PlaneShift
Support => Complaint Department => Topic started by: Mathy Stockington on June 01, 2008, 01:42:45 am
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I have heard many players say they are bored of PlaneShift. Some stay on IRC and still chat with their friends. Some still look at the forums to stay in touch. Many have left completely. I am sure real life makes it harder to play for some, but some just say “I am bored” and do not play anymore. All we have to do is look at the R.I.P. section to see all the people who have left as evidence of this.
My question is why are you bored?
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I think this is typical of any on-line game. As long as there are new challenges to confront there is something to hold the attention. There are the hard core role players who can always make it up as they go along to keep themselves interested but other people find that a little too abstract. You can grind all day but that does not really accomplish much either.
I figure the average life span of a game is about a year and a half. Some games do not rate that long and others extend their lives by constantly adding new stuff in effect re-inventing themselves over and over. Part of the problem with PS is that it isn't yet. It is here and it is playable but it is far from complete. I am not saying this as a criticism, just a pertinent fact. It is sort of like that T4C game I keep mentioning. the first year I played there was a small island that got bigger a couple of times. It was open beta. After that they had a closed alpha to test the second island and other new content while they marketed the first island as a complete game, selling server licenses with the promise of new content. People came and went some came back as new content was released. This place just feels familiar to me.
But to answer your question more directly, I am bored because I am have a boring personality and ritalin came around too late to turn me into a good little zombie. :)
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The problem is how most people approach these games. The expect to be entertained. The content of a game may be as large as in WoW but in the end it is limited. And as most people just rush through the content...
But if you really want long time fun in a MMORPG you shouldn't ask what the game can do for you but what you can do for the game. This is also known as roleplaying. :)
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They are bored because at the moment the game is little more than a 3D presentation of Runescape - only alot better. This is not an insult - it's just a fact. The limited time and such allowed by the dev team to develope planeshift means that there are many more complete and playable games out there that are just as free.
You enter the game and unless you can find roleplay all the time, you will spend most of your time just mining, or killing mobs, endlessly - and even that has no interaction.
Games now usually have combat interaction at least - eg: you don't simple sit there and watch your character run through a stock animation until the mosnter is dead, you have "actions" or "powers" etc that you can click on which create a certain effect, be it a debuff or whatever. For instance if you train in the way of an axe in a game, you come up with a skill line which give you abilities to do with your weapon. people usually get incredibly bored with mining, crafting etc because after a while you feel like an enibriated carrot, sitting ther clicking at the ground for so long.
the inbalances in the game, the lack of updated loot tables, the lack of gameplay. The quests will only keep people going for so long. I hate to compare Profesionally developed games and such to an indie developer and I by no means want to draw much of a comparison - I just want to make small point about gameplay.
The new hype on Age of Conan is so large because of the innovative real time combat which doesn't make use of stock animation, click attack buttons etc. This is why so many people turn towards real time things. Shadowbane too has, to an extent but it's not nearly as big, the more interactive game play. The gear creation is not a big thing and what the game focuses on is the gameplay itself, allowing players to mold the world they stay in. Look at games like "savage: the battle for newerth" which is an old game now, it's a realtime FPS/3rd person combat game with stategy elements and such, but what has kept so many players invoved in it is the aspect of skill based gameplay, this is why alot of games like that retain a decent number of fans after other games have moved on and developed. Core gameplay aspect.
I in no way want to turn planeshift into an fps or whatever, I don't want to insult it and I know full well that the development team are part time and are not a company of dedicated people getting paid etc.
What I was trying to do there was to answer your qestion. I hope it helps.
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Boredom is the symptom of an uninteresting mind, fixing that is beyond the capabilities of the developers.
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Boredom is the symptom of an uninteresting mind, fixing that is beyond the capabilities of the developers.
That's a broad statement. A mind must be stimulated to produce an effect.
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Then stimulate it yourself, Ichaas. There are thousand ways in PS to achieve that.
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Ok then let’s be more specific. Is it that ‘old friends’ have left and you find your rp is dead? It is that you have done all the quests and you find yourself with nothing to do? Maybe you have leveled as far you can go and now you are bored. Or do you just need something new?
Again why are you bored?
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It stands to reason that if people who are bored leave, there is no one here to answer your question mathy.
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Shadowbane too has,
Shadowbane? No way.
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Boredom is the symptom of an uninteresting mind, fixing that is beyond the capabilities of the developers.
That's a broad statement. A mind must be stimulated to produce an effect.
For once ;) I have to agree with the devs (sorry, just joking, I *do* appreciate all your hard work!). But back to the point: I feel sorry for you Ichaas, but I fear that is exactly the problem stated in an earlier post. Players nowadays aren't used to use their own imagination anymore. There *is* plenty of room for your own roleplay and you do not need anything else but your imagination. Hell, that is exactly what people do in the storylines section!
All I can say to everyone who feels bored: Use your imagination! You need nothing more!
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I never would have imagine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0F_6plYyTM)d this! but then sometimes my imagination gets stuck in a rut and I wind up skinning the same cat a thousand times or more.
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the problem lies in that some like to play the hero too fast... and an RP plot is shot to bits in no time at all... leaving little to RP... rather than letting the little side lines build and the detail of it grow out and make a simple plot... a great RP.
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PS is the only MMORPG I play.. I've only tried REGNUM 'cause many of my 'gangmembers' went there. I didn't found Regnum as good as PS.
Therefore I have not enough experience or knowledge to compare PS with any other. My only part on this thread will be my experience as a 'typical' PS player.
I think most of the issue resides on limitations that have been gradually implanted IG. I don't wish to repeat it all over.. so if you already have read my opinion on this, jump to next poster.. but as long as the topic keeps leaking in here, I will say it again.
Very little amount things 'happen' to my character nowdays. It cannot be attacked, robbed, killed, etc.. if there is no prior 'agreement' for it. Almost all 'actions' have been limited to RP but it didn't help much in enhancing my overall gaming experience.
I would love to see the protective 'bubble' our chars reside in to disappear. Let the old ways revive a bit.. It did more for RP than the limitations are doing atm. The best RP situations I've been into evolved from such actions that are no longer possible.
I used to squeeze RL time for the game. In expectation of the rush for the actions we were used to confront on every session. Now I've sadly became an occasional player.
Yes, the game is a bit more time consuming than before. We used to have more P'lers but also more RPers too.. Some may find the following expression a bit harsh: 'The fairytopia world had it's chance and failed..' but I think it did.. IMO, our chars should be exposed to more 'actions' from other players.
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What were people permitted to do to each other before that they are not allowed to do now?
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This was not pointed at the developers, instead it is a chance for players to speak out and say what they think and feel. By no means is this thread against what you do for us Xillix. Instead it is something we can read and learn from if enough people voice their opinions.
Yes it is true that we make this experience what we want it to be. Maybe it is just the way of things, people get bored and move on. I was just hoping to hear why people do and see if there is a way to keep our family together.
Let us hear from more of you to better understand: Why are you bored with PS?
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What were people permitted to do to each other before that they are not allowed to do now?
-Guarded items.. back then, what you drop was exposed to thievery. Now it's used to 'enhance' carrying capability.. Players get inventory full but still manage to overload temporarily by 'putting things aside' while they dig for example. Some use it to place a Point Of Sale stand in public (very useful) but I dunno if this was part of the intention. I understand that there were many issues with the furnaces/crashes.. chars lost many items when that happened.
-Death rule/challenge/suicide.. People were abusing death realm for it's ability to respawn w/no penalty and therefore move faster between maps. Now no one wants to die to avoid penalty. I believe once a challenge is accepted, death must be considered as is. Once players were given a second chance, challenge became a game within the game.
Maybe these are just a couple examples.. more things used to happen but those were bug issues (which in no way mean less fun). Still, the effect of those bugs could be considered as 'actions', like the inventory auto-drop when full.. I know it must have been a nightmare for Devs and GM's but sure the effect was pure fun.
I don't mean these issues should return to their prior status. Maybe some other things when implemented may replace those actions (pickpocket/lockpicking)..
On another side, I've seen sporadic attacks on mining areas performed by GM's.. Everyone enjoys those, even if they die.. but these actions are limited to the GM's. Players can't do that.. People take things according to their source.. if it was a GM, cool, fun, yeah, hooray.. I can't imagine the negative comments if a player's character ever attempts something like that. Still, I believe there should be some actions doable w/o agreement, comment, blah..blah.. Every single time such things happened, the following was pure RP joy!
Now, you may say I enjoyed those for I could have been mostly a perpetrator.. well, no!.. those rules applied for us all.
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another "can't win" for the devs waoknie, players requested the ability to host weddings and not have their crap stolen by wandering noobs :P.
I am bored with this boring discussion of boredom.
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I think the real question is: How many bored borers can a bored borer bore if a bored borer can bore bores? ::|
The answer is of course: A bored borer can bore four borers if a bored borer can bore bores, more bored borers than four bored borers are too boring for a bored borer to bore!
Now aren't you glad you asked? (http://web.ncf.ca/cr502/great_googley_woogley.gif)
Of course, I usually ignore things that bore me too much, sometimes more successfully than others. Unfortunately some things I ignored fairly successfully, I would have benefited from not ignoring. I have been quite successful at ignoring reality. Perhaps some of you have noticed.
I'm kinda bored now because I just visited the DR four times in the last hour and a half. I should not have tried the gnarly looking gladiators in the arena or the rogues below the bandit brigand. There are far too many things that can kill me now. I guess it is the price of progress. Keep up or give up, I always say and I got left back about a year ago. I should have known better about those gladiators, they look a lot meaner than they used to and they definitely were. Can't say I had no warning. I knew about those rogues before too but they vary from time to time and I used to get one kill in.
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If a game becomes boring, people become bored and leave. Simple as that. 8)
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In each case when things are brought up, the immediate and sometimes caustic response is that it is the players problem. For being a powerleveler, for not speaking correctly, for not RP'ing, for not RP'ing in the settings, for attempting to push the limits set by game mechanics ... and now for not having an imagination, i.e., not being smart enough. After a couple of years of listening to these arguments ad nauseam, they are all sounding incredibly desperate to me. Its always someone else's problem, isn't it?
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"The only horrible thing in the world is ennui, Dorian. That is the one sin for which there is no forgiveness." <--- Oscar Wilde from Portait of Dorian Grey.
"Boredom: the desire for desires." <--- Leo Tolstoy from Anna Karenina.
"To escape boredom, man works either beyond what his usual needs require, or else he invents play, that is, work that is designed to quiet no need other than that for working in general." <--- Friedrich Nietzsche from Human, All Too Human.
"Boredom is not an end-product, is comparatively rather an early stage in life and art. You’ve got to go by or past or through boredom, as through a filter, before the clear product emerges." F. Scott Fitzgerald from The Crack-Up.
"Against boredom even the gods struggle in vain." <--- Friedrich Nietzsche from Antichrist.
And here, to show there is nothing too haughty in what I have suggested:
"Boredom comes from a boring mind." <-- Metalica
Whose fault IS it Eldoth?
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I blame the Illuminati, but then I lack imagination.
Maybe this explains everything: The Enemy! (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Pogo_-_Earth_Day_1971_poster.jpg)
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Oh, I am impressed with the literary references. Not. Quotes pulled out of context from various sources are not a significant response to that particular rhetorical question. It is better a question that one asks of themselves. But if the answer is not honest, then nothing is learned.
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I play now at least 4 chars in parallel (and find enough different plots to take part in), and also help a little as prospect. I can't be bored...
What do you expect from the game, and what do you expect from yourself?
Es ist nicht deine Schuld, dass die Welt ist, wie sie ist
es wär nur deine Schuld, wenn sie so bleibt
(It is not your fault how the world is now, only if it stays so.)
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People answer rhetorical questions all the time and this rhetorical question called for an answer.
Blame was shifted off the bored individuals, so where does that posit the blame?
This developer does not accept blame for people leaving when they get bored. I stand by the statement that boredom starts and ends inside an individual.
I have no interest in impressing anyone; I merely wanted to illustrate that my thoughts on the nature and source of boredom itself are not unheard of.
I intended to show that my demeanor and the demeanor of others positing the players as responsible for their own boredom is not particularly "caustic."
Those quotes also share one common feature: Their context is discussions of boredom.
No dishonesty is present as I am clearly expressing opinion.
Btw it is not my problem, I'm not bored :).
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The quotes have one other thing in common, their authors were all boring themselves. :oops:
Why does there always have to be blame? Blame is not productive. It does not have to be a fault if something goes wrong. If it rains on your parade is it the drum majors fault? Some things just are. You should not see this thread as one seeking to lay blame.
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another "can't win" for the devs waoknie, players requested the ability to host weddings and not have their crap stolen by wandering noobs :P.
I am bored with this boring discussion of boredom.
I agree 100%.. that's why I said things should not be undone or go back to those previous settings.
I thought that by naming a few samples could help.. I just pointed that there should be things happening to/by players. Just an idea that could contribute to improve the RPing by allowing actions to seed it.
I'm not bored of PS.. I understand that it is difficult to make things happen. I appreciate the effort the team puts into it and I have no big knowledge about coding, content creation, etc.. I've tried and found it's not for everyone ;)
Nobody likes bad things to happen to our chars.. still, they do and I believe the result is positive. Our chars have weaponry, armors, magic among other things.. I just believe they should come handy as a result from actions.
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The underlying premise you are arguing here is for pvp of various kinds.
Seek out threads on this topic and see how they have played out.
For what it is worth, I do think there should be some features for thieves and areas for alternative play styles, but all this takes time.
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Hehe, just to clarify, I never left PS, I still come on from time to time, and it's cool, I find the odd entertaining thing.
My previous posts were suggestions and reasons as to why other people have left.
Boaal is still around, has not left and will probably continue to come and go at will. But I also think that aside from an imagination, you have to have something more to interact with in a game.
Put bluntly - imagination is good but if you are hoing to try and imagine everything, as an excuse for the shortcomming of a game, then you should probably play a MUD which honestly allow alot more freedom for the imagination.
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I thought to write this thread because I read this in another thread:
"And I didn't say I was getting lonely, just bored."
I did not want this to become a battle. I instead thought it would be interesting to see what others thought. This is a great game. We make it what we what it to be. May it be role playing or leveling. Of course it is sad when our friends leave for whatever the reason, bordom or real life or anything else. Again I just wanted to hear what people thought and not to make it such fuss about it.
I still want to know why people get bored and move on. Maybe people can also tell me why they come back as well.
Let us do this peacefully though please!!!
Thank you,
Mathy.
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i've been bored for awhile but never left, been here for like... 3-4 years now... can't really remember exactly :P
i don't really have an answer why i'm bored but... maybe it's becouse i've lost my first friends in here or maybe becouse i havn't found much todo lately or... well bluntly i don't have any real idea why i'm bored i just am not that i really care but... :P ;D
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I got bored with the game for a while. Cause there wasn't much going on for my char. The thrill of something new (i.e. getting to know the game) had worn off and I didn't really know what to do with my char ingame. Found myself pretty alone there, didn't know what to do next, had run out of ideas, spent hours just making him stand on some hill staring up at the crystal thinking about "his life"... my mind was blank - so I sent him off on a long vacation with his family and kept myself busy with something else for a month or so. At that point I wasn't sure if he'd ever return or if he'd decide to stay with his folks and find himself a nice girl in his home village. ;-)
But I did come back to the game, just to nose around and see what others were up to - sheer curiosity - and suddenly there was something going on again. Nothing special actually, just sat around listening to other people's chat at the tavern, stuff like that. But it brought my motivation back, I got active again, met new people - had fun again.
It might wear off again at some point and I might decide to leave for a while cause I got bored. You never know. There are times in life when you get bored. And maybe boring stretches for your char are quite realistic, too.
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Why are roleplayers bored...
It could be that the "really awesome" roleplayers prefer nitpicking on not so experienced roleplayers over proving their abilities by setting a plot that will last for months and amaze all participants, so "really awesome" roleplayers are annoyed by the averageness, average roleplayers are annoyed by the nitpicking, and beginners are afraid to even try? ... ;)
This was an exaggeration of a half-way blind point of view. At least I hope so. :D
Fortunately I have witnessed lots of great plays of roleplayers who just were clever enough to use the most basic rule of roleplaying: Start with an average, imperfect character. Superheros tend to turn into superannoyances. Playing an average character is not boring if you concentrate on the tiny details that make him just not really average, but interesting.
The lower the expectations, the smaller a possible disappointment.
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Lolitra applauds LigH's observations.
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Now I am beginning to understand. Boredom comes from us not the settings or the game. So our role plays die and we get bored. We loose friends we were role playing with and it hard to make new friends sometimes. I do agree playing a character that is not the biggest and the best to start is a better way to role play LigH. As with anything, it takes time to create just the right ideal and it must be hard if it dies after all the work that went into it.
Am I right?
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I get bored quite often, actually. Sometimes it's hard to find people to roleplay with, and when I do, it's hard to get involved in their roleplay due to the fact that it's some sort of crisis that doesn't involve me.
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Time spent here is time lost rping :P
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Or improving Role Play Xillix. There is something to learn in all this.
Keep the responses coming.
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I still want to get a little more of a feel for the community before I really start off in this game. So far all I've really done is observe the tavern. I also want to get some more comments and corrections on my roleplaying post.
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Shaman you have given me an idea. I am glad you posted your thoughts.
/me thinks of the best way to put my thoughts into words and will return.
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I'm not bored... yet, but understand that I will be someday. Humans will always get bored at some point and at different points in time, and that is just a fact of nature. But I say it has everything to do with the game and roleplaying in general, which should be expected, and especially in a game in Alpha mode. Friends and players probably also left because of other reasons, not just boredom, but I'll just stick with my boredom theory as applied by my full spectrum theory:
My full spectrum is that there is a full array of everything. If you see a car, there will be people with a vast array of opinions on the car, and no two will be exactly the same. Ranging from complete disgust to complete love of the car and everywhere in between. So for boredom for PS, there will always be a wide range of boredom which is connected to the elements available in the game, on a time frame.
An example is if you sit 1000 people in 1000 seperate rooms with nothing but themselves to keep them entertained. Some won't last a minute before they want to leave and others may last til they die. Now you throw a ball in the room, suddenly some of them will stick around a bit longer, others will leave quicker because they don't want to be in a room with a ball, but if the overall time frame of people remaining in the room has increased, then it is a positive added element. Now add a skunk, and watch the room clear, bad add. Keep adding and taking away elements, and you'll see different effects. The trick is to have enough elements and the right combination in the room to give you the best lasting power for the majority of people. But, there will never be a perfect answer, there will always be a full spectrum of opinions, and people will always leave over time, but you can however extend the time frame. So after 10 years instead of just having 5 people left in the game when no elements have changed, you can have 10,000 people in the game. Eh, not a perfected theory yet, but always a work in progress. Oh, and everyone gets bored, just some quicker than others. Shoot, some can keep from getting bored until the day they die, but if time and death wasn't a factor, they'd get bored someday.
In PS, the "room" is set up with elements, a fixed amount currently, the game is in Alpha after all. But, with roleplaying there is one great wild card, everyone's imagination. I think imagination and game elements/settings can feed off of each other though and expand the time frame before boredom effects us all greatly. But, it is to be expected that boredom will always kick in eventually, especially if the game elements stay constant or even degrade.
To get back to the basic question, I'm not bored yet. Joining a guild has helped keep things entertaining, I still have goals that I want to try and reach, mining isn't so bad since I usually try to make the best of it and chit chat with other miners (IC of course), and the quests are painful, but keep me busy. I have a pretty decent imagination, but do not like the serious roleplays. I'd prefer adventure or comedic roleplays over any sort of drama. And text based roleplaying will only get you so far over the long term. /me scratches my head is nice, but more effective to a larger audience if you see someone actually scratching their head. The imagination I think is the key, but if you put 100 people in an empty room, the "fun" will only last for so long until people get bored. Elements and the prospect of PS keeps bringing in new people, but the game and the imagination need to feed off of each other in order extend the time frame of the boredom spectrum.
"There is nothing wrong with boredom, only giving up on finding new ways not to be bored."
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""Boredom comes from a boring mind." <-- Metalica
I've met and played guitar with the lead guitar player of Metalica. He didn't have much of a mind to be bored with. :P Don't even remember his name now he was so uninspiring. Don't know if the lead singer was any better, but I never found much in their music. Just personal opinion. I doubt many of you would be inspired by the music I like.
Lack of boredom is thinking that your every thought is original... it's not. <me> :)
We all get bored and find ourselves at dead ends once in a while. Boredom is just a respite while trying to find another challenge to overcome, be it a game, a new challenge in an old game, or, god forbid, something in RL(tm). Obviously I'm bored now or else I'd be doing something more interesting than responding to a thread about boredom. Some days, I'd give anything for a few minutes of boredom.
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I must admit that all I was going to say was said by StitchedChin. Good job.
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Amazing! Even I get lost with what I'm saying when I ramble. Glad my points came across. I'm going to try to be more friendly and roleplayer-ish going forward (once the PS server finishes rebooting, that is). I'd like to reiterate as many great ones have said, too, do not ask what PS can do for you, but what you can do for PS...
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I'm certainly not bored of Planeshift,
But I don't really go on that often as I'm really awful at it,
and everyone is too busy doing their own thing to RP with me, or generally talk to me.
X-/
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I'm certainly not bored of Planeshift,
But I don't really go on that often as I'm really awful at it,
and everyone is too busy doing their own thing to RP with me, or generally talk to me.
X-/
I think this is sad. When I first started playing I was so welcomed. I could hardly keep up with the 'tells' and 'group chats' and the role plays going on. The thing is that I was invited to be part of this family so warmly I could not wait to play again!! What happened to that? Why do our newer players feel so put out and uninvited? Could this lead to the real reason for this thread? If we try to make the new people feel welcome, wouldn't that lead to less boredom because there would be more people to role play with and more things to do?
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I'm certainly not bored of Planeshift,
But I don't really go on that often as I'm really awful at it,
and everyone is too busy doing their own thing to RP with me, or generally talk to me.
X-/
What makes you think you're awful at it? If you wish to spark RP with someone, start with your own character. Create a need for him/her to interact with others, something others may have that he needs. That's a good starting point. It doesn't have to be anything epic. It could be as simple as basic directions. If you approach them in character, most players will respond well, and if they ignore you maybe they are afk or they are just not worth the effort so move on to the next. You can also try approaching people about their guilds. Check the guilds forum and try to find the players in-game if you see one that appeals to you. Good guilds are always interested in new good members so at least they will take some time to talk to you. You might not join them in the end, it's not your obligation, but you will have had a nice chat and that could lead to more RP.
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Why do people go on about 'oh I am bored' or 'No one ever plays with me'... it is just so...
What I will say is that I have tried new characters of different types now [apart from my three actual RP characters..] and have always found RP... never been ignored when I start to speak or act with others. I have only been 'bored' when I stand 'waiting' for someone else to start the work.
I have only had issues with a few being 'unfriendly' in the years I have played - but that is a sad fact of life - there will always be one who says nasty things just because they don't get what they want and when they want it.
The final thing I will say is that some might be 'causious' with strangers due to the worry of what the player behind the character's intentions are... something we all are mindful of at varying degrees.
It is sad some find themselves so self convinced that there is a deminishing RP community just because players move on for what ever reason. It is a fact of life - we all move on from things we used to do, for many different reasons that life throws at us - it does NOT mean it is a failing of those that are left behind.
It would appear that this topic is just soo.. over done!
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Maybe players should stop focusing on why it's boring and instead try to unbore it? I'm sure there's a few creative minds out there...
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Possibly Raa, have you any good suggestions?
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A magical circus? In Yliakum, it's possible. Or maybe some people could organize some bands and play at the tavern or in the Plaza. Or mebbe some actor chars could perform a play. Just really simple things. People are trying too hard by attempting huge rebellion/violent roleplays when they don't need to, and those ideas always get struck down.
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convince the devs that a catastrophic event occurred when some magic dude guy thing decided it would be fun to try to turn things into other things but it got out of control and now the entire world as you know it is slowly becoming a world where every sentient race has been turned into a yulbar.
that would make everyone not bored..... until they are bored of being a yulbar and cry that they want to be whatever race they were before the event happened. some people are never happy :P
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Sounds like a good idea for the next Halloween and/or April Fool's day prank :P
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I'd rather stay my own race.
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/me laughs neko.
Very funny (but true)
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"Boredom comes from a boring mind." <-- Metalica
Must be some new group or song I haven't heard of before because the correct quote is:
"Boredom sets into the boring mind" <-- Metallica (two "L") from "The Struggle Within" lyrics
He's apparently singing about himself and the "meaning of life".
"I'm oh so bored to death." <-- Metallica from "Attitude" lyrics
"I am bored with this boring discussion of boredom." <-- Xillix Queen of Fools in this very thread
By the way, the full quote from "The Struggle Within" is: "Hypocrite! Boredom sets into the boring mind."
"The life of the creative man is lead, directed and controlled by boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes." <-- Saul Steinberg
A boring mind is not creative, a bored mind is.
This is why some games are a miss (boring), while others are a hit (fun and engaging). Creative minds vote with participation. 8)
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Labels like unimaginative, much like out of context and misquoted quotes, should be used with care. Both smack of desperation if overused.
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Only n00bs don't quote themselves
Quote war!
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:offtopic:
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Eldoth, show where and how unimaginative is over-used please.
I clearly caught the spirit of the meta(L)lica quote, don't be a stickler
and AGAIN those quotes are not out of context, their context is universally in discussions about boredom.
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A lot have said it already, but let me reiterate - you want to help with boredom, knock the dust off your noggins and get in game and create some adventures.
"When I played..." please... if you thought it was so good, get in game and recreate that atmosphere for others, don't blame the "the good ol players" for leaving - step up - provide the same for others that you were so fond of. Things change, people come and go, the only person you can blame for being bored is yourself. You all have a fantasy world at your fingertips - go out and enjoy it - proactive versus reactive. It's easy to sit on the sidelines... and it takes the same amount of effort to type on the forums as it does in game... so I can tell you are all capable of playing (sans any hardware concerns) - now get in game and solve your boredom problems.
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A wonderful suggestion, I totally agree with you that we can bring back the atmosphere that we so miss.
/me wonders why this thread got moved. It is a discussion not a complaint.
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I think it is turning into everything. Someone should add a bug about how they can't "unbore" themselves in game, and someone else can say that their computer won't load PS because the mouse is bored. I think we covered the newbie discussion about how to interact with your fellow roleplayers. I'll add some wishlist items, like the ability to play catch or maybe adding some tether or hand ball courts. Skeet shooting using summon missile?
I'm thinking maybe I can try to get games of tag or hide and go seek in the dungeon or sewer going. Give me the power to give 1000 XP to the winner?? Well, it was worth a try at least...
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What makes you think you're awful at it?
Well, I haven't RP-ed for a few years now,
and I'm kinda shy in RL,
and I worry that if I start RP-ing with someone, they'll just tell me to leave them alone. D:
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Well, I haven't RP-ed for a few years now,
and I'm kinda shy in RL,
and I worry that if I start RP-ing with someone, they'll just tell me to leave them alone. D:
[/quote]
I find this kind of sad that someone would be afraid to role play because the seasoned role players might not like their role play. I would be happy to role play with you and start something new.
/me says: Hi I am Mathy and what is your name? Have you lived here a long time in our city?
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What makes you think you're awful at it?
Well, I haven't RP-ed for a few years now,
and I'm kinda shy in RL,
and I worry that if I start RP-ing with someone, they'll just tell me to leave them alone. D:
As long as you're willing to roleplay, people will like you. It wouldn't hurt to do what I did and make a random character to observe the tavern for a while, just to pick up on how people type and what their roleplay includes.
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It stands to reason that if people who are bored leave, there is no one here to answer your question mathy.
Unless... they become lurkers >.>
And I can answer too! I find PS boring, because roleplaying just for the sake of roleplaying stands under "dull" in my book.
Boredom is the symptom of an uninteresting mind, fixing that is beyond the capabilities of the developers.
I am bored with this boring discussion of boredom.
Win!
But anyway, boredom may be a symptom of an uninteresting mind, but finding something boring is a different matter entirely.
So long as you can entertain yourself in one way or another, it doesn't matter watching your loundry dry doesn't in any way trigger your interest.
Now the real issue here is whether Planeshift is more like drying loundry, or rather UEFA competitions :<
...
...has anyone seen my shorts? They were around here somewhere...
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And I can answer too! I find PS boring, because roleplaying just for the sake of roleplaying stands under "dull" in my book.
Draklar can you please explain what you mean by this? I think I rp just because I enjoy it maybe you can say for the sake fo role playing. When I role play with the people in our community I am never bored though.
/me laughs I hope you find your shorts Draklar.
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Well, you know how in tabletops you get a certain goal and then try to achieve it? If you take the game at least a bit seriously, roleplaying on the go comes naturally - because it's convenient and fun.
But it appears in Planeshift this goal is roleplaying itself, and that appears pointless to me.
In my opinion, a game should set some solid goals. If it doesn't; if it's all about communicating with other people, I'd rather go outside and communicate with them there.
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Draklar... I agree wholeheartedly. If all I am doing is sitting around chatting with people, I would much rather do it in person. I even tend to avoid talking on the phone if I am capable of talking to someone in person. I will be happy to chat in-character to people I meet in-game. I will be creative and avoid OOC as much as possible (at least in main). However, coming to PS and sitting around the tavern shooting the breeze just for the sake of shooting the breeze doesn't really appeal to me.
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I do understand how it is more important to have real life friends then virtual friends. Though my experience has been that some of the virtual friends can become real life friends and that is, in my case, due to role playing in game.
I must say I have met some very nice people here. Yet I can also say that I have met some who I would not give two cents for either because they have taken the game to extremes and are on that side of weird.
I still think role play is fun and it not boring.
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Different strokes... for different folks. The world is made up of all kinds of people. I personally will play my role and interact with people in-game in a friendly and IC manner. I don't see the point of having a complete 3D world and all of the mechanics the devs work on, if all you are going to do is essentially IRC. That is me, and I am not trying to start a flame war. I am simply trying to clarify my point of view. PS is a game, and the flavor of the game comes largely from interaction with other players, but it is still a game, at least to me. If my primary goal is the game, there is a point. If the primary goal is just to chat with people, I prefer to do that face to face.
Not saying i'm right and others are wrong... that's just my 2 trias.
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What does a parent say to a child when they say "mommy I am bored!?" I know what I say, go find something to do sweeti. If your not happy with drawing anymore then maybe call your friend over to play with you, or ride your bike, or read a book.
If you are bored with PlaneShift it probably means your playing the game to much and you could use a break (maybe not but most of the time it is the case). Me personally ... I would prefer that players take breaks so that they come back with a fresh prospective, and new RP ideas. To stay in one place to long means that you'll just start picking apart what you don't like and it will cloud your judgement about the game that you thought was so awesome months/years ago.
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Yes, very true Zorbels. Oh and by the way, miss you in game.
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Totally agree, Zorbels, that's exactly what happened to me. You can get too much of one thing. So you go and do something else for a while and then come back when your mind had a chance to focus on something else and maybe you got inspired by something you saw/read/heared in the meantime. Or you just miss the fun you've had... cause from my experience that's what you remember more than the boring patches.
I took a break from the game for a month cause I just couldn't think of anything to do in the game. Blank mind = bored. Took a break, came back refreshed and I'm enjoying it again. Happens with all my hobbies over and over again. I might drop them for a while, then get back to them again at a later stage. I think it's totally natural that you need to do/see something else for a while. The same with work - why would you go on vacation otherwise if not for the need to get away from it for a while and do and/or see something else for a couple of days?
Personally I think you need a break from pretty much everything every once in a while. I sure do.
Of course, sometimes you just "outgrow" something. I don't still enjoy all the things I did like 5 years ago. A natural process as well. As you get older, gain new experiences, meet new people who introduce you to new stuff, other things becomre more important or fascinating... it all changes you in some way so that at one point things you once liked now just bore you. It's got nothing to do with the thing you're bored with but just with being human. My opinion.
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Personally, I'm bored of PlaneShift because my posse... clique... whatever-it's-called has moved on. Also because I'm sick of it. It was great at first, when I was a n00b, since there were so many new places to explore and so many new players and characters to meet. And I tend to do new things I've never done before rather than doing the same thing over and over again. It was only the attraction of the unknown that kept me going. But now that I've seen and done pretty much everything, it's kind of pointless to continue on, because once you begin doing something constantly without stopping, it's natural for humans to pick out the little errors (example: annoying old people). I used to never give a darn for any little mistake or glitch or whatever, but now I've changed into some gripy geezer. Like, every minute, I just want to complain about something I see IG.
Okay, can't continue this, I think i'm going to vomit....
Edit: btw, Quq, I iz a gurl
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yeah, what he said
done all the quests, tried all the skills, read all the books, etc
Well these days i only pop in once in a while to help some noobs by giving them some tria and/or weapons but in all honesty PS is a rather limited world. Once you've explored everything from Ojaveda to the Eagle Bronze Doors and gained access to the hidden area's through quests and read all the books in the library, magic shop, death realm and the Blackflame temple, it gets a bit repetative. Half of the players online are mining for platinum, a whole bunch is silently crafting, some noobs are shouting 'give me money plz' or 'lol how do u play diz game' and a handful of people are RP'ing tough characters in the tavern (yeah yeah /me glares back ...).
The game mechanics are limited too. Once you've mastered one weapon skill, you've basically mastered them all. Except for slight variations in damage, range and attack speed there isn't much that sets them apart. Creatures are either too easy or very hard. And a 'high risk, no reward' policy doesn't work: noone bothers to hunt cutthroats to get leather armor. And getting killed repeatedly by Dlayo Gladiators or Onyx Daggers for a 1:1000000000 chance to get a quarterstaff or a helmet doesn't seem to appeal either. At maxed fighting skill levels however its the only thing left to do unless you enjoy PvP (wich in PS means learn to time your attack, nothing more).
Crafting has its limitations too: takes very very long and once you are good you will never be able to make more money then it cost to train to get there. Regrettably the gap between looted weapon damage and that of crafted weapons is so big that an experienced player will rarely use any looted stuff. Cooking is a novelty amongst the crafts, but recipes are still very flawed (i'll make notes wich ones do not work), there are a LOT of missing ingredients, there's limited trainers for baking and economically it's even less plausible then weapon making from a IC point of view (I trained up to 100 cooking to see what it did for around 2 million i think, my Carp Delight doesn't even fetch 2 circles each). But lets not discuss the economics too much, all money goes to training, crafted weapons and guildhouses. Only the tria for the crafted weapons stay in the game, and since you allways need to spend more then you will earn with crafting, that is retroactive spending too. Once you can make a Q300 weapon it kinda gets repetative too.
And magic is so very bugged that it became my major annoyance of the game. Only around half of the 35 or so spells I have in my spellbook even have an effect (mechanics i mean, animation is a bonus), half of those are bugged in some way. There's a few spells that have a lot of use and most of those are overpowered (strength, life infusion, energy arrow, taste of death). And if there's a realms system, it should stand to reason that realm 5 spells are better then lower realms. Yet IG realm 1 or 2 spells seem to work the best overall. Plus there's no way to arm yourself against magic, so bug users that got CW or DW maxed will be able to kill everyone and everything from a distance. In fact magic training above lvl 20 is only usefull to gain effectiveness for the spells you allready have, there is no big challenge in getting to realm 4 and finding out you get a spell that does nothing, except several animations to show off.
Of course there should be random factors that make the game more fun. Events. I've participated in 16 registered GM events (a couple unregistered ones before they could be registered) and countless player events. Lately -last few months- however all GM's seem to be hiding, at least at EU hours whenever I look to see if there are any in game, and players rarely organise anything these days except the occasional tournament. I've played several other MMO's and even the simplest GM event can make the gameplay sooo much better. The game needs a RP infusion to spice things up and GM's are the key for that IMHO.
In other words, I think the game has a lot of potential, but even more flaws at the moment. I'm not at a point that i'm thinking of abandoning the game as some others seem to be, but gameplay is very limited as i tried to explain above. And with limited gameplay inevitably comes limited interest (to quote: "been there, done that"). Anyways i'll be looking forward to new content and improvements, as are many I conclude from the reactions in this thread. Keep up the good work.
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Hmmm... I think coming back after being gone for a while is difficult and can be a barrier more than a way to rekindle one's love for the game. In a way, one expects more excitement, I guess. Also, one expects to see familiar faces but that doesn't happen all the time and then all one has is a red buddy list. And that's depressing...
But then the biggest barrier, just like for the player who hasn't gone anywhere and is still bored, is to try something new. It starts with how you play. In my time in PS I must have created a good 10+ characters. Most of them didn't stick but thinking about their stories and interests kept me busy. I think the problem arises when the player doesn't know what to do with their character. When they have no purpose, they depend on other players and development to make things interesting for them.
If you're bored, think about where your character is at. What has your character done lately? Why? What do they need? If the answer is nothing, then perhaps it's time to create a new character and start fresh. But if you can find a purpose, whether big or small, then try it. You'll see how fast that BL of yours will sprout with greenies once you get your new RP on the road. It gets harder the older the player is, I think. The barrier is bigger and finding something new is more difficult. That's why creating new characters is always a good alternative. I tend to come back to my old characters after a while, with more ideas to try, or simply because I miss them.
The bottom line is that boredom lies in the way you look at things mostly. You can't expect everything to entertain you while you do nothing. If you wanna do that, watch tv. Interactivity is a two way street.
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I too have become a little bored, perhaps even a little frustrated with the game. I don't really know why to be honest, it seems to have just crept up on me.
I also have the depressing mass "red buddy list" syndrome. I've tried creating new characters, but it doesn't feel the same anymore. I know there are probably just as many people playing, but i just don't hang out at the platinum mine to meet them all, even though i met a huge portion of good friends and roleplayers at the old magic shop gold mine. Come to think of it, i really miss the atmosphere there. Is it a similar situation at the new mines? People singing and roleplaying while they grind away?
One other point however, I don't take exception to the slow pace of development for my boredom troubles, i accept that development in PS is always going to be slower. My trick has in the past been to take a month off and come back with renewed enthusiasm, but the good feelings last only a short while before the boredom sets in again.
I also agree with much of what Quq has said, especially about the Dlayo glads. What's the point of a monster than no-one can take on with a realistic chance of winning, without the need to exploit bugs (arrow from the walls anyone?) to defeat them.
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Hmmm.
bored cause...
all i actually get to do is hack rogues.
and mine now and then.
to up skills.
to hack more rogues.
cause...magic is useless.
cause...none of the other interesting skills work.
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I returned a few months ago, after being gone for about three centuries, to find a red buddy list. The game was still fun. (yes, i did want to see my friends again.) I found out that one of them still plays, but has totally forgotten me and only found one mention of me in his chat log. And there's another of my friends who hasn't forgotten me, but doesn't play very much. But the game never ceased being fun. Apart from when i went mining. Or stayed in ojadeva.
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If the purpose of your character is to level up, once you max whatever you want, you have no reason to keep playing.
If the purpose of your character is to chat with friends, should your friends ever leave PS, you will have no reason to keep playing.
If the purpose of your character is defined by roleplay (i.e. the character's personality and their choices in their life), you can always find something to do.
Likewise, the more the players do this, the less boredom there will be. But if all players do is hack rogues, mine and train until they are maxed and bored, little can we do to prevent such a fate.
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I can understand how it can get boring doing the same over and over again. Though role playing is always new and different. Is role playing ever boring to you the players?
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I get bored of the role playing -- or rather I have never found much of it that seemed interesting to me. I get bored of the grind too although it is easier to repetitiously mouse and keystroke mindlessly than type coherently, possibly incoherent, blather. I stick around because I like to contribute to the overall development of the game, posting bugs, questioning methodologies and whatever.
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Perfect solution:
http://www.planeshift.it/recruitment.html
Come help us build more crafts, more areas, more creatures, better AI, more quests, more animations, more rewarding game play!
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Lolitra wonders if she is unique... "I absolutely love the game.. I can't get enough of the role play aspect"
She smiles sweetly - "Even after over four years!"
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I can understand how it can get boring doing the same over and over again. Though role playing is always new and different. Is role playing ever boring to you the players?
Roleplaying is not new and different. It's the same old roleplay all the friggen time. Or it's overdone and all the elitists strike it down. It's like... "omg sum dood in a blak cloak omg he castin DW on me omg i's ded naow we fite bak n nobdy nvr winz cause da playerz dont wana loooze." Or, "raagh we killed ur babies naow we gunna taek ova ur government." OR, "i may b a normal lookin nab but I'z secretly got special (settins-braekin) powas that maek me glow n stoof and ttly pwn teh ebil guyz."
::|
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Though role playing is always new and different. Is role playing ever boring to you the players?
::| Heck NO! At least not me. That is one of the reasons I can't play like I used too. I start out small with my RP's and before you know it it is six hours later and I am just getting to the climax of my RP. Of course I can't leave it! I must finish it! If I gave into that my daughter would never eat or have her needs meet. Come to think of it neither would I!
I think if a person gets bored of RPing they need to step it up a notch or take a break. Rping is supposed to be fun. If it isn't anymore then it is time to make a new friend circle (let go of the old friends circle because people move on) and jump into the RP's they are having. You might be surprised how refreshing it is to play with new people. If that doesn't work for you then perhaps a break is in order and you can take a step back and get a fresh prospective on where your character is going in PlaneShift and how to help the further prosper in the world of Yliakum.
Oh and by the way, miss you in game.
I miss you to very much! I always loved your RP's. Perhaps this summer I can find some time to get active in game again.
/me looks at the summer program guide :whistling: "Now how to be rid of my child for a couple of weeks? Hmmmm, I can send her to camp for two weeks, or ship her off to a family members in another province ..... choices, choices."
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Roleplaying is not new and different. It's the same old roleplay all the friggen time.
You know I hear this alot. To much. One word for that quote. Motivation.
Why don't you do something about it? (I don't just mean you Raa :) ) Why not create something original if the same ol' stuff bores you? It only takes a different idea and perhaps different people to play with rather than the same people you play with all the time. Different people means different reactions. That means they won't act the same way as your friends who you have come to know and pretty much have a good idea of what their reaction will be. It also means the perhaps these new friends you have made will have fresh ideas. Not everyone in PlaneShift RP's the same things. Talk to the vertrain players in this game, I bet they could help out with the same ol' boring stuff and help you spice it up. You just have to have motivation.
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id love to get involved in a big RP but best i ever seem to find is sup-ing ales in the tavern, you must all be on different time-zones to me :P
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Well if anyone really cares, I've been working on a little something that should be different hopefully. :)
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I care. Please tell us Shaman. Maybe you can help with others' boredom.
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You'll see when the time comes. I'm working on a portion of it right now. :)
It's just an event I've had in mind relating to my character.
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/me cannot wait to hear more Shaman.
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I have some information as to what the roleplay will be about posted here (http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=32579.msg375454#msg375454).
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Well, I haven't RP-ed for a few years now,
and I'm kinda shy in RL,
and I worry that if I start RP-ing with someone, they'll just tell me to leave them alone. D:
And? There will *alway* be people who tell you to leave them alone. But there will *also* be people who will be happy to roleplay with you. And if you are shy, why don't you just use that in a roleplay? Act like a shy character and I am sure sooner or later there will be someone reacting. What I find a bit strange sometimes is that people seem to think that they need to be perfect in roleplay to be accepted by others. Which isn't possible in the first place as nobody can really define what that means. I mean, you don't even need to know much about Yliakum. Just act as a newbie, someone who had just come here and develop your role step by step.
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possible solution for why there are practically no rps in oja. From another thread i have learnt that dlayo gldiators are really hard to kill. So fill oja with them to remove the players. then take away the rats. and switch the dlayos for rogues. And 1 or two 'named' rogues.
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...ooooor just start a plotline that's Ojaveda-centric?
Depending on how GRAH (http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=32570.0) goes over, I might try for GRAO eventually. :P
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Some of the people telling you to leave them alone are being in character.
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so that's based in oja? never knew it.
but 75 percent of oja's population don't role play. i mean, if you cut down a huge great big platform, so it falls on someone's head, should'nt they at least say "ow!"?
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If you destroy part of the town shouldn't you wind up incarcerated or something? Perhaps they felt your RP was excessive and ignored it.
Just saying, wasn't there myself.
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Are we talking about being bored? Back on topic: Are you bored and why? We still have more to learn.
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No, we don't, and I do not think anything was learned yet.
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Perhaps you can summarize what you have learned so far Mathy and tell us what more you think we need to learn.
I hate to say it but your last post sounds kinda schoolmarmish.
I have learned that some people like to live up to their names, myself included, others may not realize it for themselves.
Anywho perseverance is the key.
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I have very rarely been bored in PS, and only for very short periods of time.
Boredom is a state of mind found in each individual person. It can come from an unstimulated mind where the activity in question holds no interest, or a lazy mind which expects to be entertained. In either case, since it is a state of mind found in each individual person, it is the fault of that person that they are bored, not the activity. If the activity is not found to be stimulating enough, the person is at fault for either not changing their state of mind and view of the activity (yes, that is possible), or by continuing to do something that is boring them just as "something to do."
People with a lazy minds are unwilling to put any effort into entertaining themselves. They go into situations (in life or a game) hoping that someone else (be it people or game mechanics) will keep them from having to think for themselves. Though they say "What can I do?" what they really mean is "What can they have me do?"
So, no matter what your answer is to Mathy's question, the answer is up to each individual person. Everyone knows why they get bored. I am not going to ask you why you are bored. I am going to ask something else.
What are you going to do about it?
/me shuts the thread down and kicks everyone outside to think about it.
A creative mind can find something fascinating even in the mundane.
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Lolitra gives Under the Moon a big hug.
So well articulate there...
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Hmmm... I think coming back after being gone for a while is difficult and can be a barrier more than a way to rekindle one's love for the game. In a way, one expects more excitement, I guess. Also, one expects to see familiar faces but that doesn't happen all the time and then all one has is a red buddy list. And that's depressing...
Hm... that would imply my buddy list was green before I left... actually it wasn't, it was very short and RED. It's way longer and greener now that I'm back after a break. How about that? ^_^ If you managed to make friends once - how about getting to know new folks? There are enough out there all over Yliakum.
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In gardening, if you worry over and tend only that which is brown and withered, you will never encourage new sprouts of vibrant green. All it takes is the tilling of a bit of new soil and the planting of a few seeds.
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A creative mind can find something fascinating even in the mundane.
And yet many "creative minds" go into the worlds of fantasy to escape the "munduane" reality.
Oh boy, UtM. The "the answer is up to each individual person" has much truth in it, but the rest of your post sounds like "a philosopher play-pretends psychologist".
Many professional comapnies spend huge amounts of money to gather info on what triggers players' interest and learn what game may be a hit and what game may be a flop. But apparently here it's not the game that is supposed to aim at players' interests - instead it's the players that are at fault if the game isn't interesting enough.
Have you considered the Wishlist forum? It's pretty much evident even in Planeshift the reality is contrary to what you are saying (or at least that's the maintained illusion). If the developpers wish to know what the players want, it means they want to know what will make the game more interesting. The creator needs to know such stuff. The creator needs to work towards certain goal. Game-making isn't just gathering code, graphics, sounds and putting it all together. It's also designing that'll make sure once all that stuff is put together, it'll actually be somewhat innovative, playable, but most of all fun.
If the creator skips that part and goes "ohhh... this should be fun..! And this! And this!", eventually assuming it's their fault if the players don't find all that fun stuff, in fact, "fun", then the game needs really lots of luck to actually get anywhere.
People with a lazy minds are unwilling to put any effort into entertaining themselves.
What exactly do you think Planeshift is supposed to be? A game or a life simulator? Because if it's supposed to be a game then even a player with a "lazy mind" (honestly, UtM, with all your creativity you could've come up with a better expression that that) should have this mind stimulated and entertained by the game mechanics alone.
But again, all this interest in Wishlist, Complaint Department, General Forum threads as well as the XilliX polls show that devs actually realise if you're making a game, it's your task to entertain players.
...but then again some of dev posts may indicate otherwise.
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Some people play games as a way to unwind. They may have stressful lives filled with a great many things to consider. Telling them they have lazy minds because they just want to tool around in the game and not think too much is a bit of a stretch. I know you take a lot of well deserved pride in the game but try not to do so obsessively. Not everyone is going to appreciate everything just the way you do.
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This thread began in a bad way and has only gotten worse.
The tone regardless of the posters' intent is entirely negative (by being posted under the negative heading "Bored") and does nothing inspirational or useful to my attempts to give the players what they want.
Nothing new has been said here.
This thread is a conduit for complaints I have seen elsewhere.
Boredom is NOT something I can have someone code or that I can write out of existence.
I suggest going back to making contributory suggestions in the many venues we have provided the players for constructive and additive feedback.