I have been playing as a paid member since launch. Over the last couple of expansions, a theme has developed that makes this game very unfun. That theme is: Repetition I have no problem running the zones and quest lines and getting good rewards and being done until the next expansion. The down time gives me time to look through my quest lines and fill in the gaps, or decorate a house. But that stuff is not fun when I have work to do grinding the zones daily and throwing pumpkins. It's kind of wierd, but it feels like I have to a job before I can relax and enjoy.
Just so you know it's not just you -- I feel the same way. I've (mostly) had a subscription since launch, but now I've let my sub lapse and just have a few Krono left to use when I feel the urge. Repetition is decidedly unfun
My views have changed about how games should be consumed over time, and I really understand where this sentiment comes from. Games should be fun, they should entertain us. Obviously everyone perceives fun differently, so what is fun to some might not be fun to others. However, here's where I step off the reservation. I think that time away from a game is healthy. Extended time away. Play other games, go see what else you enjoy. When you come back, your perspective will have changed. Perhaps you'll enjoy the return even more because of your changed perspective. Perhaps you'll ask yourself why you're wasting your time. Either case is a win for you. Eventually, it's also a win for the game you've stepped away from as well as that game's community. Jaded players create a negative environment in the community, which is unhealthy. Sticking around and continuing to support a development cycle you don't enjoy gives the developer the wrong signals. Remember, developers don't listen to what you say, they listen to what you do. It's a key point that very few people actually understand.
When you start feeling that your game has become a job? It might be time to take a break. Ideally, finding something else to fill your spare time. But even another game would be fine too. Just something fun.
I don't think encouraging players to take a break is a viable option for the game or players. It puts players behind the curve, in leveling, and it deprives DBG of income it needs to survive. A better option is for DBG to stop the endless grinding that comes from building faction with opposing groups which seems to be the focus of PoP. I don't mind building faction, if it doesn't hurt my standing with another group, but building faction with one group, while destroying it with another, sucks imho. To my way of thinking, offering great rewards, for each faction earned, is more enjoyable than making one, or two, groups madder at you with every bit of faction you earn from another group. Offering fantastic recipes, to encourage crafting, great house items, and unique items, such as access to travel baubles or rez potions, makes more sense in preventing burnout. People don't burnout from doing things they love even if it is repetitious. "Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands." (https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm). Just as it is up to employers to make sure their employees don't burnout, it is up to DBG to design a game that doesn't lead to burnout. Exploration, with nifty rewards, is a good way to start. But those rewards have to be random drops, like Easter eggs, that surprise and delight the player. They have to drop often enough to keep the player engaged and they need to be tradeable so that even if the character can't personally use the item the item can be sold or given to someone who can use the item. This is just one, of many ways, the game can be made fresh again. Another problem with the game is time. Having to do things in a certain amount of time, or wait out a certain amount of time, causes stress. Stress leads to burnout. There should be no time restraints with dungeons or quests that are part of the signature line. I found the time restraints, with KA, very stressful as they kept players from being able to help me because they were timed out or I was. Furthermore, a person who helps out another player should get some type of bonus as they are losing advancement and money by helping out. There should be some way for the player being helped to tag the helper (who has already completed the mission or quest) so it is rewarded appropriately. I am sure other players can think of ways to make this game more rewarding to play. If the people at DBG really want to keep this game viable, and thus their jobs viable, they need to listen and consider the suggestions.
Actually, it's the only option. I think I said it in another thread, but the bottom line is that developers - any developers - do not listen to what you say, they listen to what you do. If you continue to pay them, they hear you. If you stop paying them, they hear you. Posting threats, pleas and even reasoned arguments is largely meaningless. Your influence starts and stops with you signing their paycheck every month. I have walked away from EQ2 a number of times when I found it no longer worth my entertainment dollars. I come back, see what has changed and become available, and decide every month whether they are still earning their paycheck in my eyes or not. If they are, I keep playing and paying them. If not, I walk away again. Perspective is something that is very difficult to explain until you have it. It is difficult, one might even say impossible, to gain perspective from inside a given situation. How bad or good is the EQ2 Dev team? You can't honestly know that until you have the perspective gained from personal insight into the workings of various developer teams. Why? Because what you find fun is different than what I find fun. One development team might create content that is perfect for me, and thus I'd be very likely to continue to play that game. You might hate the game. Fun is the bottom line everyone should adhere to with any game. If it isn't fun, you shouldn't play it. It doesn't matter that you've played it for 1 week or 10 years . . . if it isn't fun, stop paying the the salary of people who are not entertaining you.
I'm lucky, Sudedor, that there is plenty of content I do find fun, such as decorating, that doesn't depend on new content. I spend most of my time on content that is tried and true and only do enough new content to get by if I don't like it. That is simply so I can help others if they need it. That's how I keep from burning out trying to do content that is a total time sink with little reward for my play style. So even if PoP turns out to be a turkey I should have enough to keep me busy till new content is released.
Kunark had such a great story line and adventure. Just missing the good ole days. I have never stopped paying for my subscription, so if they listen to the money, then why did they change the gaming style?
If its time to take a break...its time to take a break. Only each of us can answer that question for themselves. I've taken multiple breaks also. To play other games, to just chill from gaming in general. For the most part, I've always kept my sub going though...cause 15 bucks, ya know (shrug)
I agree, i have left the game a couple of times, at one point just because the game was flat out unplayable with constant crashing and memory leaks. but it gave me time away to look at some other games what i liked and disliked about them. when i came back i tred to make suggestions on things that the majority of players liked about other games to try and get those added into this one for an added fun feature. but seems that alot of those idea's get twisted into some failed execution retrospect of what was good about it into something that is "Unfun"
From what I've seen in the podcast video, and first impressions on Beta, their intention is to allow everybody an easier start-up through providing start gear right away, which also once again enables all alts to start at the same terms and go on from there. Even the epic 2.0 weapon isn't as important to have, though some kind of "surprise" is promised to those who made the effort, whatever that will turn up to be. Now this game owners are notoriously conservative about their way to develop the game, which always includes some grinding to a certain point, debatably less in the upcoming Planes of Prophecy expac but that remains to be seen. Which includes new expac gear to replace all effort done in previous expac, sad as the re-start might be at times. Which also includes pursuing own ideas and not always listening to player suggestions - though they do listen sometimes, they just don't communicate as often and / or extensive as we'd maybe like, and mostly using other social media sites instead of these official forums. Some very long-standing bugs like the game's memory leak which causes it to crash after changing a certain amount of zones, probably will never get fixed either, same goes for enabling all disc / carpet mounts to be used as appearance for flying mounts, even if half-promised at one point a few years ago. Admittedly I do get annoyed with the game (and respectively people working on it) quite often as well, but then again it is noticeable they're trying to do what they can, with the limited crew they have (whatever the financial / organizational specifics behind that might be, we will not know for sure), and the older content 4 down and lower expacs continues to provide lots of fun no matter what. So while I don't really give them too much benefit of the doubt and get disappointed often, I can't also deny the fact that they do work in their own way on the game and there's always new content for people to do - if acceptable. It could maybe have been handled in a better way, but since most people do accept their terms and prices - and they do, it continues to work as it is right now.
