Post by erictheblue on Aug 1, 2011 16:31:27 GMT -5
Since about January, my fiancee and I have been playing this not-really-free-to-play MMO. Overall, the game is pretty fun. I can't figure out the story behind the game, but that's OK. The quests are entertaining, the classes are fun (for the most part), and at low levels, it doesn't require running instances over and over to level. (At mid-to-high levels, it does help to run daily quests every day, as you get XP and gold.)
Recently, though, I've been running into some issues with the game. After thinking about it for a while, I've realized I have 2 problems.
1) The game is technically F2P. The items in the cash shop can either be bought with the tokens you get for doing dailies, or by using in-game gold to buy "diamonds" (the bought-with-real-money currency). Prior to the expansion coming out (early June), diamonds sold for about 9-11K gold each, so once you got to LVL 45 or so, you had enough gold to buy diamonds. Now, however, diamonds sell for 20-30K each, meaning a much higher level is required before you can afford them. (You cannot buy diamonds 1 or 2 at a time. The way it works is the buyer tells the seller what item in the cash shop they want. The seller buys the item with diamonds and the buyer mails the gold. Cash shop items are required to do endgame, as they are the only way to stat up armor and weapons. (Cash shop items run from 70 to 999 diamonds. The ones required for end-game run about 300 diamonds each, though often go on sale for 200 diamonds. It takes 3-5 to stat 1 piece of armor or 1 weapon.)
My fiancee and I have bought diamonds (with real money), and I didn't have a problem with it at first. But I was hoping to get to the point where I no longer had to spend real money; I could just spend in-game gold. Now that is seeming a lot less likely, especially since the number of diamond sellers has dramatically reduced. As for using the daily quest rewards, it would take 25 days to get enough to stat 1 piece.
As my fiancee said to me last night when we were talking about it, I would be happier with a subscription-based MMO, because you know what you are getting, and everyone is on an even footing. (If I put in 30 hours, I should have access to the same - or similar - stuff as someone else who put in 30 hours.) Or with a game where cash shop items are luxuries, but not required. (In other words, you can play without buying anything, but maybe it's a little easier if you do buy. Like XP potions or the like.)
2) At low levels, it is possible to play solo, or with pick-up groups. If you want gear for end-game, though, about 2/3 of the way through, you have to start running instances. Repeatedly. It's the only way to get all the gear. Of course, by the time you have all of one set, you have leveled enough to need the next set.
I used to laugh at WoW players for that kind of thing, wondering who in their right mind would want to do the same thing, over and over. But now, our main characters are to the point where we will have to start running instances, and the idea makes me somewhat nauseous.
We have a great guild, so that is not a problem. To me, it's no different than the reason I quit DDO years ago. (I bought it when it first came out.) You log on, look for a group, wait for everyone to meet up at the instance, run the instance, have people leave the group, look for a new group, rinse and repeat.
My other problem is that I hate "backpacking." (Being a tag-along while the high-level characters do all the work.) If I run a LVL 45 instance at LVL 50, I want to contribute, not have the LVL 60s one-shot everything while I just roll for drops. But that is what our guild does. High-levels are expected to bring lower-levels along on runs to help the lowbies get gear. On the other hand, I can't really say "you know what, I'm going to reject your help." If I want to actually do the work, I'd have to get 5 other people of around my level who are willing to do it the hard way, rather than just tag along.
I'm really torn on what to do. If my fiancee wasn't playing, I would quit in a heartbeat. The game just isn't what I want to play. But she is playing, and she loves it. And I enjoy playing with her.
Maybe I'm just in a foul mood because I got kicked in the teeth last night in-game. Our guild was running a 2 week contest for contributions to the guild (harvestables and guild runes). The reward for harvestables was a helmet I couldn't use, but I wanted the reward for donating the most guild runes. I collected all the guild runes my primary and alts had and sent them to my primary (the one in the guild), had my fiancee send me all the guild runes she got, then hit the in-game auction house to buy guild runes. I bought all the stacks I could afford, but there were several people selling stacks of 500 or 999 for prices I just could not pay. (The stack of 999 was going for 7M gold. I had 5.5M at the time.) I lost to someone who bought out the auction house. I'm not angry or bitter - after all, I hit the AH too - but I am discouraged. I did everything I could, but because my character was 10 levels lower, I just did not have the money to spend.
Recently, though, I've been running into some issues with the game. After thinking about it for a while, I've realized I have 2 problems.
1) The game is technically F2P. The items in the cash shop can either be bought with the tokens you get for doing dailies, or by using in-game gold to buy "diamonds" (the bought-with-real-money currency). Prior to the expansion coming out (early June), diamonds sold for about 9-11K gold each, so once you got to LVL 45 or so, you had enough gold to buy diamonds. Now, however, diamonds sell for 20-30K each, meaning a much higher level is required before you can afford them. (You cannot buy diamonds 1 or 2 at a time. The way it works is the buyer tells the seller what item in the cash shop they want. The seller buys the item with diamonds and the buyer mails the gold. Cash shop items are required to do endgame, as they are the only way to stat up armor and weapons. (Cash shop items run from 70 to 999 diamonds. The ones required for end-game run about 300 diamonds each, though often go on sale for 200 diamonds. It takes 3-5 to stat 1 piece of armor or 1 weapon.)
My fiancee and I have bought diamonds (with real money), and I didn't have a problem with it at first. But I was hoping to get to the point where I no longer had to spend real money; I could just spend in-game gold. Now that is seeming a lot less likely, especially since the number of diamond sellers has dramatically reduced. As for using the daily quest rewards, it would take 25 days to get enough to stat 1 piece.
As my fiancee said to me last night when we were talking about it, I would be happier with a subscription-based MMO, because you know what you are getting, and everyone is on an even footing. (If I put in 30 hours, I should have access to the same - or similar - stuff as someone else who put in 30 hours.) Or with a game where cash shop items are luxuries, but not required. (In other words, you can play without buying anything, but maybe it's a little easier if you do buy. Like XP potions or the like.)
2) At low levels, it is possible to play solo, or with pick-up groups. If you want gear for end-game, though, about 2/3 of the way through, you have to start running instances. Repeatedly. It's the only way to get all the gear. Of course, by the time you have all of one set, you have leveled enough to need the next set.
I used to laugh at WoW players for that kind of thing, wondering who in their right mind would want to do the same thing, over and over. But now, our main characters are to the point where we will have to start running instances, and the idea makes me somewhat nauseous.
We have a great guild, so that is not a problem. To me, it's no different than the reason I quit DDO years ago. (I bought it when it first came out.) You log on, look for a group, wait for everyone to meet up at the instance, run the instance, have people leave the group, look for a new group, rinse and repeat.
My other problem is that I hate "backpacking." (Being a tag-along while the high-level characters do all the work.) If I run a LVL 45 instance at LVL 50, I want to contribute, not have the LVL 60s one-shot everything while I just roll for drops. But that is what our guild does. High-levels are expected to bring lower-levels along on runs to help the lowbies get gear. On the other hand, I can't really say "you know what, I'm going to reject your help." If I want to actually do the work, I'd have to get 5 other people of around my level who are willing to do it the hard way, rather than just tag along.
I'm really torn on what to do. If my fiancee wasn't playing, I would quit in a heartbeat. The game just isn't what I want to play. But she is playing, and she loves it. And I enjoy playing with her.
Maybe I'm just in a foul mood because I got kicked in the teeth last night in-game. Our guild was running a 2 week contest for contributions to the guild (harvestables and guild runes). The reward for harvestables was a helmet I couldn't use, but I wanted the reward for donating the most guild runes. I collected all the guild runes my primary and alts had and sent them to my primary (the one in the guild), had my fiancee send me all the guild runes she got, then hit the in-game auction house to buy guild runes. I bought all the stacks I could afford, but there were several people selling stacks of 500 or 999 for prices I just could not pay. (The stack of 999 was going for 7M gold. I had 5.5M at the time.) I lost to someone who bought out the auction house. I'm not angry or bitter - after all, I hit the AH too - but I am discouraged. I did everything I could, but because my character was 10 levels lower, I just did not have the money to spend.
