Returning - maybe.

[Xanthan]

With a new computer, I'm finally able to return to the game.  Since I left, I gather there's been a quest wipe.  More controversially, winch access earned earlier seems to be gone.  The forum search function is less than ideal for finding "official" information, but hopefully someone can confirm this, or point me to how to restore access.  I can't imagine that the dev. team would take an action that would probably make many players give up on the game.

[Mekora]

Welcome back  . Yeah there was a quest wipe. You can restore access the same way you got it - Questing. Good luck 

[Sarva]

with the introduction of the 0.5.0 game client a new quest system was introduced. You no longer have the guess the magical word(s) that the NPC will accept. Now you just choose what to tell the NPC from the quest response box. The only exception is riddle answers where you still have to type in the correct answer. Since the new quest system had to be tested all quests were wiped for existing players so people lost winch access and their rings of familiars stopped working. From what I can see not a lot of players left due to having to redo quests. More people left to the higher min computer requirements.

[Xanthan]

The only thing I could find about this on the main planeshift news page is this:  "All quests (except winch access) and all pets have been wiped".  Apparently not true.  Player retention would be a good thing for PlaneShift, I think, since this is where potential contributors come from.   Decisions that might make lots of people leave should be avoided.  Surely testing of the new quest system would not have been seriously impeded by leaving winch access in place.  Looking at my Buddies window, I see a sea of red.  I'm not the only one that left in the last year, it seems.

Having some distance from the game, I want to return for the things that I liked about it:  the other players, the interesting places and things to discover and explore.  Whether this is enough worth it that I _will_ return depends on if the good out-balances the bad-- which for me mostly consisted of being forced to do mindless repetitious things that weren't fun, or of any benefit to me or anyone else.

A quick look around makes me think that it will be worth checking out what's changed out of curiosity, and esp. exploring the new Dsar and seeing the new animals.  But when I've done that and it's time to return to mindless repetition--  Well, I don't think I'll be doing that this time around.

[LigH]

Your colleagues are awaiting you, Xarthen -- tell us about your travels.

And there is no need to get lost in "mindless repetitions" (if you mean crafting), each day again you might get taken into another ongoing roleplaying plot. And how about the challenge to plan an own -- just briefly, and see where it takes even yourself? Look for the thread about the cooperative plot creation.

[BoevenF]

Welcome back!
I'd like to express my point of view, after nearly a year of readings in forum discussions, flame wars, off topics, nice posts.

That's what I say to myself every time I play:
This is a free game, in forever testing mode. Every now and then there are adjustments, in every aspect. Look at the big picture, think about how they make the things working, and thank them for the huge work.
If the devs say there is need to wipe something, usually they are right, and I'm sure they evaluate carefully the consequences, because that is the... Way of the Developer  . I'm not a paying customer, and I thank them for the interesting work.
This is a RP game, if something has to happen, I'll try to RP about it. That's part of the fun. You need to wipe my characters? as long as I can use again the names (I'm attached, at this point) and there are no options, well... I'll dig out again my experience. Because I really enjoy the game.

With that in mind, everybody can make a personal choice. That means, you're flexible enough for enjoying the experience of a world literally growing under your feet, this is wonderful. People come and go? well, like RL.
You're in love with the game and you badly need to contribute somehow? There's a team waiting for you.
You are a player complaining about how they are ruining *your* game? You always have the Trolling Card, for free, waiting for something new, with PS client ready to run eventually.

For other options someone tells me there is WoW 

Redoing quests is not so bad, because of new quest system. I'm sure you'll run like a mad for a mount... 

[Xanthan]

Hi LigH, That is my plan.  I'm quite impressed by the collaborative plot thread, esp. the concrete information on planning role-playing plots.  That's why you haven't seen a certain character in-game yet.  How long it'll take me to work out Xarthen's story remains to be seen...

I guess what I was trying to sort out in my previous thoughts in this thread was this:  Coming back to the game with some distance from it, it is quite striking that there is a strange disconnect in PlaneShift.  On the one hand there is a focus on role-play and yet at the same time the mechanics and some of the design decisions seem designed to push people away from role-playing.  I'm not complaining, just pointing out that there's an issue in the game design that will probably need resolution at some point.

BoevenF, those are all good points and you are certainly right.  Aside from the last year when I had no access to it, I've enjoyed PlaneShift for many years and have been through lots of these things before.  I appreciate the efforts of everyone who's contributed and marvel at what has been created.  That doesn't mean I think it's perfect.  Part of our job as players is constructive criticism.

As for the mounts, I understand that the quests involved all require winch access, so I'll be doing without for now.

[Vakachehk]

Well welcome back - Just so you know in some cases with the quest box it can come up with the [type your answer here] which gets annoying and hard sometimes.

[sashia_mennar]

First, welcome back

Second, my 2 tria on the subj, given the last rumours. If They wipe out our quests and factions again, I will never give one single thought to factions anymore. I'll just make the easiest Winch I know of and keep it OOC, and I will try to avoid doing any other quests at all costs. Beta or not, people can only suspend their disbelief so many times. After that, there's no game, no fun, no nuthin' but mindless boring repetition of the same mechanical actions. Being a crafter, I certainly do not need even more of that *sigh*