I quit today

I have yet to really quit PS2, but as a Designer, I *greatly* benefit from people posting on why they've quit, feel like quitting, have just stopped playing, or have just started to play less. Likewise with anybody new, playing more, etc. It's all data that helps me to better understand the player responses to and feelings towards gameplay/changes/etc., and it feeds back into my better understanding player response to the PS2 experience and gaming experiences in general. I have learned a lot this way, and I highly value that knowledge and appreciate those sources that helped me get it.

If/When you do quit, I would love to hear feedback on the whys of it if you are game.

Look man. PVP literally means player vs player. It originated in MUD's (text based online rpgs) and simply meant that you could attack or steal from another player. Hence PVP. They also had PVE or player vs environment where you interacted with non player characters. That's all it means. Period.

All that other stuff you tacked on there is simply what PVP means to YOU for this particular game.

There is no code of ethics one must abide by or not abide by for something to qualify as pvp. One must simply engage another player for it to qualify as pvp.

For some people in some games PVP means being the villain, killing or stealing from anyone they can, for others it means being the hero and defending each other from villains but it all boils down to the same thing, engaging other players. The how, where and when you can engage other players depends on the game.

The why always lies with player. Your "why" doesn't have to be the same as my "why" for it to be pvp.

My why is simple. I like to shoot, stab and blow **** up, usually on the way to some kind of objective. Dominating someone to the point of them quitting the game forever seems fairly contrary to that. If there is no one to shoot stab or blow up I'm not having fun. Closing a server down because I made everyone quit? What's fun about that? I LOVE this game and I want more people to play and have fun.

This isn't a war you win. It's a battle here or an alert there. It's a biolab that you successfully dropped the scu and held down. It's a massive tank battle outside of quartz ridge.

Population imbalance is a symptom of a problem. It's not the "end game" which you seem to think it should be. I am absolutely positive that DBG agrees with me on this and is continuing to come up with ways to address it.

Guilt trip won't work. Sorry I've already made my mind, and will continue on this course. The only way to make me stop is to beat me at my own game. In which I also win. Because that's exactly what I want people to try to do. You have to be just as ruthless as I am to stop me.

What happened to Deathtoll will happen here. Its a matter of time. It could be years, but it will happen.

But you are right about one thing. I am imposing my will upon other players. That's what I see PVP as. I control what my opponents are capable of doing and they only have the choice to fight it or to quit. Its a match of will.

If I was schoolyard bullying, I'd go for the personal attack, which I have not. There's nothing personal against anyone.

Pretty accurate, except you might just get ignored half the time.

You talk a mean game but I am willing to bet that's all it is. You run your own outfit? You have dozens if not hundreds of players following you into battle? Because that's what it would take in this game. This isn't EQ where you can take on the world with the right group of power gamers. Here you need the zerg. So what's your outfits name? I want to bare witness to your "conquest".

Sorry, but no, when I do choose to quit I simply wont be back, that how it works.

If I have any complaints while I'm here, I'll voice them, but when I'm gone, I'm gone.

No.

I just don't cry about it... bro.

Nor do I seek attention for my own failures

Wonderful. Life goes on.

Anyone else going pretend their outlook on life is the way to go?

All right then. You like a challenge? I'm going to build a hive/base with a few friends on Hossim. Come solo it. If you think you can bring down a server, you easily could bring down 1 lonely hive.

But no perhaps you won't do that. KDR is your life.

You said you were quitting, now you want to make challenges and go for the personal attack? You weren't even able to get outside your warpgate.

Read through again. Personal attack? Don't be so sensitive. It's just trash talk. I'm calling you out.

Fair enough, your call. To each their own.

its dangerous to go alone her take this

This whole talk about competitiveness and having your goal to make everyone quit made me think. The most played games of today, MOBAs, CS:GO, have competitive modes with low player count and skill brackets. You are placed within your own skill bracket and you can never feel like you are overpowering someone or that someone is overpowering you (disregarding smurf accounts, but that's just playing around the system and not accepted). People feel like it's a fair game and can develop their skill over time without feeling dominated while doing so. Is it possible that one of the main reasons od the decline of players in PS2 is exactly that disparity in skill? People, over time, progressively quitting the game because they get tired of being outplayed? It might be like survival of the fittest, the pool of players is getting thinned out and the best remain. It could also explain very low player retention that would compensate for the players leaving. Most of new players have no interest in investing hundreds of hours learning basic and advanced quirks of the game just to have somewhat of a chance to beat the plentiful veterans of the game. Maybe that's just the lifetime of PVP games like this, there's a minority of people that invest to learn the game completely, to the bone, and dominate others that don't. Since you can't have fun getting outplayed for long , you quit.

I think that's what Taemien meant, and while I wouldn't do the same by my own will and don't wholeheartedly accept it like him, you don't really have a choice. Playing your best is the only way to have long-term fun, you can talk what you want, but holding back and being overplayed is going to erode your fun. People worse than you are going to quit. The game wasn't designed to segregate between lower and higher-skilled people, and regardless of your opinion and philosophy about the situation, the outcome will be the same. You will make others quit or you'll quit.

PS2 is actually more fair than it appears. The only things you need is determination, cooperation, and the willingness to learn. You don't need to be good in this game to succeed. You just need to be willing to learn and think outside the box. And you do need to be willing to cooperate with others. I'm going to explain this a bit further. Some of you might have seen me say this before however in other threads.

There are three aspects needed for successful online gaming. These work in just about any multiplayer game. But they are the most important here in PS2 to have in complete balance or harmony if you will.

1. What you know.

What you know is your personal skill. Experience and skill do go a long way. Its the difference between knocking someone down, or turning into a casualty that opens up a line in your forces or exposing a flank. Its knowing which routes to take at which base, what weapons to use when, and general accuracy. Its the first thing listed, but hardly the most important.

2. What you have.

What you have is your personal gear, battle ranks, and anything else unlocked. Little tough to deal with aircraft with a default lockon (though What you know can help with that.. you're still a gimped though). Having the right tools for the right situation. This synergies with the first aspect pretty well because knowing the right tool is as important as having it.

3. Who you know.

Who you know is the most overlooked aspect of PS2 and multiplayer games in general. You could be the best equipped and skilled player in all of PS2. But you will die repeatedly to a platoon of noobs dropped on your head. Who you know encompasses your ingame and somewhat out of game social networks. This is your squad, platoon, outfit, and even faction and how you interact with them. If you intend to lead, then your personal charisma, leadership, and ability to motivate others is important. If you intend to follow, you ability to communicate situations and execute the goal is important here.

For someone starting PS2. You don't have many of the above. You no experience, no gear, and likely no outfit or friends to call on. Building all that is intimidating. Many people just grind it out, getting experience and unlocks (aka the cert grind). But then run into issues that could easily be solved by running with a group.

I was fortunate. Early on I was apart of a decent outfit that ran platoons and squads nearly 24/7. Outfits back then were large enough to do this. Once I got more experience under my belt, I stepped up my game and joined Recursion for a few months. Had a bit of a hiatus from PS2 and when I came back, a few friends and I just ran smaller squad stuff, occasionally joining open platoons here and there. Once I rolled TR about a year ago, I joined a close knit outfit and have been with them since.

I've applied these aspects to PS2 mainly. But I try to apply them to every game I play. Archeage, Black Desert, Everquest, World of Warcraft, MechWarrior Online, ect. Its served me well and allows me to play in a higher capacity than I could just 'casually'. Which is the ironic part. I'm considered HardCore by many standards. That I play way too much. What's ironic about that is I probably play these games less than the players who make such an accusation.

Players like the OP who acts threatened or even offended by my the way I describe it. Here's an example:

He says this after I explain what PVP is in a nutshell. I've played a few PVP games and its always been like this. But yet in his OP he posts this:

And expects me to take such 'trash talk' in stride. No.. that's not simple trash talk. He made his intentions clear. He intends to quit. He also intends to make a spectacle about it to garner some form of pity. He's ticked off at me because I stole his thunder and marginalized his false post.

Here's another example of a false post:

False challenge he never intended to go through with. Didn't indicate a faction nor a server. Yeah like I'm going to delete a character so I can go searching for some random hive on some random server at 4am. And then the 'KDR is your life'. Where the hell was KDR brought up in this thread?

OP has got some issues. I think he should take his own advice and quit. He's offended by an opinion of PVP. I don't know what people said to him before RadarX cleaned it up. But he's still got his jimmies rustled from it.

Everyone should play the game how they wish. I've never said anything against that. But if you're offended or disgruntled by the way I play. I don't know what to tell you all. But like I said, peer pressure and personal attacks won't change my opinion, nor my playstyle. But I will say this, personal attack, troll, or flame at your own peril.

Rebalance the xp/certs earned.

You're a BR 120 and you killed/assisted killed bunch of sub BR 20s. The kills still count, but you earned 0 kills/assists towards any directives or xp.

You're a BR 20 and you lucky killed a BR 120. You get a major xp boost.

That would do absolutely nothing. BR 70-80s don't care about xp, let alone higher ones. Low BR's won't care much either, they will still get killed and a little more xp won't help.

And even if xp mattered to you, you can't exactly pick who you kill even if you wanted to avoid killing low levels.

If you're outpopped like that you can get some pretty good farm going yourself. Just sneak behind their firing line(s) as an infil and cause havoc.

Emerald, Hossin. If you can't do it, that's cool. Realistically, you can pick any server you want. I have only a couple players.

Appreciate the feedback though. I always wonder how I should think, live and pvp. Also it's good seeing people with the ability to be omniscient in the awareness of others intentions. Quite the talent.

You have to make it worth it. A little won't do it.