Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Honkai: Star Rail Marks 10 Mil Pre-Registrations and Prepares For Launch With Trailer and Event List
System
Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
Honkai: Star Rail Marks 10 Mil Pre-Registrations and Prepares For Launch With Trailer and Event List | MMORPG.com
HoYoVerse is getting ready for Honkai: Star Rail's big launch tomorrow, and the team shared a guide to the Rail Unto the Stars event to kick off version 1.0.
Comments
Nothing, people are just stupid for the wretched company making it, for some reason. The same people talk as if Genshit was some revolutionary game, but how, because it had a PC, and console client? Throne and Liberty sounds like it will be something like a mobile MMORPG, but without a mobile client, guess that's revolutionary too then.
It's probably going to be really good.
Why would you think it will turn out really well? miHoYo's story telling ability is at least a bit better than that of say those behind Arknights, but that's certainly not saying much. It's been about two years, or so since I quit Genshit, and Honkai, yet I remember next to nothing of the story from either, as it was all just so, meh, while there's books I read, and games I played about twenty years ago, that I still remember pretty well.
Genshit blew up as it did seemingly as it had an absurd degree of hype built up before launch already, with lots of people that normally wouldn't even touch mobile games going nuts over it, this lead to more post launch general media attention when it was busy making stupid amounts of money, and had so many playing it. It was everywhere, basically everyone at least tried it, and many of those who stuck with it, given how much they kept complaining about what it was lacking, seemed to only stick with it due to the old sunk cost fallacy.
This one did not gain nearly the level of hype Genshit did outside of those already into mobile games, or just Genshit, and Honkai. Then it only seemed to get as much general attention as it did due to being made by the same company behind Genshit. Although if this just fizzles out before long, as I expect it will, that will mean future "games" from this company just won't get even as much hype as this did.
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
I like anime, I like scifi; but I hate all female, gender lock, no choice, gambling bull shit. The best anime RPG games were Lunar and Lunar2; though that is a debate for another time.
Heck even on gamepass, for peanuts you get to play half a dozen of them if not more, even streaming on your mobile if you into that sort of thing and/or you not part of the PC master race.
I will never understand how/why there are so many fools pre-registering for this uninspired crap.
The early part is there to make you think you're playing a real game, so as to part you with your money. They then hope you're either too stupid to figure out it's actually trash, or you end up spending so much money, and/or time that you feel you can't quit now, so keep playing, and paying.
This will likely go down the path of Genshit, that is of a hyper casual "game," where at least a good part of the content to the developer's perspective, is just ads for the gacha, to get you emotionally invested in those characters, so you're more likely to spend money on them.
They are cross platform so you can play on mobile or pc and console too if you want.
Genshin is a good game though, and the developers seem to understand how to make really fun systems that add complexity even if they lock most of it behind gacha rolls.
Which is really only for powering up your characters, but you get a lot of free ones. It probably won't get you any of the most powerful characters, or even if you do you don't get them maxed out, but it's still pretty accessible.
Story aside, the gameplay is good, the art and graphics are good, the performance is good.
Honkai star rail is good so far. There's a lot of systems in it, and leveling characters is very similar to genshin which is no surprise. Overall it's pretty good so far and I'm going to stick it out. Leveling feels slow since I've been playing the game for several hours and I'm around trailblazer level 15, which feels very low.
I think the point is, people like these games, because they are good. Monetization aside, the other honkai title had over 10 million downloads too, and genshin is still one of the most played and highest grossing games on any mobile market.
I doubt people play it just because gacha is gambling, since everything can be done with free characters, at least, eventually.
I played genshin quite intensively for 3 months and I paid $4.99 x 3.
I don't think it is a bad game. The systems are actually good. And the monetization can be daunting if you fall in the trap. But $15 for 3 months of entertainment sound good and more than fair in my book.
I agree, that Genshin story is a pain, but I had a lot of fun exploring the world, solving the puzzles and fighting the mobs.
The problem with aggressive monetization systems is sometimes the player's approach. Sometimes, when you know a game very well, you don't need to fall in the trap (BDO is a good example). Some other times it is just a matter of self-control and perspective.
I'll try Star rail: I like turn-based gameplay, which is probably one of the best mechanic for phone gaming.
In some cases I have characters 10 levels or less fighting an enemy but because the element is strong against it, I can still win without putting a lot of materials into it.
But that probably changes later on too. I'll probably stick it out for a few weeks just to see where it goes. In genshin I was able to get to max, and do all of the content and I was fine with it. I don't mind spending some money, but only if there's a really good guarantee on what you get, and only if one of the characters is really interesting to me.
Which right now, none of them really are.
Yeah, I think an individual's mileage will vary based on their luck, like you and Eoloe are eluding to. I think its a great option for people that would prefer turn-based over action and maybe my opinion would've changed if I had better luck on my pulls (my guaranteed 5 star was Himeko, who is okay but feels like she falls off faster than some others, but it could also be who I was pairing with as well). Gacha games kind of dont allow for a lot of build diversity in the start since those 'many resources' you get at the start dry up really fast the more you start to upgrade characters, so it really becomes a patience game after a while unless you're ready to spend. I wont say spending is bad, but it can easily put you into a trap like Eoloe said where you're just spending and spending and spending to either counter your bad luck or make up for wasting resources. Even if people quit after a month, I think there's plenty of fun to be had with the game, especially if they liked Genshin, so it'll depend on a person's mindset going in at the end of the day.
I struggle with the challenge of too much self respect.
Naw, it's practically a super power.
"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
I know even in Everquest there was always RNG because you can sit in one room for 19 hours only to lose a roll. I am aware of that. I'm not spending 19 hours in a room waiting for some weapon or robe in Guk or Plane of Fear but the feeling of dread is exactly the same. It's this awful thing as you watch the resources dwindling away with every roll that I spent days collecting. They give you a counter for a pity roll but it is a huge number. Yes there's always a chance you will get lucky but depending on luck is a shitty thing really and one I have no wish to base my gameplay on. You get an occasional high when you get what you want, but its a trick. I felt exactly the same in Everquest but with DKP I got what I wanted since that was not based on luck.
So this game has gacha, I had not realised but I am not surprised really. I cannot play at the top levels I am way past that ability but I just want to play at my ability at least complete the game or play to a level where I can be satisfied with my progress in the game. I have no aspirations of being able to reach the top but at least I should be able to play to a decent level and that the gacha is not that bad that I am totally screwed without spending inordinate sums. I am willing to spend a little like may be 10 bucks a month which is okay for me. Beyond that is a big NO.
I get it that gacha and all this RNG is meant to milk the gamblers but I am truly sad so many games are doing this and it will never stop because it's too profitable. I will play until it is apparent I can get no further without spending serious amounts and walk away.
So far Undecember has proven to be a lot of fun and I like the game. I am still enjoying it with my 3 characters and they are giving 5 extra slots so the addict in me that loves to make new characters with the new abilities they introduced in yesterday's massive update will have a few more months of fun. I cannot in the current climate of games ask for more and I will play till I am no longer having any fun. If this RNG destroys the fun and makes it impossible for me to enjoy the game it is time to leave. Sunk cost; fuck that!
I used to think I should eschew these games but when they can be played with small investments like storage tabs and a little gambling I do it because otherwise it is never to play any of them. They turn out to be pretty decent actually and have fun mechanics if I can tolerate the RNG and gacha. The trick is that is that a small spending can get you to the end game while not at the bleeding edge is enough. Is this game capable of that? If not then I won't bother.
Mobile games as a collective whole are targeting a casual market, and gacha ones tend to have gear check difficulty, with the main form of recurring content being their main gear check content to get people to spend money. Some will do a better job of being free to play friendly than others, particularly if they steer away from the usual focus on PvP as their main recurring content.
Genshit started off as a fairly typical mobile gacha game, with events as its main recurring content. Although after I think about seven months, or five updates, they stopped making new gear check events, and even before that they from time to time would nerf mobs, or bosses. In the later half of last year, they said in an interview that they have no intention of making any new challenging end game content, they also described the basic expected game play loop as get new characters, level, and gear them up, then do stuff in the world with them. Although once you have a reasonably decent account, aside from the later part of its sole challenge content, the abyss, everything had become brain dead easy, as they came to target the hyper casual crowd, and if you have a strong account, it is completely devoid of difficulty. It's not a game, it's just an experience, once you have a reasonably decent account, unless you fall asleep during most fights, or are pathetic at playing games, there's just no way you should ever lose. Why would I want to "play" something like that?
After they stopped using gear check content to push people to spend money, they shifted to making content that to them, functioned as ads for the gacha, to get people emotionally invested in the characters. Gear check events many came to call whale only events, became story quests, featuring the characters featured in the gacha that update. They also started making character specific content in the form of story quests for the top tier characters, and what tended to be compared to a dating sim for the lower tier characters. These things, and the main story line are the only things that tend to be fully voice acted, and the main story line is commonly used in these games to introduce people to the big characters they want people to spend money on in the gacha, so is also functionally an ad. Some may claim those aren't ads, but animated series like Transformers, G.I. Joe, and so on to kids are all purely entertainment, but to the companies behind them, they're commercials for their toy lines, or what ever else they are trying to sell. Other mobile games at least have some game play to do with the stuff you get, but Genshit is just a character collector that has content in the form of ads for the gacha. I'd rather play a game, than a commercial thank you very much.
As for your "look, lots of other people like it, so it's just a you problem" type argument. Look, lots of people think the earth is flat, so clearly that must be true. Lots of people play Diablo Immortal too, it doesn't mean that's a good game either. I've seen many people keep playing a game for months, or even years when all they ever seem to do is complain about everything, or where they seem convinced the game revolves around content, it actually has little regard for. People often get stuck doing something, as they have been conditioned to do that something, not because they still like it, and if it's a popular something, they'll be all the more likely to keep doing it.
That's how star rail works too.
All this other stuff you're talking about doesn't make any sense. The story is as much an "ad" for the new character release as any character collector is. In Star rail and tower of fantasy, both games introduced plenty of characters that you can't get yet, but sure with expansions you eventually can.
The only time it really matters is when power creep comes into play, and even then it's never a matter of having to have anything, or if you can have them, but a question of when.
I've played a lot of mobile games. It's easiest just to focus on what you can, and learn how to start the game as best as you can. That's why players would reroll in genshin over and over because the starting character made all the difference, and I certainly took advantage of it when I started a few years back to get diluc as my first character, and he's still pretty viably in all of the content.
Save for the abyss, which is really the only major "monetization check" since you need a certain number of characters leveled as you get to the higher levels.
All that said, just because the game has gacha doesn't mean its a good game.
It's hilarious to say a game is so bad if you played two of them for over a year (as you say)
I don't spend any time playing bad games... would be silly that theres over 100 million genshin impact downloads across all platforms and one of the top grossing games, and it's still such a bad game.
I know it's not though.
Especially because I've played a lot of mobile games and you could throw a stick and hit 30 gacha games. But how many of them are even remotely as well done? Not very many.... because the numbers clearly back up the most popular ones. It's kind of silly to try and prove that hoyos very popular titles are bad, and people just like bad games.
I don't like destiny 2 and call of duty, but I'm not going to sit here and say they're bad, because right now they pretty much some of the most popular games in their genre.
If you think gear check difficulty is only in the abyss, that's funny. Difficulty based on "time," what the hell does that even mean? You mean like in an idle game, where if you can't win, you wait a while, then can get more resources, power up, and now you'll win? If that's the case, guess what, that's a gear check, you cleared it later, as your were stronger, not better, just stronger.
Did I say gacha games don't use ad content? No, it is very common for their main story line, to basically be an ad for the gacha stuff. Just because it's common, doesn't mean that's good, but Genshit took it even further, and made much of the content added just playable ads, as they don't want to give players "anxiety" with difficult content.
"Just because the game has gacha doesn't mean its a good game." What? Now having a gacha is a good thing?
Some games can be pretty good, even if they have some parts that aren't so good. I gave Genshit time, as being a hyper casual game, it took hardly any time to keep up, but eventually I could only conclude that it was never going to get any better, so quit. Honkai 3rd was ok, but it was taking too much time, so I quit. I have played others, some I quit, some I stuck with, but never due to the gacha, as anyone with any sense knows what that will mean going in, it's the other stuff that makes it worth, or not worth playing.
Again, just because lots of people have downloaded it, and spent money on it, doesn't make it good. Lots of people are sheep, or feel locked into doing something because it is considered popular, or they have so much already invested in it. I've seen plenty of people spend lots of time, and money on games they can't stop complaining about. If looking at money spent, and downloads was all you needed to look at to know a game is great, then I guess Candy Crush is just the most awesome game ever made! Seriously, stop trying to harp on that point, it's really pathetic.
You claimed I never gave any such games a fair try, I showed that I did, now you're seemingly bragging about how many gacha games you've played. That's sad.
It's pretty good but I think because it's turn based, it's a little harder than genshin because you're limited on ways to beat an enemy if you don't have their weakness.
Yeah, if you get lucky and get a support 5 star (I think Bronya is pretty much used in every 'meta' group since she increases damage) then you'll probably have an easier time. 5 star dps like Seele(sp) and the spear dude kind of depend on what else you have (as with many dps tbh). If you get a couple that compliment each other and only focus on upgrading them, then its not a bad game (especially since support kind of dont need as much upgrading in this game compared to dps, I think Tower of Fantasy had some funky stuff with the starter healers only getting their healing skill after you rolled duplicates....). For the most part, its kind of like playing a free jrpg and just doing your daily activities long enough until you get past the eventual story level walls. Most (if not all) story scenes are english voice acted, so its pretty high quality for something free imo.