Lheimroo

I guess I may be out of touch with current gaming trends, but what more do people these days need to play games than to be engaged within the experience? Does the skinner box supersede aesthetic in MMOs? Honest questions, because I'm truly baffled.

If there is one thing I've "learned" from all of the mmos I've played, it's never optional if it has any kind of statistical advantage.

It just seems to me like they aren't sure who to target for their metrics. If you look at the players that have 1000+ hours logged already, those who may have been farming non-stop or manipulating the markets, the costs of these ascended items are high, but not compared to the wealth they have. When you compare it to someone like myself, who has about 300 hours, they look awfully steep. When I see these statements about "wanting minimal grind" after introducing items with objectively superior stats that take 300 ecto + other mats to attain each, I have to imagine that they are panicking about the number of players that are rolling in money. In my opinion, this is a poor group to look at. Those who want to achieve vast wealth will always do so; you can't keep them at bay without enacting measures that cripple anyone else, so I don't believe that they should be looking to them for what they determine as the baseline. If they want content to be virtually unattainable for the vast majority of players, that's one thing, but their stated goals disagree with that. There is a disconnect somewhere.