(07-27-2015, 06:04 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote: It's pointless to you because the gear doesn't do anything or you other than look pretty (although if it's so pointless, I do wonder why you even bother grinding it, and why you care about it in the first place). Â It isn't pointless to people who are using that gear as a springboard towards further progression.Uh, yes, I know. This isn't news to me. I've been around, you know.
The fact is, the game is designed - and quite deliberately so - to be a gear grind. Â That is how they differentiate the different tiers, and that is how they keep the new content "interesting" to players who have already farmed the hell out of current content.
This is literally how every raid-focused MMO works.
Doing it all over again in Heavensward just made it that much more obvious how staid the design actually is. I do enjoy getting my numbers up (hence why I parse myself and try to top the DPS charts even though I don't do progression content), but that's on the assumption that the content itself is actually enjoyable on some level. Sadly, the game's combat isn't enough on its own to carry the rather meager content, especially in the 4-man dungeons where the most difficult thing is trying not to tall asleep after the umpteenth time running them.
I feel like they just need to re-prioritize figuring out how to keep the content fresh over the long haul. Whether that means more random or procedural elements, or a rethink as to how they handle casual content in the game, I don't know. But something's got to give. I'm sure there's still a decent contingent of players who are happy to just keep chasing carrots all day long, but the rest of the player base needs something more.
And yes, I know RPing is an option. It's hard, though. It's hard to get back into it after a long hiatus, not knowing where my character is or what direction I even want to take her in. Not knowing who's actually interested, who is compatible with my style, where to go to find it that isn't The Quicksand, etc., etc., etc. Admittedly, I've become more and more of a recluse over time and I'm just not finding it in myself to try to 'fix' that.
So, I dnno. I guess I'm done... again. It's embarrassing that I took something of a three-month break, only to go back on it after a single month of expansion binging. I swear I'm not trying to make a habit of it or anything. That's just how the cookie crumbles, I guess.
