Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? - PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
There is an interview on yt with a guy who has spent $15k (and grinded 8 hrs a day) to get to 1430 (I think 1490 is the current western top). Apparently the RNG is really really bad towards the top... and yes, resources are hard to come by.
Maxing 1 weapon in teir 3 alone was $5k.
Seems like a PvE game that many enjoy, it's a massive Asian grinder with a lot of content... so there's a market for players who enjoy that.
If I ever play it, probably in a year or two with catch up mechanics and not hitting a cash shop RNG wall.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Surely noone is surprised by the drop-off in numbers? The days when MMORPGs could retain players long term have long since passed.
I remember when No Mans Sky released and they suffered a massive dropoff in players, some gaming journalist did some investigating and found that the average game on steam suffered 75% drop in players after one month.
Is it any surprise that as MMORPG design has shifted more towards single player, retention numbers have shifted to match? Seems totally natural to me, even if it is disappointing.
Currently Playing: WAR RoR - Spitt rr7X Black Orc | Scrotling rr6X Squig Herder | Scabrous rr4X Shaman
Shouldn't mmorpg.com have a weekly news post about its decline?
Shouldn't the usual buzzards be circling the soon to be corpse with clever posts like "tick... tick... tick..." or some such?
Interested observers would like to know why no one is talking about this
Because it's a bit scary, I'd guess. After all, it's just been held up as proof that the MMORPG genre is sound.
Actually I think it's totally normal for pretty well any game of any genre that is highly hyped before release, Drastic drop offs are the norm and the exceptions are the rare ones that don't go through that.
Just having some cheeky fun on the heels of all the negative furor around here when a similar (almost exactly the same kind of drop in the same amount of time actually) thing happened with New World.
It happened for different reasons, though.
AGS made every newbie developer mistake in the book, up to and including changing horses midstream.
Lost Ark didn't make those mistakes, it's just isn't groundbreaking. It's solid fun for a while, but it's also just a gear grinder.
I figure by the time the game shakes out all the bots, people who had wrong impressions ect, it will sit comfortably at 100k-200k depending on content releases. It's a grinder, not a replacement MMO for most.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
Some of the quests are really good. I would try Metus Island if you haven't yet. It was frustrating, but different. On other islands you have singing animals and Tooki has some nice old retro 8bit nintendo-ish music among some. Some of the mechanics in the guardian raids or abysmal dungeons are cool while others i just scratch my head. I am at ilvl 1060ish i had the cheapest founders pack and bought $50 of gems so far. I have not bought any mats yet and don't plan too. My honing rate is around 45 - 50% now, but you can just moon breaths to bump up the rate. Also every failure results in a % bump till you succeed. So its not that bad. Not like other games where you have an even smaller rate and your gear breaks in failure
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area. Sure I can kill stuff, but the respawn is so quick I'm unlikely to clear the area around a tree so I can cut it down.
I ran a tiny bit today and logged my first alt into the game. It was pretty good, with new skills/attacks to sort through. I was severely disappointed that many of the achievements in the game are account level, not character level. Not totally disruptive, but less inventive for creating another character.
But in the end, I'll soon be one of the those who've already left/been banned. (Stood immobile in game reading a Steam guide to try to figure out how to upgrade gear -- didn't help). Building a small maze in my Stronghold basically bankrupted me of Pirate Coins, so I'm stuck without being able to do research. My first brick wall with the end-game grind.
I think my first impression still is pretty accurate -- LA is less a game than an animated story. You aren't really playing a game, but watching a video.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Look at the hours played. People did the same thing with it that they do with many games, only worse. Everyone talked about the end-game, the numbers game, the grind, the raids, etc.... so everyone rushed and got there. And guess what? Just like every other MMO, the end game grind has a limited amount of interest. Sure, it might be huge in other areas but for many gamers, we need more than just a gear score grind.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
I know for many its about the destination. I get that. But there are a lot of gamers that enjoy the journey. And it seems like AGS as a whole has issues with the journey and only want people at the end. Why not just skip leveling all together and just let them create max level characters?
We've talked about that a few times....TO me, a mind numbingly easy journey is an awful approach...To me, that is the game....Once I reach the destination I almost always move on....I am guessing their goal is to get us to spend money on end game thinking tha we will care about that...Well some do, some dont....
I would say check back in about 3 months and see if the numbers keep. The all time high is usually just the influx of players wanting to try something new, but that fades really quickly.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? - PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Shouldn't mmorpg.com have a weekly news post about its decline?
Shouldn't the usual buzzards be circling the soon to be corpse with clever posts like "tick... tick... tick..." or some such?
Interested observers would like to know why no one is talking about this
Well, this board and its staff doesn't seem to be especially interested in this game. I mean, they gave the game a justifiably mixed review. I'd also guess most posters here have their game already, and are hard-pressed to make the switch, especially to a game with such a boring leveling experience.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've heard some classes can be more challenging for first time players, which is why I gravitated to the Gunlancer ..
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Well, I imagine it's only got 6 months, the devs are incompetent, I told you so........ It is expected to drop!! They all do it (I'm sure there are some exceptions)! It's as predictable as MMO'ers having a list of complaints whether they play a game or not. People get hyped and it doesn't measure up. People bought to play with friends that didn't pan out. Some just didn't care for it. Many buy games without any expectations but just to give it a shot.
Are they numbers high? Of course. More and more, we are an entitled segment of society who take 'agency' to a new level.
Relax, be happy. I bet if we said more positive things or just didn't go out of our way to bash games relentlessly, more people would probably be happier to play games. The more people to play games, means the more developers will want to make games. We are a society who are very easily influenced by the interwebs and what people say. Covid, Qanon, Fake moon landing, reptoids.... we're becoming drones. You don't have to say nice things if things aren't good. On the other hand, we don't have to crusade everything that isn't perfect. Nothing is perfect.
Relax, be happy. Have a pizza, some soda (pop), turn on some toons and blow people away in an FPS. You'll feel better.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've followed the main story totally. I've been to the Mokoko Island and am now in the mechanical city/desert. Still slogging through that. Overland combat is still a pain; 3 skills at 10, and only 1 really does good damage, but it has a 30 second cool down. So, almost every boss fight has evolved into running around until the timer is ready, closing into minimal range and hitting the skill. I'm supposed to be a Sharp Shooter, but my best change is to smash things up close.
My current Big Problem, I've run out of Pirate coins and my research has completely stopped. I probably did that to myself, by not noticing until embarrassingly late that almost everything in the Stronghold costs Pirate Coins -- dispatch, crafting, research. There is only 3 items on the Research lab, and all cost 2000+ Pirate coins; I have 89. So, I'm stuck with a level 2 manor, workshop and lab, with no immediate hopes for that to change.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've followed the main story totally. I've been to the Mokoko Island and am now in the mechanical city/desert. Still slogging through that. Overland combat is still a pain; 3 skills at 10, and only 1 really does good damage, but it has a 30 second cool down. So, almost every boss fight has evolved into running around until the timer is ready, closing into minimal range and hitting the skill. I'm supposed to be a Sharp Shooter, but my best change is to smash things up close.
My current Big Problem, I've run out of Pirate coins and my research has completely stopped. I probably did that to myself, by not noticing until embarrassingly late that almost everything in the Stronghold costs Pirate Coins -- dispatch, crafting, research. There is only 3 items on the Research lab, and all cost 2000+ Pirate coins; I have 89. So, I'm stuck with a level 2 manor, workshop and lab, with no immediate hopes for that to change.
Have you checked some online guides for your class ? Maybe you should focus on other skills. What class are you btw ?
Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? - PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've followed the main story totally. I've been to the Mokoko Island and am now in the mechanical city/desert. Still slogging through that. Overland combat is still a pain; 3 skills at 10, and only 1 really does good damage, but it has a 30 second cool down. So, almost every boss fight has evolved into running around until the timer is ready, closing into minimal range and hitting the skill. I'm supposed to be a Sharp Shooter, but my best change is to smash things up close.
My current Big Problem, I've run out of Pirate coins and my research has completely stopped. I probably did that to myself, by not noticing until embarrassingly late that almost everything in the Stronghold costs Pirate Coins -- dispatch, crafting, research. There is only 3 items on the Research lab, and all cost 2000+ Pirate coins; I have 89. So, I'm stuck with a level 2 manor, workshop and lab, with no immediate hopes for that to change.
IDK how you feel about guides - some hate them and insists on just figuring things out for themselves but I don't. I do not necessarily follow them religiously and will tweak them to suit myself.
These guys are the best on the web with builds and advice for the ARPGs they cover. Look specifically at their leveling guides. It served me well for both my Sorc and Bard.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've followed the main story totally. I've been to the Mokoko Island and am now in the mechanical city/desert. Still slogging through that. Overland combat is still a pain; 3 skills at 10, and only 1 really does good damage, but it has a 30 second cool down. So, almost every boss fight has evolved into running around until the timer is ready, closing into minimal range and hitting the skill. I'm supposed to be a Sharp Shooter, but my best change is to smash things up close.
My current Big Problem, I've run out of Pirate coins and my research has completely stopped. I probably did that to myself, by not noticing until embarrassingly late that almost everything in the Stronghold costs Pirate Coins -- dispatch, crafting, research. There is only 3 items on the Research lab, and all cost 2000+ Pirate coins; I have 89. So, I'm stuck with a level 2 manor, workshop and lab, with no immediate hopes for that to change.
IDK how you feel about guides - some hate them and insists on just figuring things out for themselves but I don't. I do not necessarily follow them religiously and will tweak them to suit myself.
These guys are the best on the web with builds and advice for the ARPGs they cover. Look specifically at their leveling guides. It served me well for both my Sorc and Bard.
Well, this explains much. Not only does the game tell you what you have to do and when, but then you also have to go to the online guides who will tell you what you have to do and when. Bleh!
But fine post, and very helpful for those who like that sort of game.
Lost Ark is awesomely casual while leveling. I find it fun and enjoyable but I got to the point where it was system on system. Cards, engravings, strongholds, 27 thousand currencies. It got to be overwhelming and honestly, the amount of systems caused me to lose interest.
That was almost exactly my reaction too. Enjoyed the casual fun while leveling but the end game systems complexity just gave me a headache.
I do like some complexity in gaming systems but I have limits and LA exceeded those.
I'm still playing LA for now, but for how long ? No idea, I'm starting to get a bit tired of the repetitiveness though, and the end of a gear tier, when you have 40% chances of success and the materials get rarer, is seriously grindy and "pay to win", and according to a friend who is much higher gear score than me, it only gets worse.
Knowing myself, I won't endure that very long.
Also, the quests in this game must be the worse I've seen in any MMO so far. They are only saved by the fantastic cutscenes, which become rare to inexistent after 50, and the great dungeons. The well designed combat helps a lot too. Because all the rest, island hopping, going from one lame theme park to another, is really getting old. Actually, doing chaos dungeons is more fun than quests, because of the great combat.
I had a surprisingly fun time yesterday doing some quest line where I was
projected in a kind of "Matrix", I won't spoil more since it's one of
the very rare great quest parts in this game.
So I'm still having enough fun for now and I keep playing.
This said...
I have 500+ hours played on NW, and only 150+ on LA so far.
Let's see if LA can keep me interested longer than NW.
I love a lot about the game and the cut scenes and the classes. But it got to the point that the UI itself is a game. Or having to have charts of currency and what upgrades what and all that. I liked it for a while, just cannot do it anymore. I have between 100-150 hours played which is normally when my interest wanes or the newness wears off.
My main character is 49 with a paltry 230ish gear score. I haven't figured out how to upgrade my gear (yet), but I've run into a wall where I can't really do enough damage to function in an area.
Don't worry to upgrade you gear until 50+.
And if you're in an area where you have problems before 50, then maybe you've skipped one ? Have you done the Mocoko island before going to Vern ?
I've followed the main story totally. I've been to the Mokoko Island and am now in the mechanical city/desert. Still slogging through that. Overland combat is still a pain; 3 skills at 10, and only 1 really does good damage, but it has a 30 second cool down. So, almost every boss fight has evolved into running around until the timer is ready, closing into minimal range and hitting the skill. I'm supposed to be a Sharp Shooter, but my best change is to smash things up close.
My current Big Problem, I've run out of Pirate coins and my research has completely stopped. I probably did that to myself, by not noticing until embarrassingly late that almost everything in the Stronghold costs Pirate Coins -- dispatch, crafting, research. There is only 3 items on the Research lab, and all cost 2000+ Pirate coins; I have 89. So, I'm stuck with a level 2 manor, workshop and lab, with no immediate hopes for that to change.
IDK how you feel about guides - some hate them and insists on just figuring things out for themselves but I don't. I do not necessarily follow them religiously and will tweak them to suit myself.
These guys are the best on the web with builds and advice for the ARPGs they cover. Look specifically at their leveling guides. It served me well for both my Sorc and Bard.
Well, this explains much. Not only does the game tell you what you have to do and when, but then you also have to go to the online guides who will tell you what you have to do and when. Bleh!
But fine post, and very helpful for those who like that sort of game.
Err, I've used player created build guides for almost every game I've ever played, even many single player RPGs.
I greatly admire and appreciate those willing to take the time to put them together and share, let's me focus on what I enjoy instead.
I know some guys like to tear apart car engines and rebuild them but not me, I prefer to just be the driver and grab most of the glory.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Lost Ark doing fine, MMO release peak of this game was beyond anyone's expectations, to expect this to be able to hold onto that would be unrealistic.
What matters is as it matures it builds upon the base that will stick around beyond those who checked out the game and moved on, instead of medium to long-term decay, which is where an MMO proves itself.
Well, 350k is pretty good, and there's many a game that would love to have that many players. As for me though, I found it tedious, repetitive and so easy that you could either mash your keyboard with your face or get your cat to dance across the keyboard and you'd still win any fight.
Lost Ark doing fine, MMO release peak of this game was beyond anyone's expectations, to expect this to be able to hold onto that would be unrealistic.
What matters is as it matures it builds upon the base that will stick around beyond those who checked out the game and moved on, instead of medium to long-term decay, which is where an MMO proves itself.
Generally , Dev/Pub are counting on a retention rate of 18-28% ... Thats doing good ..
Comments
This said...
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Maxing 1 weapon in teir 3 alone was $5k.
Seems like a PvE game that many enjoy, it's a massive Asian grinder with a lot of content... so there's a market for players who enjoy that.
If I ever play it, probably in a year or two with catch up mechanics and not hitting a cash shop RNG wall.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
AGS made every newbie developer mistake in the book, up to and including changing horses midstream.
Lost Ark didn't make those mistakes, it's just isn't groundbreaking. It's solid fun for a while, but it's also just a gear grinder.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
We've talked about that a few times....TO me, a mind numbingly easy journey is an awful approach...To me, that is the game....Once I reach the destination I almost always move on....I am guessing their goal is to get us to spend money on end game thinking tha we will care about that...Well some do, some dont....
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Are they numbers high? Of course. More and more, we are an entitled segment of society who take 'agency' to a new level.
Relax, be happy. I bet if we said more positive things or just didn't go out of our way to bash games relentlessly, more people would probably be happier to play games. The more people to play games, means the more developers will want to make games. We are a society who are very easily influenced by the interwebs and what people say. Covid, Qanon, Fake moon landing, reptoids.... we're becoming drones. You don't have to say nice things if things aren't good. On the other hand, we don't have to crusade everything that isn't perfect. Nothing is perfect.
Relax, be happy. Have a pizza, some soda (pop), turn on some toons and blow people away in an FPS. You'll feel better.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Have you checked some online guides for your class ? Maybe you should focus on other skills.
What class are you btw ?
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
These guys are the best on the web with builds and advice for the ARPGs they cover. Look specifically at their leveling guides. It served me well for both my Sorc and Bard.
https://lost-ark.maxroll.gg/
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Not only does the game tell you what you have to do and when,
but then you also have to go to the online guides who will tell you what you have to do and when.
Bleh!
But fine post, and very helpful for those who like that sort of game.
Once upon a time....
I greatly admire and appreciate those willing to take the time to put them together and share, let's me focus on what I enjoy instead.
I know some guys like to tear apart car engines and rebuild them but not me, I prefer to just be the driver and grab most of the glory.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
MurderHerd
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
What matters is as it matures it builds upon the base that will stick around beyond those who checked out the game and moved on, instead of medium to long-term decay, which is where an MMO proves itself.