Hardcore Complaints?

[pelado]

I apologize, I think the intention of my comments were lost, or maybe just not expressed clearly, to be fair though it was a long opening rant.

My point is not that the game is too hard, or needs to be easier. My point is that I like the way the game is, the direction its heading, and the way it strikes a wonderful balance between hardcore and casual, and it urks me to see player who, for reasons I do not understand, feels that another player having an easier time leveling, getting +50% xp boosts, or having less grindy AAs, somehow diminishes the joy you did get out of doing it the hard way, or the joy you can still get out of running whatever content is difficult for your power level.

I don't understand what is wrong with a gameworld that has a casual leveling structure, but allows difficult content to exist along side the casual. It's literally a win/win, everyone gets what they want, you get a broad base, lots of business, lots of happy customer and big full servers. The only unhappy players are those who for some reason can't be happy unless it's not just hard for them, but hard for every body else too. I do not understand this frame of mine, but I see it in every MMO. If there is anything done to make it easier on casual players, even if the hard content remained soul-crushingly difficult, the hardcore players get upset not that they can't still find a challenge, but that other people don't have to do it like they did.

I wasn't asking for any change, I wasn't expecting anything, this was just a discussion. Why is this? Why can't people be content to run their own marathon and not get mad because the 5k is even an option for others? Is there any design reason, business reason, or good reason at all why a game can't be both?

Oh and I'm a second time re-sub. I leveled to 50 back in '08 at launch. I left for the same reasons as many others, no need to go over that, then I came back and leveled to 70, had a great time, but life drew me away from MMOs for a long time, now I'm back. So I don't have an intricate understand of the end-game, but I have experienced the game at three distinct phases of development, and think I am well equipped to say that the game is great, and better now than it once was.

Now here is a caveat. It has always been my impression that AOC has some of the hardest dungeons/raids of any mainstream MMO. If that has changed, and there is no challenge anymore, and there is no good content for the Hardcore players, and only for the casual now, then I suppose I will eat my words.

I for one, am a vet and a hardcore player. Let's not fool ourselves here, T1, T2...and even T3 aren't difficult. I would personally like to see pots given out to lowbies for absurd amounts of XP bonus! Id even be fine with +500%-- I could care less! Id even have more than 2 alts were this the case! This isn't TSW where questing is intriguing and you actually get to use your faculties...questing isn't unique or even(in my submission) at all entertaining. Essentially its the old cookie cutter "get ten rocks, kill ten rocks"-- and with nearly no one doing level appropriate dungeons....this **** gets old really fast. Before someone starts their hand-waving about "learning to play your class," unless you are actively participating in lowbie pvp brackets...youre learning how to collect spider eggs, or how to kill picts-- I think we can all do with less of that. As for AA's, im sorry to say it-- many of the vets would have you believe it should be as grindy as it is, I just see it as a development shortcut-- something funcom has been guilty of many times; unfinished/impossible bosses, OMG khita-korean grindfests (seriously, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DONE YAG ON ONE OF YOUR COMMONLY PLAYED TOONS), intentionally placing cloaks/rings with commonly opposing factions, the absurd notion that REQUIRED abilities (aas) should be grinded out. This by no means exhausts my critique of their shortcuts, but you get the point. Again, before the hand-waving begins, I geared my main when hardmodes were actually hard and moa's were seemingly treated as precious metals-- I know how it was. In summary, I believe that if FC had diverted at least some of its energies from making the game as grindy as possible to making more, much harder(I mean actually doable hard, not "impossible boss until we finish the next three") content, we would probably all be better for it.

Edited by Arishanya to remove potentially flaming remarks.