reasons

[Chickdigcookies]

so, its become something like a trend now. people are leaving. people who defended the devs when things got rough. people who looked forward to ao3. people who knew how to play. its sad, but somehow predictable and very understandable.

what are the reasons why people are quitting/taking a break(look i spelled it right)?

i have a couple:

-bored
-no one plays anymore
-too hardcore
-not hardcore enough
-too expensive/loot
-too many douche bags
-time reasons
-the only way to enjoy the game is to be really super rich and be a douche bag, and one is not
-or honestly, the hype was only that, a hype. it didnt deliver what they promised.


quote they posted up on youtube, but has recently been taken down since they deleted the "preview" video of ao3. i dont know why i posted, but eh.

We feel it is worth more than 20 plat. This campaign is so much more advanced then previous ones, with a ton of epic loot, multiple-stage boss fights like never before, additional PvP areas, more audio, and a much higher production value. We played through the entire thing yesterday and it is more fun than anything else in the game! We actually think all our campaigns are underpriced right now (they were originally priced before we had townes and quests)

[Tavore]

Yea it does get boring after a while. You have a lot of fun when it first comes out but then you get to 50 and all you can do is farm. Then after your farming for hours and don't get anything good you just feel like it's a task and not having fun. There needs to be something more for this game. It definitely needs way better quests too. Go get 1000 of this is another hassle. It's fun cause it's new but it doesn't last very long.

[Royce]

Honestly my interest waxes and wanes with quality of PvE pickup games. With absolutely nobody playing AO3 for real (99% of games are rushing or grinding shadows), it's tough to keep interested right now for me. I'm not leaving, nor have I really considered it yet, but the game has changed. I thought that the deleterious effects of rush farming on the game were obvious enough in AO2 that the devs would have prevented it, or at least discouraged it somehow, in AO3, but no such luck, at least not yet...
AO3 has a ton going for it, and pricewise, this game is an unbeatable value. Unfortunately, nobody actually seems to want to take advantage of that content. I don't blame the players for finding ways to cut corners and acquire things quickly, but I do blame the devs for allowing to to persist unchecked.

[FluffNStuff]

Fatigue. People who have been playing a long time have been 'stuck at the top' a number of times before. Unfortunately as early adopters, we do get the excitement of playing this game before others, but we also have to realize we are playing an UNFINISHED product. My biggest issue with AO3 is one that future PL generations will not have to deal with. We fight hard to get to 50 so we can get the new equipment, but once there, what do we do with it? The answer will eventually be use it in the next campaign to get to 55. Or even use it complete the quests in AO3, or fight in the AO3 hard core (OUCH) level. But all level 50 characters right now are officially to high for the game, and we get to 50 to get the equipment ... to get more equipment. The same as when we were level 45's, and level 40's, and level 35's and level 30's etc. So I really think some of the oldies are getting tired of 'being ahead of the game'.

[Justg]

Good conversations. We're listening...

[RedRyder]

Im an oldie, and ive never been ahead of the game lol. Ive yet to reach 50, but these kids with all the time in the world dominate this game. Its not casual anymore. Being a full time student racking up credits and working to pay rent and whatever while still trying to maintain a good social life i really dont have all this time.

Im for damn sure im not the only one.
The items are too expensive to stay on point to actually be of help in games,
So as i said, all these kids have all this time to farm and getting all this gold, its not fair.

I love ao3, i personally would have payed 50 plat even (if quality goes up with every camp. I highly suggest that price) its just these youngens sucking the life outta this game

[Vyvin]

As usual we get the people who are the setting the prices who do this. Screw up the economy and make us fall on our faces. And then people who need the item spend all day getting nowhere and the prices increase because of demand.
/Vyvin

[BeardedBear]

One thing I always noticed; it's VERY easy to come up with things we don't like, not a solution for them. I think we should suggest things that would benifit the game, instead of saying what we already know. Regarding the exp farming of shadows nonstop, well make the respawn on shadows longer, so people can't linger around, heck, even remove ALL skeletons from AO3 to prevent easy leveling, or mix them up with aliens and such.

The last 2 people I have seen who "quit", quickly changed there mind when showered with money and items from friends wanting them to stay. I don't think the devs are in any real trouble of a wave of people quitting, seems to be just a few people in the forums who A) just want to say goodbye to friends and are busy with other RL things B) People who leave or threaten the devs with leaving because they don't like how something is. You don't quit a game because you don't have gold or items. I'm glad to see those people leave.

EDIT: also, I'm sure the devs get a good laugh when people threaten them with leaving. It's amazing how important people think they are, in a game full of thousands.

[NinjaStar]

I do agree that farm rushing is a huge problem in this game but players NEED to do it in order to be better geared. Prices are at an all time high and this is due to the high demand and low supply. I DO want farm rushing to be stopped but I DONT want prices to increase further. Imagine if farm rushing was solved and we had to clear a map in order to get gear. The supply would decrease further than what it is now and demand obviously unmoved.

If Devs would increase legendary drop rate for clearing a map then the problem would be solved and perhaps the economy would stable. That and an Auction House

Both sides would be happy in my opinion. Players who complain about the economy and players who want to play the game how it should be played and get rewarded properly with good drops for doing so.

[Tavore]

That would really help with farm rushing. Although once you get all the gear what do you do? Just farm some more for money. I'm trying to farm all my gear myself instead of buying it so I can have something to do..

Careful with making you have to clear for killing the boss. That could make the prices sky rocket even higher if they are too hard to obtain. I'm sure people will try to make prices higher. Putting the right drop rate of course would help this.

[Vyvin]

As usual we get the people who are the setting the prices who do this. Screw up the economy and make us fall on our faces. And then people who need the item spend all day getting nowhere and the prices increase because of demand.
/Vyvin

[FluffNStuff]

As for the insanely high prices, the solution to that would be to put decent stats on the tier two pinks. In AO2, the rare items that sold for a lot of money were never 'necessary'. People WANTED a 800K lance, but you could get by fine with a 25K Isis Spear. People WANTED the million gold Galzyx staff, but the desert shadow staff was quite useful and quite affordable. The problem now is that the only ~decent~ pink equipment is the really rare items, and the other pinks are just, well, junk.
AO3 has evolved that having the super rare, super expensive pinks has become a necessity and not a luxury. Two possible solutions to this that I see. The first is to up the stats on Fate, Fortune and Destiny items so they are actually AO3 quality items. The other option, is to release some crazy luxury items that are much cooler looking and have much better stats then the Void, Cosmo or Rift items. This will in effect drive down the prices on these necessary pinks as power sellers and power buyers turn their attention to the new items. Either solution should help, and of course a combination would be the best.

[Nebbor]

I agree, there needs to be more endgame content. I know this game isn't WoW/Runescape/etc..., but some endgame utilizations/concepts could work here: better PvP, more PvP type arenas, PvP points to get elite equip/gold, better questing, crafting system, auction house, Equip modifiers/tiers, etc.... I know this is a quick list, but it's a starting point. Thanks for listening.

[cry]

All I wish is that the level cap would be much higher (70) it would be alot more fun, more items like new markets, 50-55-60-65-70. It would be way more fun IMO.

[pooop]

til u hit 70 and got bored again.
frankly this game will get boring at some point for everyone. what makes it a great game is that people do not want to get bored with it.

[Krimm]

So the problem with hitting the level cap comes down to replay value. In my eyes there are two things to do once the cap is hit.
1) Farm
2) PvP
So, do the devs need to make some mini games or something to keep interest? They can make this game MORE like WoW if you can have a trade skill, or fishing or something else (15 man raid dungeons) to grind the time away.

I think the issue with AO3 is getting a good group or party. I believe making a true guild system could fix many issues. With a good guild system, you could (more) easily get a better group together to play, chat, trade, etc. Also a guild system could build a better sense of community in PL, instead of "you're too low/you suck *boot*" that has been far too common.

The devs have made a REALLY, REALLY good MOBILE mmorpg. This is really the first game of its kind and just needs to be tweaked to fix a few problem areas.

[cry]

Well no.... 70 would be really hard, then some dungeons would be hard enough for just 70s.

[regie831]

raise the level cap, like other mmo's I've played there's always something to do like level up other stats. it was pretty exciting when a03 first came out, but after a couple days of farming and lvling up to 50 the excitement disappears. I am now in the brink of quitting PL but not yet, I'm still sure the devs will come up with something i can look forward to.

[Kalielle]

Fluff has hit the nail on the head here. The drops in AO2 were very cleverly set up, with plasma giving people all the necessary items at a decent drop rate, and then the other maps giving cool loot for those who had tons of time to kill farming. I remember playing through plasma many times when I was just getting to 45; It was just a great way for new players to get all the equipment they needed, and get lots of practice playing while there were at it - and the good drop rate encouraged people to keep playing through that long grind to the bosses. When I finally got bored of that and turned to rush farming the other maps, I never got upset that it took a while until I got some really rare stuff, because I knew I didn't really need it to play well.

With AO3 good armor is much more necessary and yet the only way to obtain it in a reasonable amount of time is via potted rush farming. Meanwhile the common pinks drop even more rarely than pinks in plasma pyramid it seems, and they're sometimes so bad they almost insult the player's intelligence. We need decent items that drop frequently enough that casual non-farming players can get them, and then uber-rare items that have only slightly better stats but maybe a really cool look, to give those who have time to farm an incentive to keep playing the game. We've already seen that players are willing to spend hours farming just to get a bow that has plus one armor but is red. Those are the kinds of differences that we need to have between common and uber-rare pinks - especially when it comes to armor, shield and helm, which are necessary for good play.

Also, I know many will disagree with this, but I think maps need to be kept rushable without pots - or else made completely impossible to rush even with pots, but I don't see how the latter could be done without making them insanely difficult, in which case again we'd have people potting to clear (and there would be pressure from teammates for everyone to pot). I don't know if the devs goal was to nerf rushing with the current difficulty level... If so, it hasn't happened.

What happened instead is we have people farming with pots, and people who can't afford pots and therefore can't afford to play with friends with whom they've played for ages, or people who get booted out of games or called lechers because they can't afford to pot when everyone else does. Even in non-rush games people often pot because of the one hit kill problem, and the lack of good armor. So people are desperate for pot money and it's changing the game and the atmosphere among higher levels. Everyone is a lot less likely to be patient and generous. I remember how in AO2 I farmed for fun and gave away 3 of the 5 shock lances I ever looted... I'd be very unlikely to do that now, just because one simply needs pot money to keep playing.

[Vyvin]

Im for damn sure im not the only one.
The items are too expensive to stay on point to actually be of help in games,
So as i said, all these kids have all this time to farm and getting all this gold, its not fair.

Xom, Lone, Melknor (my friend though), the list goes on!
/Vyvin