GW2 and replying the Splinter Cell series. Well actually only the first one, Conviction, and Blacklist as I like those the most.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Nothing ATM (basically, waiting for Camelot Unchained and, maybe, Crowfall!?), but I might "fill" my time with some ESO, together with Vanilla WoW and Warhammer Online EMUs.
Talking about games I might check during my long waiting - just to mention Gloria Victis, Gigantic, Albion Online and maybe even Pathfinder Online!? The latter left rather bad impression on me at first glance, but after some additional info/talk, I might give it a shot when/if they, say, polish animations some more.
Dragon age inquisition slowly for a few months, Great game but eventually got sick of it.
Shadows of Morador, slowly for about a month, very fun game. But getting the blue screen of death, I think my Video card is going, my friend is looking at my main gamming computer now.
On my older gamming computer now playing :
Divinity original sin, but 5 min loading screens, have more RAM coming from Newegg. It's taking forever with there cheaper delivery service
Getting ready to Build a super computer if my video card is bad ( time to update anyway ). All mmos REALLY SUCK anymore so getting ready for The Witcher 3.
ESO, because i couldn't wait, and the justice system gives me that kleptomaniacal thrill from the other es games. i felt that was sorely needed.
Hyperdimension neptunia, I got this as a joke gift from my husband because he knows I hate anime but really it's too cute and funny and I'm glad he got it for me.
Single player games mostly strategy games, some sp rpgs. (I've started modded Vampire:The Masquerade playthrough recently). Sometimes I jump into some non-mmo multiplayer.
I am not playing any MMORPGs or other type of MMOs and I have not been for last few years. They don't have anything to offer for me - bad games, bad virutal worlds and bad business models.
Boring bad "token grind" "scalable" content targetted at player type that has both diffrent expectations and diffrent skill level then me and all this spiced with RMT. No thanks.
I have been bouncing between MMO's trying to find a home again. I tried the free time I had for FF14 (played beta and then a couple months after) but was lost with the character I had started then, so started a new one on a different server and getting back into that game again. I have no time nowadays to play on my PS4, but I really want to get back into Dragon Age and The Last of Us (really sit down and play). I just need more time in the day
Nothing seriously. A bit of CSGO until some swearing russian pisses me off in a competitive match and I get a 7 day ban for teamkilling. A bit of TSW to try and find builds that I didn't already try out in my first 3000 hours with the game. Some super-casual/random GW2, like 1 zone a month. Building a pyramid in wurm online but it's a lot of grind and I've burned out on grinding. So basically a lot of pointless things due to lack of anything meaningful to do.
Probably switching to a console soon because PC gaming doesn't have the appeal to me that it used to. I crave the old days of PS1 of laying on the couch with a controller and playing gran turismo, MGS etc. #filthycasual
Up in the air on Witcher III. I'm like, the only RPG fan disappointed with Dragon Age III.
No you're not. They did offline MMO. AWFUL. Not that writing was not on the wall there though. After all we're talking about Bioware here. They are not a company that does games for you or me anymore.
Runescape after a break of about 10 or so years. Reason being i'm waiting for B2P ESO, which is only until Witcher 3 releases. It's still up in the air what i'll play after Witcher 3, because release dates seem to move all the time these days.
And above, you're not the only one dissapointed by Bioware these recent years.
Up in the air on Witcher III. I'm like, the only RPG fan disappointed with Dragon Age III.
No you're not. They did offline MMO. AWFUL. Not that writing was not on the wall there though. After all we're talking about Bioware here. They are not a company that does games for you or me anymore.
I really hope they don't screw up the next Mass Effect.
If it is anything like DA:I you can count me out!
All this open world OPEN WORLD OPEN WORLD stuff in RPG's these days... really just "random junk side fetch quests" to me. Witcher 3 looks to be the same. Ugh.
Mass Effect 1 had plenty of it... ME2 had far less, yeah you had to do all of the character's missions to get all your people through in the end, but at least they were fully fleshed out engagements.
ME3 really had an excellent flow and progression, absolutely amazing game... until you actually assaulted Earth... I don't want to talk about it.
Linear. Story driven. Replay value through class selection and morality choices. Excellent dialogue, characters, STORY, environments and visuals, epic cut scenes... etc.
Those are the things I want in an RPG!
Instead of spending another 100 hours doing random side quests and fetch missions and that other junk, spend that development time to make the main story line and/or important side quest-chains longer and more in depth/involved and higher quality.
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
Up in the air on Witcher III. I'm like, the only RPG fan disappointed with Dragon Age III.
No you're not. They did offline MMO. AWFUL. Not that writing was not on the wall there though. After all we're talking about Bioware here. They are not a company that does games for you or me anymore.
I really hope they don't screw up the next Mass Effect.
If it is anything like DA:I you can count me out!
All this open world OPEN WORLD OPEN WORLD stuff in RPG's these days... really just "random junk side fetch quests" to me. Witcher 3 looks to be the same. Ugh.
Mass Effect 1 had plenty of it... ME2 had far less, yeah you had to do all of the character's missions to get all your people through in the end, but at least they were fully fleshed out engagements.
ME3 really had an excellent flow and progression, absolutely amazing game... until you actually assaulted Earth... I don't want to talk about it.
Linear. Story driven. Replay value through class selection and morality choices. Excellent dialogue, characters, STORY, environments and visuals, epic cut scenes... etc.
Those are the things I want in an RPG!
Instead of spending another 100 hours doing random side quests and fetch missions and that other junk, spend that development time to make the main story line and/or important side quest-chains longer and more in depth/involved and higher quality.
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
I won't comment much on Mass Effects since we definately have diffrent taste here. I have not played them much, i.e. ME3 specifically I've only played demo and it was atrocious. Bioware design for it seemed to be to completly separate it into "action segments" and "talk segments" like two diffrent mini-games with one interface. Seriously bad game-design as far as I am concerned.
To be honest Mass Effects feel more like interactive movies with TPP shooter elements and brain-dead grinds. Nice casual game if you like stuff like that I guess and it seems many people actually do.
Definately not my cup of tea though.
------------------
As for rest of the topic at hand:
It is not about linear vs open world and it is not even about main quest vs side quests.
It about:
1. throwing MMORPG-like grind/ fetch quests instead of interesting complex side stories that enrich world you play in
2. tying your progression to MMO-like grinds
Many people seem to like offline MMOs considering popularity of DA:I and i.e. Kingdoms of Amalur.
Besides overloading your RPG with combat and simple filler grind quest is CHEAP and POPULAR and which company does not like things that make production cheaper esepcially when this stuff does have wide-appeal?
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
I won't comment much on Mass Effects since we definately have diffrent taste here. I have not played them much, i.e. ME3 specifically I've only played demo and it was atrocious. Bioware design for it seemed to be to completly separate it into "action segments" and "talk segments" like two diffrent mini-games with one interface. Seriously bad game-design as far as I am concerned.
To be honest Mass Effects feel more like interactive movies with TPP shooter elements and brain-dead grinds. Nice casual game if you like stuff like that I guess and it seems many people actually do.
Definately not my cup of tea though.
------------------
As for rest of the topic at hand:
It is not about linear vs open world and it is not even about main quest vs side quests.
It about:
1. throwing MMORPG-like grind/ fetch quests instead of interesting complex side stories that enrich world you play in
2. tying your progression to MMO-like grinds
Many people seem to like offline MMOs considering popularity of DA:I and i.e. Kingdoms of Amalur.
Besides overloading your RPG with combat and simple filler grind quest is CHEAP and POPULAR and which company does not like things that make production cheaper esepcially when this stuff does have wide-appeal?
I certainly respect your opinion, however I must disagree. I think it is important in an RPG to have those sections of "down time" to further progress character development, manage inventory and character progression, etc.
Even going back to some of the older "classic" RPGs that are very widely regarding as excellent - like Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy VII, etc. you have that very clear distinction between the "action" elements and the real story/character elements.
Grinding is certainly a mechanic of older RPGs, but yeah I don't think it has a place in a modern RPG. Progression should be a side effect of advancing the story and character arcs. If you need to "grind out a few levels" before you engage in the next segment of the story/character development, then you have a pacing problem which = bad design.
I do certainly agree that side stories are a GREAT thing to have in an RPG outside of the established main story, but as you said, only if they are interesting and complex and enrich the world you play in.
This trend of, as you say, offline MMOs filled with simple grind quests needs to die in a fire.
I really hope they don't screw up the next Mass Effect.
If it is anything like DA:I you can count me out!
All this open world OPEN WORLD OPEN WORLD stuff in RPG's these days... really just "random junk side fetch quests" to me. Witcher 3 looks to be the same. Ugh.
Mass Effect 1 had plenty of it... ME2 had far less, yeah you had to do all of the character's missions to get all your people through in the end, but at least they were fully fleshed out engagements.
ME3 really had an excellent flow and progression, absolutely amazing game... until you actually assaulted Earth... I don't want to talk about it.
Linear. Story driven. Replay value through class selection and morality choices. Excellent dialogue, characters, STORY, environments and visuals, epic cut scenes... etc.
Those are the things I want in an RPG!
Instead of spending another 100 hours doing random side quests and fetch missions and that other junk, spend that development time to make the main story line and/or important side quest-chains longer and more in depth/involved and higher quality.
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
I couldn't agree more. Playing through the Mass Effect series again made me realize how poor most "RPGs" are these days. I loved ME1 because of the planet exploration, though it was generally not required if all you wanted to do was follow the main story. ME2's companion quests were really nicely done from a story perspective and ME3 up to, as you mentioned, Priority Earth, was beautifully done. Even the DLC packs that were added (Leviathan, Omega, Citadel) fit inside the overall experience to make it even better, though not required for those who didn't want to spend the money.
Without all the "open world" nonsense, all three games felt big and open even if they truly weren't precisely. There will always be side quests, quests without any particular attachment to the main story, but they shouldn't be the bulk of the experience. I'd rather have 50 hours with, say, 35 hours of main quest and 15 of side quests for 'downtime' than 100 hours with the predominant bulk being fetch/carry/kill 10 rats quests.
After DAI, which on a single play through was OK for me (but not again!), I have a very uneasy feeling about Mass Effect 4. The meaningless side quests that, if they pattern it after DAI, added to a universe without Shepard leaves me feeling pretty concerned.
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
I won't comment much on Mass Effects since we definately have diffrent taste here. I have not played them much, i.e. ME3 specifically I've only played demo and it was atrocious. Bioware design for it seemed to be to completly separate it into "action segments" and "talk segments" like two diffrent mini-games with one interface. Seriously bad game-design as far as I am concerned.
To be honest Mass Effects feel more like interactive movies with TPP shooter elements and brain-dead grinds. Nice casual game if you like stuff like that I guess and it seems many people actually do.
Definately not my cup of tea though.
------------------
As for rest of the topic at hand:
It is not about linear vs open world and it is not even about main quest vs side quests.
It about:
1. throwing MMORPG-like grind/ fetch quests instead of interesting complex side stories that enrich world you play in
2. tying your progression to MMO-like grinds
Many people seem to like offline MMOs considering popularity of DA:I and i.e. Kingdoms of Amalur.
Besides overloading your RPG with combat and simple filler grind quest is CHEAP and POPULAR and which company does not like things that make production cheaper esepcially when this stuff does have wide-appeal?
I certainly respect your opinion, however I must disagree. I think it is important in an RPG to have those sections of "down time" to further progress character development, manage inventory and character progression, etc.
Even going back to some of the older "classic" RPGs that are very widely regarding as excellent - like Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy VII, etc. you have that very clear distinction between the "action" elements and the real story/character elements.
Grinding is certainly a mechanic of older RPGs, but yeah I don't think it has a place in a modern RPG. Progression should be a side effect of advancing the story and character arcs. If you need to "grind out a few levels" before you engage in the next segment of the story/character development, then you have a pacing problem which = bad design.
I do certainly agree that side stories are a GREAT thing to have in an RPG outside of the established main story, but as you said, only if they are interesting and complex and enrich the world you play in.
This trend of, as you say, offline MMOs filled with simple grind quests needs to die in a fire.
Actually no - sentence "older RPG have more grind" is not true. It very much depend on type of RPG we're talkinb about. I.e. JRPG are preety grindy.
On the other hand old RPGs like Baldur's Gate 2 or Fallout 2 are not grindy at all.
It is not about "down time". Of course that an RPG should have "down time", after all we're talking about an RPG game and not a shooter or Diablo.
So called "down time" is necessary to show the world, build up a story, present certain atmosphere, and plenty of other things.
What is bad about Mass Effect 3 is that game is separated into sections and you know what can happen in both of those sections and what can NOT happen in them. It both fails at creating you are into a world feeling and it is bad from gameplay perspective.
I have every reason to believe that this was done in order to allow "Choose your experience" option.
As for grind in a perspective you have mentioned. I do not think it is fundamentally bad if in an RPG game you will meet much stronger enemy which is very hard to beat because i..e he has much better equipment that you. I do not think that RPGs necessarily have to have easy, smooth progression. It also depends on type of game - open world game should or at least could have enemies that most players most propably would not be even able to beat at certain time-frames in a game. Very linear game should propably be designed to all enemies to be "defeatable" - which does not mean they have to be easy. (tricky part here).
So striving for better gear is not necessarily bad.
What is bad is when game force you to grind (i.e. get 25 quest for "faction X" done to move game forward) and/or when quests or other activities are made to be cheap time-filler.
That includes lot of simple and repetive combat and simple filler quests. <-- Both of those things Bioware is guilty of doing in spades.
As for final fantasy - I never did like JRPG games. Yes I could not even stand epic FF VII. Sorry.
btw - if you wanna good RPGs you may try to try either:
- older games like Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines (still one of greatest RPGs ever) or maybe even Fallout 2 (seriously old graphics but phenomenal game)
- indie games like Divinity Original Sin (warning: this game does not take itself very seriously so if you're not in that it might not suit you) or upcoming Pillars of Eternity
I am playing FFXIV because its one of the last P2P games and they come out with content every 3 to 4 months. For $13 a month thats worth my money and in F2P games I have to use my Wallet to keep up with others which I think is BS. I rather pay $150 some a year and get everything for that $150.
When it comes to the game I enjoy the people, I enjoy how deep the game is with content and I plan to stay for a while.
FFXI .it is the true mmorpg,the rest of the mmo's out there are anti mmrogp's just mini games and hand holding and linear questing.So basically you play the way the designer wants you to play,a BIG no thanks to that crap,i 'll stick with FFXI until someone learns how to design a good game.I have played hundreds maybe thousands of single player games,i don't need to add internet to a single player game to warrant calling it a mmorpg.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Eve and Hearthstone. EvE because it's Hella fun, very social and also very exciting since you're always at risk for loss. Hearthstone is just a fun game. Sometimes I'll be playing Hearthstone in window mode over top of Eve if we're waiting to out a fleet together or something.
Gw2 - Tpvp Daily and log out. Slow prep for HoT. No Real Goals.
WoW - Leveling and Gearing a Rogue, Mage, Priest, Pally, Dk and Warlock... very slowly with no real priority.
Dying light & Dead island riptide. One for night-time gameplay and intensity, the other because the combat itself is more fun imho. Cutting off limbs is an interesting bonus.
Hearthstone every couple days for the dailys.
I also bought DA:I and just cannot get into it... it just feels like an mmo without the benefit of other ppl to play with. Way to much busy work... I lost interest in the story the minute I got into the open world. Huge waste of money until I can find a reason to give it another go.
FF8 on occasion, though they don't have the original sound files on the steam version so i usually get bummed out an close it after a game of Triple Triad or two.
Comments
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Nothing ATM (basically, waiting for Camelot Unchained and, maybe, Crowfall!?), but I might "fill" my time with some ESO, together with Vanilla WoW and Warhammer Online EMUs.
Talking about games I might check during my long waiting - just to mention Gloria Victis, Gigantic, Albion Online and maybe even Pathfinder Online!? The latter left rather bad impression on me at first glance, but after some additional info/talk, I might give it a shot when/if they, say, polish animations some more.
Playing ~60-70 hours/week
So, right now i m playing
GW2 as main (Preparing for HoT)
WS & EvE as secondary
Waiting for ESO to go B2P to check it once again
Waiting also to see Token prices for WoW. If its around 20-25k then i might play again casually from time to time.
I usually would play FFXIV, but after having all the above for free, i m not willing to pay a sub anymore...
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1
Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
Played :
Dragon age inquisition slowly for a few months, Great game but eventually got sick of it.
Shadows of Morador, slowly for about a month, very fun game. But getting the blue screen of death, I think my Video card is going, my friend is looking at my main gamming computer now.
On my older gamming computer now playing :
Divinity original sin, but 5 min loading screens, have more RAM coming from Newegg. It's taking forever with there cheaper delivery service
Getting ready to Build a super computer if my video card is bad ( time to update anyway ). All mmos REALLY SUCK anymore so getting ready for The Witcher 3.
This is what's going on with me
ESO, because i couldn't wait, and the justice system gives me that kleptomaniacal thrill from the other es games. i felt that was sorely needed.
Hyperdimension neptunia, I got this as a joke gift from my husband because he knows I hate anime but really it's too cute and funny and I'm glad he got it for me.
Single player games mostly strategy games, some sp rpgs. (I've started modded Vampire:The Masquerade playthrough recently). Sometimes I jump into some non-mmo multiplayer.
I am not playing any MMORPGs or other type of MMOs and I have not been for last few years. They don't have anything to offer for me - bad games, bad virutal worlds and bad business models.
Boring bad "token grind" "scalable" content targetted at player type that has both diffrent expectations and diffrent skill level then me and all this spiced with RMT. No thanks.
Nothing seriously. A bit of CSGO until some swearing russian pisses me off in a competitive match and I get a 7 day ban for teamkilling. A bit of TSW to try and find builds that I didn't already try out in my first 3000 hours with the game. Some super-casual/random GW2, like 1 zone a month. Building a pyramid in wurm online but it's a lot of grind and I've burned out on grinding. So basically a lot of pointless things due to lack of anything meaningful to do.
Probably switching to a console soon because PC gaming doesn't have the appeal to me that it used to. I crave the old days of PS1 of laying on the couch with a controller and playing gran turismo, MGS etc. #filthycasual
Still playing a lot of Destiny.
Finally got my Flawless Raider last week, and my 3rd character (Hunter) up to 32.
Toying around with Neverwinter on PC in prep for toying around with Neverwinter on XB1.
Awaiting ESO on XB1.
Awaiting next Destiny expansion, House of Wolves.
Up in the air on Witcher III. I'm like, the only RPG fan disappointed with Dragon Age III.
Dying Light was good, but I played it out in a month.
Still on the prowl for something to really sink my teeth into besides Destiny.
No you're not. They did offline MMO. AWFUL. Not that writing was not on the wall there though. After all we're talking about Bioware here. They are not a company that does games for you or me anymore.
Runescape after a break of about 10 or so years. Reason being i'm waiting for B2P ESO, which is only until Witcher 3 releases. It's still up in the air what i'll play after Witcher 3, because release dates seem to move all the time these days.
And above, you're not the only one dissapointed by Bioware these recent years.
I really hope they don't screw up the next Mass Effect.
If it is anything like DA:I you can count me out!
All this open world OPEN WORLD OPEN WORLD stuff in RPG's these days... really just "random junk side fetch quests" to me. Witcher 3 looks to be the same. Ugh.
Mass Effect 1 had plenty of it... ME2 had far less, yeah you had to do all of the character's missions to get all your people through in the end, but at least they were fully fleshed out engagements.
ME3 really had an excellent flow and progression, absolutely amazing game... until you actually assaulted Earth... I don't want to talk about it.
Linear. Story driven. Replay value through class selection and morality choices. Excellent dialogue, characters, STORY, environments and visuals, epic cut scenes... etc.
Those are the things I want in an RPG!
Instead of spending another 100 hours doing random side quests and fetch missions and that other junk, spend that development time to make the main story line and/or important side quest-chains longer and more in depth/involved and higher quality.
This whole trend of a 15-20 hour main story and 100+ hours of junk is just stupid.
I won't comment much on Mass Effects since we definately have diffrent taste here. I have not played them much, i.e. ME3 specifically I've only played demo and it was atrocious. Bioware design for it seemed to be to completly separate it into "action segments" and "talk segments" like two diffrent mini-games with one interface. Seriously bad game-design as far as I am concerned.
To be honest Mass Effects feel more like interactive movies with TPP shooter elements and brain-dead grinds. Nice casual game if you like stuff like that I guess and it seems many people actually do.
Definately not my cup of tea though.
------------------
As for rest of the topic at hand:
It is not about linear vs open world and it is not even about main quest vs side quests.
It about:
1. throwing MMORPG-like grind/ fetch quests instead of interesting complex side stories that enrich world you play in
2. tying your progression to MMO-like grinds
Many people seem to like offline MMOs considering popularity of DA:I and i.e. Kingdoms of Amalur.
Besides overloading your RPG with combat and simple filler grind quest is CHEAP and POPULAR and which company does not like things that make production cheaper esepcially when this stuff does have wide-appeal?
I certainly respect your opinion, however I must disagree. I think it is important in an RPG to have those sections of "down time" to further progress character development, manage inventory and character progression, etc.
Even going back to some of the older "classic" RPGs that are very widely regarding as excellent - like Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy VII, etc. you have that very clear distinction between the "action" elements and the real story/character elements.
Grinding is certainly a mechanic of older RPGs, but yeah I don't think it has a place in a modern RPG. Progression should be a side effect of advancing the story and character arcs. If you need to "grind out a few levels" before you engage in the next segment of the story/character development, then you have a pacing problem which = bad design.
I do certainly agree that side stories are a GREAT thing to have in an RPG outside of the established main story, but as you said, only if they are interesting and complex and enrich the world you play in.
This trend of, as you say, offline MMOs filled with simple grind quests needs to die in a fire.
I couldn't agree more. Playing through the Mass Effect series again made me realize how poor most "RPGs" are these days. I loved ME1 because of the planet exploration, though it was generally not required if all you wanted to do was follow the main story. ME2's companion quests were really nicely done from a story perspective and ME3 up to, as you mentioned, Priority Earth, was beautifully done. Even the DLC packs that were added (Leviathan, Omega, Citadel) fit inside the overall experience to make it even better, though not required for those who didn't want to spend the money.
Without all the "open world" nonsense, all three games felt big and open even if they truly weren't precisely. There will always be side quests, quests without any particular attachment to the main story, but they shouldn't be the bulk of the experience. I'd rather have 50 hours with, say, 35 hours of main quest and 15 of side quests for 'downtime' than 100 hours with the predominant bulk being fetch/carry/kill 10 rats quests.
After DAI, which on a single play through was OK for me (but not again!), I have a very uneasy feeling about Mass Effect 4. The meaningless side quests that, if they pattern it after DAI, added to a universe without Shepard leaves me feeling pretty concerned.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Actually no - sentence "older RPG have more grind" is not true. It very much depend on type of RPG we're talkinb about. I.e. JRPG are preety grindy.
On the other hand old RPGs like Baldur's Gate 2 or Fallout 2 are not grindy at all.
It is not about "down time". Of course that an RPG should have "down time", after all we're talking about an RPG game and not a shooter or Diablo.
So called "down time" is necessary to show the world, build up a story, present certain atmosphere, and plenty of other things.
What is bad about Mass Effect 3 is that game is separated into sections and you know what can happen in both of those sections and what can NOT happen in them. It both fails at creating you are into a world feeling and it is bad from gameplay perspective.
I have every reason to believe that this was done in order to allow "Choose your experience" option.
As for grind in a perspective you have mentioned. I do not think it is fundamentally bad if in an RPG game you will meet much stronger enemy which is very hard to beat because i..e he has much better equipment that you. I do not think that RPGs necessarily have to have easy, smooth progression. It also depends on type of game - open world game should or at least could have enemies that most players most propably would not be even able to beat at certain time-frames in a game. Very linear game should propably be designed to all enemies to be "defeatable" - which does not mean they have to be easy. (tricky part here).
So striving for better gear is not necessarily bad.
What is bad is when game force you to grind (i.e. get 25 quest for "faction X" done to move game forward) and/or when quests or other activities are made to be cheap time-filler.
That includes lot of simple and repetive combat and simple filler quests. <-- Both of those things Bioware is guilty of doing in spades.
As for final fantasy - I never did like JRPG games. Yes I could not even stand epic FF VII. Sorry.
btw - if you wanna good RPGs you may try to try either:
- older games like Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines (still one of greatest RPGs ever) or maybe even Fallout 2 (seriously old graphics but phenomenal game)
- newer, (but not new already) Nehrim - http://sureai.net/projects/nehrim/?lang=en
and/or
- indie games like Divinity Original Sin (warning: this game does not take itself very seriously so if you're not in that it might not suit you) or upcoming Pillars of Eternity
I am playing FFXIV because its one of the last P2P games and they come out with content every 3 to 4 months. For $13 a month thats worth my money and in F2P games I have to use my Wallet to keep up with others which I think is BS. I rather pay $150 some a year and get everything for that $150.
When it comes to the game I enjoy the people, I enjoy how deep the game is with content and I plan to stay for a while.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Wildstar.
Because it's very fun, and very hard.
I can fly higher than an aeroplane.
And I have the voice of a thousand hurricanes.
Hurt - Wars
I'm MMO-Less at the moment so I decided to jump back into Firefall to see what happened to it over the last couple of years..
Well, I find myself thoroughly enjoying the game so have spent a few quid in the shop for some fluff and to unlock some frames..
There's some big changes coming to the game so I'm rather intrigued as to how they will play....
Currently waiting for a couple of new MMO's as well as E:D and a VR headset.
ARR
many things to do
Gw2 - Tpvp Daily and log out. Slow prep for HoT. No Real Goals.
WoW - Leveling and Gearing a Rogue, Mage, Priest, Pally, Dk and Warlock... very slowly with no real priority.
Dying light & Dead island riptide. One for night-time gameplay and intensity, the other because the combat itself is more fun imho. Cutting off limbs is an interesting bonus.
Hearthstone every couple days for the dailys.
I also bought DA:I and just cannot get into it... it just feels like an mmo without the benefit of other ppl to play with. Way to much busy work... I lost interest in the story the minute I got into the open world. Huge waste of money until I can find a reason to give it another go.
FF8 on occasion, though they don't have the original sound files on the steam version so i usually get bummed out an close it after a game of Triple Triad or two.