Why do you play PSO?

Chronos Notashi said:
I haven't played in some time (been working on other games and haven't really found the time to return), but there's quite a few reasons why I was so drawn towards the game.

First reason: kinda silly, but the first time I heard about PSO (though I was never able to play it back then) was while I was still actively playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the Gamecube and raising chao. Heard a good few rumors, obviously, but the info I found that really stuck out was for the Tails chao. For those who were unaware, you could get a Tails chao for SA2B GC through the use of a GBA and Phantasy Star Online: Episode I and II. I thought about the idea of getting the Tails chao (and also playing another fun game), but since I was still a middle/high schooler without a job or budget (which made P2P games a practical impossibility, anyway), I had to settle for what games my mother could get me, so PSO kinda faded out of existence for me. I looked at info for the Tails chao again at one time after returning to SA2B, and saw PSO again. To say the least (and this is related to the second reason), I gave PSO a look, found out about Ephinea, and...here I am.

Second reason: somewhat the same as Ascot's, somewhat not the same. See, I don't have any nostalgic memories of PSO during its official days, because I never played PSO until about a year ago. But I AM starting to get tired of more recent MMOs. Part of it is because I'm still using a laptop with limited space that can't properly run most of them, but the big reason is: many of them look and feel like the same old same old. Constant updates, I don't mind. It tells me a game's at least making enough to warrant attention. But aside from the changing metas for each game and such, many of today's MMOs just feel bland, like they're just being made for the sake of making a quick paycheck with no real effort put into the gameplay, story, etc. The only two games that really stood out for me in their primes were Dynasty Warriors Online and Dragon Nest, but the former was shut down after three years of service, and the latter...you could say that it's a bit of a shadow of its former self. In light of this, PSO (and PSU, to an extent) was a HUGE burst of fresh air for me. It has fun, unique gameplay with an interesting and dark story (both of which are hard to find these days), and the character designs and environments are all pretty great...despite the fact that we're talking about early 2000s graphics. Though being a partial retro gamer, I'm fine with that. Contrary to popular belief, a game DOESN'T have to have 4k HD (or whatever the latest graphics craze is these days) to be amazing or still fun to play.

Third reason: new grounds in general. PSO plays quite differently from other games that I've played (besides Monster Hunter, but regardless), and all I had going for me the first time I logged on to Ephinea was basic understanding of RPG standards and some preliminary knowledge gathered from a few sources (not a huge amount, just enough to get me started). As I said, it was a fresh experience playing PSO:BB for the very first time, and there was a lot I had to learn. And...still have to learn, since I got my ass kicked the first time I entered Solo Seabed Lab Easy...as a level 34 HUmar. Not the most fun experience, and highlighted quite a few mistakes I've been avoiding since.
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*Looks upon with warm eyes and APPLAUDS* Well said! You may not have joined us under the mantle of an Old Guard returning home...but you certainly know Why you're so comfortable here. =3
 
GuardianGirth said:
Because its the melee of dungeon crawlers.
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Huh, I've never really thought about it like that, but yeah, it's not a bad comparison.

So... based on the current Melee tier list and a few personal obversvations...

HUcast is Fox
HUcaseal is Peach
HUmar is Pikachu ("Poor Man's Fox")
HUnewearl is... Nana? >_<

RAcast is Falco (similar to Fox, Laser is used differently and more "Ranger-like" imo)
RAmar is Marth (DAT SPACING)
RAmarl is Samus
RAcaseal is Roy ;P (would work better with RAcast as Marth, but Falco works better there)

FOmar is Captain Falcon
FOmarl is Mr. Game & Watch (he cannot L-cancel some aerials, she has some very bad animations)
FOnewm is Sheik
FOnewearl is Zelda (just switch to your better counterpart, dammit!)

I didn't find a suitable character for Puff.

(Don't take this too seriously! xP)
 
That question is very tough for me to answer sometimes.

It used to be for the grind. When I first started to play PSO it was on the Game cube and I mostly played by myself with bits and pieces of my Dad and Brother playing with me. It was the first game I had ever played that required me to grind monsters for experience and play the game day in and day out for weapons and armor to get yourself to a higher level of power. It was a kind of game I had never played before and I fell in love with it.
Despite this, the grind became less and less unique as I started to invest into other games that were of the same kind of structure. I started to invest time into Elderscroll games like Morrowind and Oblivion (and now Skyrim) which have a similar grind system to PSO on the most basic level (which is really what I like the most about them) but these were all single player experiences that had more in-depth grind systems that were created to keep players playing for a longer time and felt more rewarding.

So as time went on PSO wasn't offering nearly as much as a single player grind experience as the other games I was playing did so I needed to find another reason to play PSO. I don't want to make it seem like I never played PSO because I did. But it started to get boring and less interesting. So I started to realize what the missing ingredient with PSO is friends to play with. It's a multiplayer game.

When I started to play PSOBB it was basically all I ever played. I dropped every other game and played only PSOBB. I would go to school, plan exactly what I was gonna hunt and with who during class (often failing some of my classes for being too interested in it) and would come home to dissing homework and playing PSOBB for 8-9 hours. I was addicted to it completely and utterly. The best part of PSOBB for me was that I had friends that I loved to play with every day.
PSOBB stopped being a grind experience for me and became a social experience. I made tons of friends with it and to this day I still consider PSOBB my favorite game to play with my friends. Most of the friends I had made originally dropped off the game and I don't hear from them anymore. But the new ones I've made are just as good if not better than the ones before.

PSO is a great game. But the people that play PSO often make it or break it for me.
 
shadow_FIX said:
also the lootboxes are not behind an RNG paywall. :wacko:
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Yeah. That's another thing that I've started to not like about many modern MMOs/multiplayer games: the fact that so many of them take the lootbox paywall route for revenue. It's somewhat forgivable if the contents is purely cosmetic in nature (ex: Overwatch and TF2's lootboxes), but more often than not, cash shop lootboxes tend to contain stuff that can make or break your full potential. And more often than not, NOT buying said lootboxes and getting those certain items puts you at a huge disadvantage. Especially in the PvP environment since most MMOs these days have, for the most part, done away with equalized PvP completely and let maxed-out cashers freely slaughter new players whose only crime is not having spent the same amount of money. The worst offenders, however, are those who balance PvE around said cash advantages. It was a dark time in Dragon Nest 80 cap when the nest you needed to run to gear up had teams requesting players geared in 70-cap +10-+12 U/L-grades to safely clear Abyss difficulty for the most loot.

GuardianGirth said:
Because its the melee of dungeon crawlers.

Also, its basically slot machines hidden behind red boxes hidden behind killing monsters in which positioning and precision are the most important things.
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Can't believe I forgot to go into that one when I mentioned the gameplay. It's the same thing with Monster Hunter (which I believe WAS inspired by PSO's gameplay). Gear can help you get stronger, but it's not nearly as important as knowing how to fight the various enemies and bosses and exploiting openings and element weakness. I wouldn't be surprised if most people who fought a Delbiter in Seabed Lab or even Olga Flow learned that the hard way (I definitely did).
 
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Roo makes a good point with "community driven" i think. due to the hard work of a handful of ~very dedicated people~ we have the server we enjoy today. with consistent attention, this game has become more than SEGA probably envisioned. had the game stopped developing beyond where SEGA left it, i think a lot of us would have left it behind.
 
I like grindy games that make me work for things which are the only games I play these days. I also like to name my characters after characters from other franchises I like (except my RAcaseal who's named after food) as it kind of allows me to play them when I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Granted I could do this with other games but they don't keep me entertained the same way PSO does.

PSO is really the only game I never truly get burnt out on. I always find myself returning to the game in some way.
 
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