I see the sky is falling yet again. . .

I know it's not a popular option, but I often get casino passes from PvP as well. But I admittedly don't play in the casino all that much, to the point that I actively have to remember I have passes in the first place. That being said, I never have and never will BUY casino passes, especially when I barely play there, and get them from PvP besides. There's just no reason I'd ever have to.

Now, I understand if someone REALLY loves the casino, this may be an issue. But I have to remind everyone that NOTHING monetary in this game is compulsory. NOTHING. If you don't want it, if you don't NEED it, you do not have to buy it. Ever. OG PSO2's in an odd state where it exists exactly as it has been, but without some of the sustaining systems (login rewards, campaigns, etc.) that it once had. Even then, the larger majority of the game is still fully enjoyable despite its odd state, and while it's not a promise of anything, the possibility of the NGS Mission Pass (when it arrives) could issue them. It is very unlikely, so I don't want to get hopes up (as NGS generally awards items meant for use within itself), but the possibility exists, and if there's enough demand for it, people ought to speak up and ask for it, rather than seemingly seeking out more things to be upset over.

@Weirdo said in Why does it feel like the NGS director wants to kill the series?:

I'm fine with waiting but I heard that even the Japanese player base is sick of this pacing and doesn't want the director to keep focusing on gigantix. If I didn't hear complaints from Japan then I wouldn't say anything about the director trying to kill the series, but when even Japan is sick of how he does things.

Now THAT I'm in full agreement with. They could stand to pick up the pace a bit and offer a little more than weather-spawning super enemies at the least, but I'm willing to see what they have in store, since they're already releasing the classes way faster than I'd have expected.

Kinda hard to be dead yet last that long.

But let's not be coy; anyone with an ounce of foresight saw that Global was going to be spoiled by the rather rapid content release schedule when they were playing catch-up to JP, this of course coming with the inevitable catching up to them at one point. And most - most - know that JP's content release schedules were drastically slower than Global became used to. This is hardly anything new.

That being said, there's a mix of reasonable dissatisfaction with the initial offerings, as well as rather overblown expectation and impatience. People are treating it like we've gotten a finished product when we've only gotten the first bit of something planned, projected, and portioned out. They want more - and there IS more coming - but they want it now now NOW, despite the fact that if they got it now now NOW, they'd have burned right through it all already and been right back to the same impatience anyways.

It's fine to want more; I do too, but I don't feel what we've got is without merit or in some way a means to "kill the series".

@Furious-0 said in Why does it feel like the NGS director wants to kill the series?:

I'm so tired of this "live service game" "but but but PSO2 when it came out..." meme.

And yet it went on to be an 8, going on 9 year success, and even in a new region late into those 8 years, despite controversial localization differences and a really terrible launch. . . So they must be doing something right through all that.

Not trying to defend that NGS is a bit light on its initial offerings, but looking at where PSO2 started and where it ended up, I'm willing to be patient with a restarting point. I would suggest others do the same.

Since NGS launched, when selecting special skills at the start of a Battle Arena match, there are times the skill will be at 0 even before ever being used. This has been observed with single-use skills such as Protect and multiple-charge skills such as Cure or Sprint.

No need to wait for JP to act on it. That is unless we're willing to somehow accept the wildly untrue and self-detrimental idea that we [the Global audience] are somehow inferior to or lesser valued than the JP audience. . . which if it were true would be an entirely separate issue altogether.

And yes, nothing beats direct communication, at least as far as being heard. This doesn't mean immediate fixes or completely rolling over on the devs part to satisfy players, but ways to be heard - like this very one we're typing on now - have been offered, and we definitely should use them.

Personally, the random spawns and durations of the spawns don't make it all that appealing to me, and the (unsurprising) ways the community has both come together and fallen apart because of the content remind me all too much of content in other games I was just as disinterested in. I don't hate NGS, just to clarify, I actually like it quite a lot. But this particular bit of content - and what it's brought out in people - currently disinterests me.

Actually no, that's an excellent suggestion.

What better way to say "we don't like this/don't like the way this currently is" than by simply not doing it?

I won't say the story isn't without its critical points, but this is like watching the first 15 minutes of a movie, or the first episode or two of a show and complaining about the entire series as a whole.

Like, it's literally just starting. If this were in the style of PSO2, that was Chapter 1 (maybe even Chapter 0) of this first Episode.

Yeah, there's kinda that "It's already here, if you're curious or want to know more, GO PLAY IT" factor that makes me fail to see the concern here.

One of the things I grasped and understood quickly when I started PSO2 (a year before Global would be a thing) is that this game - both now and then - is not about the destination, it's about the journey.

I'm not going to pretend NGS isn't without its faults, or that there aren't things I'm critical of or just flat out don't like, but overall, I'm having fun. When I get a chance to play a game, I'm excited to play this one, knowing that I'll generally enjoy my time playing it. I know that it's the usual routine to speed through leveling as fast as possible to get to endgame content - whatever that may entail for each different game - but PSO2/NGS never was about that, and I'd say if anyone was rushing to the top to get to the "fun" stuff, they missed it in their haste.

Can NGS benefit from more content? Of course. Is it getting more? Yes, as has been shown already. I can't promise I'll even like the new stuff when it arrives, but for now, I'm still having fun. Hell, the most fun I've had so far was running around West Aelio hunting Veteran mobs with some friends, and I was the only one who isn't max level yet (so 2 birds, 1 stone for me). That's bound to get old, eventually. Naturally. But is it something I can enjoy right now, even on my own? Yes. Your mileage may vary on this, of course, and that too is fine. But it's all about enjoying the journey. No reason to hurry and wait.