kwhopper wrote:I see...And killing the same Psykopla spawn for hours is not static and repeated. If not mind numbingly bland to the point where you don't even have to pay attention to level your skills? At least with dungeons you have the element of skilled pulls/watching for patrols/objectives within the dungeon/floods of trash mobs/boss encounters. All the while you are levelling and don't feel like you are grinding your game time away. Sure you might repeat a few more than others, but the fun is still there.
Killing the same Psykopia spawn is a dull repetetive activity yes, if that's all you do, if all you're interested in is grinding, which isn't going to alter from one game to another, the grind is always the grind. Do it for a goal, to supply a crafter, to thin out some predators from an area, to explore, test new skills, practice or help a guildie and it takes on other aspects. Add in varying and seasonal spawns, kitin patrols and migration and its not quite as dull as all that.
Plus - and this is the important bit - it is plausible and makes sense where dungeons don't. If I raid a dungeon five minutes after someone else it should be empty. There's no sense of accomplishment, heroism or involvement in a repeatable, static dungeon.
kwhopper wrote:So? It's a goal. It is something to work towards. It's incentive to play and get better/higher level. It's a way to keep people from becoming bored/complacent with where their character stands. You always strive to get better goods for yourself. A lot of games people spend hours on are the ones with rewards for your time spent. If after months spent getting my character to 60 in WoW my weapon looked exactly like the weapon I started the game with (although doing more damage), I'd be highly disappointed. Thankfully I can seek out bosses/crafters/quests for items that will enhance me both statistically and aesthetically.
No, its not, its a 'cheat', and a cheap one. One that devalues the playerbase, causes arguments, resentment and fighting over spawns. Without the drops you get everything else you're talking about from Ryzom, with the added advantage that you're contributing to the crafter base, not taking from it.
Each item in Ryzom has at least 3 'looks', basic, medium and high quality. Armour also has several colours to it, plus you have living weapons. You can hunt 'boss mons' for good material drops, escort diggers and in some cases purchase what you need. So, apart from the ease and 'cheapness' of getting your +100 Sword of Dober from camping a drop site, you get everything else and its much more tied into the community.
kwhopper wrote:Sure, some quests in games do follow the "Kill 5 Kipee" or "Take this message over here" formula. However, they tend to get a bit more complex than "Kill 15 Kipee" and "Take this message WAY over there" when you increase in level. You have to hunt down named mobs, run dungeons, kill bosses, complete sub tasks and go on multi quest chains for example. If that is what you mean by 'fluff', then fluff is engaging as hell. Not to mention fun. Quests are another thing that help to alleviate the grind to some point. Taking various quests takes you many places to have you do many different things. You get xp for it, you feel accomplished upon completion and you are rewarded.
Quests in any game all fall into the same set of options. Go here. Go here and do this. Go there, get this, bring it back. Go there, kill some of these. And so on and so on, sometimes chained together but pretty much the same. In Ryzom these are mostly believable 'missions', which do bear repetition. Keeping an eye on the number of monsters, culling predators or weeding out herbivores. Day to day tasks such as supplying the city with arms and so on. Again, its a plausability thing.
In other games, Quests, like dungeons, are pointlessly repeated and repeatable efforts that accomplish nothing. So, you killed the Ghostly pirate captain... big deal, so has everyone else and someone else did five minutes after you. Its meaningless, there's no sense of genuine accomplishment.
Questing then, in Ryzom, is split into three options.
1. Missions - Influence your fame - Day to Day tasks, the 'grind' of the daily needs of your civilisation. Very basic, but gets The People on your side, increasing your fame and getting you access to other options as well as confirming your faction.
2. Encyclopaedia - These are closer to the Quests you desire. The ones I've done have all been chains of deeds, you get lore while you're doing it and at the end. Plus you're rewarded with a boost, stanza or similar. Unlike Quests in most games these are more 'rites of passage' and so are consistent with the game, plausible and repeatable without shattering suspension of disbelief.
3. Events - Push the storyline forward, let you accomplish and be part of great deeds and earn you 'fame' with the playerbase. Far preferable to repeated quests events mean you can be a GENUINE hero on Atys with unique deeds and history under your belt.
kwhopper wrote:While those are some strong points about the game, it does not translate into something fun/new/exciting to do everytime I log into the game. The above mentioned offer enough variety that they do.
Some people seem to know how to play in a sandbox and to create their own fun, others seem somehow determined to make their own
boredom.
You're entitled to your own likes and dislikes, but to see only one sort of thing as 'content' or worthwhile is to deny yourself richer rewards elsewhere.