect World MMOs are P2W. PW perfectly outlines the "Asian grind MMO" Pay to Win model.

Why I prefer to stay with sub based MMOs. As they generally have a better community and you get everything in game without having to pay ridiculous cash shop prices. Which are more often than not overpriced as they have to recoup costs from those willing to pay for the overpriced items to cover those who don't.

[Green Spartan]

that wasnt short and sweet at all:D
but year r9 destroyed everything from public events to economy.Get r9....solo everything....win all events....not to mention tw is won by those wh o have the moust r9s..
and what is the ideea of having multiple endgame gear like G17 or G16 if R9 makes them feel like lv 1 equipment

[Zadarsky]

Good post, though your informations are a bit outdated since its now very easy to lvl up, quests are much shorter and gives more exp, quests gives gears that are equal to TT gears and you dont even need hyper exp to get level. When i made my stormbringer, it took me 1 month to get it to lvl 100 with just quests and dailys.

As for r9, most people now are able to get r9 with farming or merchanting when you learn what to do. myself i managed to gear up 3 character with full r9rr +10 with 12 weapons and decent cards and gems.

This game is now made for people that learn fast and for people that are good in mmorpgs. Someone that has no experience at all in any mmorpgs will enjoy this game but will take very long to catch up.

[Violet]

@Sapphic Meow: Sadly that's true. Some games do very well offering cosmetics over game play enhancers, though those games are few and far between.

@Alucard: Can't help it if I'm long winded :D But to the point... Assassins 5aps broke the game way before R9. R9 just made for the cherry on top because it broke any assemblence of balance between players. You can't "out play" a person who can do 50% more damage to you, no matter how good you are :c

@Nimao: I quit years ago, back when Archosaur was still a server. I actually tried getting back into it a few months back (I say this as I look at the launch icon on my desktop), sadly it just kinda... fell appart. The thing about it is that... Getting R9 will still cost you, if not in money in time. Spending 100 hours (very rough estimate) to get 1 R9 piece is crazy to even think about. That's also not including the reputation which you will probably buy because getting... what was it? 50k rep? something... Is just too much. I have no experience leveling up a new character, besides knowing it is much easier to get to level 30 to start your main BH dailies. When I played it was a grind fest and the community was toxic. I mean... I play league of legends and was surprised by how nice people where and wondered why everyone said League community was bad haha. All in all, the game wasn't bad. The old world was neglected for so long that it is showing it's age badly. From monsters to stats. They made leveling easier because they will lose business for those trying so hard to rank up with their friends. Even added releveling to boost new player experience. They do these things yet they refuse to balance the game. I mean... I played venomancer for 2 years, Still have no idea why fox form has no weapon scaling and instead scales off base damage. Half of the venomancer is a waste, their choice of pets are garbage, and again... Grind for gear? Grind for pet? Grind grind grind. Where I once saw a game that florished from the love and care taken to make such a massive world with a ton of content... I now only see a broken mess, the devs chosing to ignore their base design and focus it into shiny new places that make their main city creek under the weight of age. I loved my venomancer to death. I loved her so much that it was heart breaking to leave the game. But for the sake of myself I had to. Maybe you don't understand, maybe you do, but I put two years... It's hard to understand if someone spent a month leveling up to 100. I spent the better part of a year leveling up to the mid 70s, then the next few months in the 90s before finally hitting 100. A few months after getting R8 and being happy, R9 shows up... and everything goes down hill from there. The company broke my trust and thus I can never give it back to them. I'd rather play FFXIV which so far hasn't disappointed me.

[Zack]

Originally posted by Nimao:

As for r9, most people now are able to get r9 with cash shopping. myself i managed to gear up 3 character with full r9rr +10 with 12 weapons and decent cards and gems with only a few thousand dollars.

Corrected it for you.

[Zadarsky]

Originally posted by ♫Despair♫:

Originally posted by Nimao:

As for r9, most people now are able to get r9 with cash shopping. myself i managed to gear up 3 character with full r9rr +10 with 12 weapons and decent cards and gems with only a few thousand dollars.

Corrected it for you.

most people I know didnt cash shop their r9....

[Zadarsky]

I could make a very long list of ingame friends that didnt cash shop their r9. I could even name you many that could make many alts full r9, even me.

[KrazyOne]

I'm a player from several years back before they forced arc to play pwi. I can tell you R9 gear isn't hard to get. It was getting it imbued 12 that took most of the time and effort. Since you need a protect scroll to avoid failling the imbue process that the only item you really spent money on other than the emblems to make the rank 9 gear. Rest of the stuff can be purchased via in game currency not real cash.

[Violet]

Originally posted by KrazyOne:

I'm a player from several years back before they forced arc to play pwi. I can tell you R9 gear isn't hard to get. It was getting it imbued 12 that took most of the time and effort. Since you need a protect scroll to avoid failling the imbue process that the only item you really spent money on other than the emblems to make the rank 9 gear. Rest of the stuff can be purchased via in game currency not real cash.

I don't know if they lowered the cost, but you must first get the rep for R9, unless they increased rep gain for all quests... I highly doubt you'd have even a quarter of the rep. That is either a grind of quests or a trip to the cash shop. Next you actually need the items, again buy each one for 5mil coin in game or 5 bucks. Working the markets are a possibility, except you have to understand that a game shouldn't force you to make your own cash shop to get the gear you need. And then after that you have to concider, not everyone wants to spend their coin, thus you can go days or weeks without gaining anything. The people you can name are all probably old players who have already spent money in game, thus selling fashion or stuff obtained in packs. Again, money spent. You can't obtain any of the R9 parts (besides rep) from in the game. It is exclusive to the cash shop and to players. Thus is makes it money spent. Period. Someone had to pay for it. There is no arguing this point unless you can show me actual proof of obtaining R9 gear in game, without real money. "It takes money to make money."

[kmalone1]

Rep is pretty easy to get now, not like it used to be. As for rank 9 itself, you can do it without money but you need to seriously no-life the game. The vast majority of people who have r9 paid for it. You can make money in this game with clever merchanting but it takes a lot of time and effort.

[KrazyOne]

Making money is easy if you understand what players seek. Remember there is/was an auction house for items that sell fast. Its the speciality items that take longer to sell. A new player once they reach level 60+ will be able to cash in on the game as they start earning millions a week just doing random dungeons.

Like all MMO's there is a level of grinding to get end game gears. This is true even in the current pay to play versions as well. At least in PWI you can earn everything that is offered in the cash shop wihout paying a single dime out of your real world pockets.

[Violet]

Originally posted by KrazyOne:

Making money is easy if you understand what players seek. Remember there is/was an auction house for items that sell fast. Its the speciality items that take longer to sell. A new player once they reach level 60+ will be able to cash in on the game as they start earning millions a week just doing random dungeons.

Like all MMO's there is a level of grinding to get end game gears. This is true even in the current pay to play versions as well. At least in PWI you can earn everything that is offered in the cash shop wihout paying a single dime out of your real world pockets.

Millions is a bit much. I soloed TT60/70 with my veno and rarely made any profit. 9/10 times all I came away with was a 30-40k repair bill. Sure if the items sell I'll make my money back and then some, IF. The price of an item is not what you think it is, it's what your buyer is willing to pay for it. I've seen one, one gold piece worth 10mil. I've seen people buy all the gold in the AH and sell it all back to players at nearly twice the cost. It's called bully tactics, it's dirty, unfair, and those who do it are generally shunned from the community. I've saw a server wide bounty hunt on that one person. Perfect World is anything but haha. I've opened my eyes to the unjustice on there. I've seen friends who had their accounts hacked, all their R9 gear resharded to low tier shards and all their stuff stolen. I've seen admins deny them reset that person's character even if the person had respectable people backing them. I've seen the community rip itself appart as a troll faction started taking more and more land, only causing drama and nothing else. Honestly I got sick of the bullying and hate, I could only see it after I left. So yes... The economy can be worked around if you want to be a virtual business man/woman I personally just want to enjoy a game with friends who want to have fun instead of rage because of something peddy.

I ended the game a R8 +5 veno with immac def and health shards, with a warsong belt and neck+10 each. I left because my laptop died, I quit when I realized the people there drove me away from the game itself.

[KrazyOne]

Not saying PWI is perfect by any means. I'm saying the hate over the cash shop claiming its pay to win is absurd and incorrect. Does paying cash give you an advantage sure, but not like anything that is available in it is restricted to cash players.

[Len's]

never spend monney for this game , your post are finaly just negative and you want to share the same feeling you having right now by doing the same thing as you leaving the game ,, i dont care about P2W because i dont want to be the best player on the server etc , i just want fun with friend etc

[Violet]

Originally posted by KrazyOne:

Not saying PWI is perfect by any means. I'm saying the hate over the cash shop claiming its pay to win is absurd and incorrect. Does paying cash give you an advantage sure, but not like anything that is available in it is restricted to cash players.

True and I know mmos are a grind fest, that's the whole reason to play, it's a grind to build up your character to be the best it can be, to push yourself to new limits. That's the whole point of a mmo, to push yourself. The problem here is the power descrepency is too large. You buy 45% permanent damage increase and 30% damage resistance. That is the definition of pay to win. Is it possible for a R8 to defeat a R9? Yes it is, but it takes a lot more than the base armor to do it. I sound like a broken record because it is a big deal. By buying into the power curve of the game you are making it known that they can and do get away with it. It's common business practice amoung MMOs. Make you wait for the cool stuff because the longer you play, the more chance your money ends up in their wallets. I don't support the game because the game gave up supporting itself outside of cash grabs. They have more then enough money to pump into remaking the overworld to rehaul it. The whole community thinks making it to end game is the best. I spent hours just searching for cool places to hang out. I found a small camp a friend and me used to just hang out and relax and not be bothered by anyone. I had so many fond memories of the place that it made me stay. I wanted to get better and TT gear is so underwelming that it is hardly worth the grind. Narvana gear is nice but just barely better than R8 so why not throw 300$ into the game to grab your R8? Then R9 came around and they asked for more. Not directly, but if you wanted it you either had to be filthy rich or do nothing but solo TT for mats, if enough people do that the market crashes because of over saturation of mats then you aren't even breaking even after repairs. Then the only thing left to sell are things bought from the cash shop, or be the only veno and camp pet grounds to grab rare pets to sell. When an entire faction is around one veno so that they can capture the Dino pet and prevent her from being killed... you have issues. The problem with the game is not the base game. The problem with the game is the added content that... for the most part on the whole, made the game worse, not better for the casual player.

Originally posted by Lenfer:

never spend monney for this game , your post are finaly just negative and you want to share the same feeling you having right now by doing the same thing as you leaving the game ,, i dont care about P2W because i dont want to be the best player on the server etc , i just want fun with friend etc

And what happens when your friends get R9, when your friends find that the big factions are recruiting and paying them millions for Territory wars? What happens when they leave you because you just don't do enough damage and their squad won't accept you? P2W is corruption at the deepest level of a game. Cosmetics are fine, smilies are fine, charms (though developmently broken) are fine, buying permenet damage increase and decreases is not fine. The point of an MMO is to advance, to go to a goal. If you aren't then you are just not experiencing the game to it's fullest. It's fine to play with friends, infact I encourge it, but where is the line in the sand? R9 obviously was that line because of the community backlash. I was there when R9 hit live servers, I was there when all the big factions started making space for only R9s. I was there when long lasting friendships where broken because R9 made it impossible to enjoy anything. When one person would run a whole dungeon then charge people for the bosses. Or when you see all the world bosses are dead just before your faction comes to have an awesome gathering all because the word slipped out and the rival faction and their R9 sins came and soloed the thing just to spite you. I saw the hatred power brought to the community because when you buy power, when you buy your short cut to greatness, you prove that you can't get there on your own. The problem is when the game is so dead set against you to not reach the end goal, then you are stuck. Do you buy power? Or wait 3 months for double drop rates so you can attempt to farm your gear? And even when you try to farm your gear, 6 people to a party, 4 drops, 2 reserves for the healer and tank, 50-50 chance you get the materials you need. When you need 50-60 of these items to make gear... is it worth your time? You could farm your gear, if you are accepted into these runs because the people you compete with are all R9 and your damage just isn't as good.

Say what you will, but my opinion will not change. Your arguments that PWI has a system worth putting money into will always be false. I'll happily pay another company that puts their heart into making their game worth my time, then into a company that leaves bugs lying around that I have to reinstall to fix. A company that has horrible customer service and won't defend loyal players. A company that knows no sense of fair play and refuses to balance a game over a decade old. A company that forces an application that shoots adds into my face just so I can login to my account. Their response to the dwindling player base? Make the game faster to get to end game, end game content that costs you money to make timely advancement. Time is money, the longer you play the more money you will spend. Simple as that.