I don't think the grind is the problem, there are games like Black Desert that are just as grindy.
IMO it has ALWAYS been the cost to play. It's too damn high - and although it's unlike any other game it can't compete with the vast majority of the gaming community that don't have expendable income. I can log in with $20 and it's gone in 2 hours when I can spend $60 and put in 500+ hours on another game over 2-3 years. If I had my way - I'd still main EU, but I did the spending hundreds a month for too long and at this point in my life it just feels like I'm making poor choices.
I want 95% return to be a guarantee
100% possible
105% potential
but it's more like 95 if you are smart,. careful, lucky, 100 if you invest heavily and 105 a 1/1000 rarity.
TLDR we need a better loot system, high end players need to understand that they are doing high risk high reward gameplay and should not expect fullscreen 7's everytime they kill a high end mob (this is how it used to be, but the codex has rocketed many mid end people able to poke high and seem to think its a magical gold mine.). The RTP should be far less volatile for newer lower end players so that they dont just quit. RTP based on investement would make MA go bust in recordspeed...
BDO is not nearly as grindy,if you know what you're doing you can mostly afk yourself to billions and the best gear in a year, or two ish.
Also how is it that people in EU these days seem to forget the fundamental, the game is a casino. I know people hate to hear that, but lets not beat around the bush. Everyone wants a higher RTP... everyone chases the big crafts, mining grounds, mobs, everyone wants to invest in the biggest and the baddest gear to do good.
or rather you could say that above sentance; Everyone wants higher RTP, everyone chases the max win full screen, everyone spins at max bed demanding to win.
The RTP, should be what it is for ubres, andhigher end people, but the lower you go on the depo scale, the less people pump money in, the weaker it gets, you should see the RTP becoming more and more stable the lower you go. That is how it SHOULD work.
I've been gone for 3 years and see now today more than ever ubers demanding big wins almost, high end hunters crafters and miners complain more than ever about poor returns. I too feel the RTP being dog and its annoying, but I just have to grab myself and say "hey, you're doing high risk high reward stuff that you should not be doing on your own... its your own fault". That is why i said the lower you go the less volatile the RTP should be.
Right now, a new player could start playing, stuff in $60 and RTP would just trahs it in a few days of hunting puny mobs... That is not ok, new players should see less volatility. not more.
High end people should understand that they are doing high risk high reward stuff. And not expect to hit big. And I blame the codex alone for that. I sold out all my skills when i quit last time, its taken me 3 weeks to get most of it back simply because of the codex... getting levels is easier than ever.
So what the game really needs, is not "higher RTP for ubers and high end hunters" It needs a stable secure RTP for the middle folk and lower end folk. What the game however direly needs, is a proper loot system again, Loot 2 is dog, no one I know likes it, finding items is incredibly difficult. That is what we need more of, we need not neccessarily a higher RTP as that would just make MA go bankrupt in about no time at all. But more items for people to use, more variety, make the auctions more buzzing, open up for traders again.
I got a pair of Nemesis armguards UL on atrox once since returning and it nearly blew me out of my chair, it was the first UL item i've gotten in a decade I was so shocked it even dropped anymore.
The codex has raised the skill roof, and keeps raising it incredibly fast, so finding UL armors, weapons, and what not for prices up and coming people can afford is just not viable anymore. So we are stuck in a place where tonnes of people want to hunt mine and craft as big as possible, because they practically kind of can now, but the loot, the mobs and all systems around it remain unchanged creating a massive void in gear, weapons and materials not being pumped into the market fast enough, causing a even higher annoyance to people who do want to do upper mid - high end stuff, they go on hunts, lose, and feel they lose even more when needing to churn around more L items with prices going up as not enough items or materials are pumped into the market to keep things stable.
There is also the whole issue of the items that today are UL, the prices for many items as far as I can see since 2019 have more than doubled in price. While that is great for the people who own them, it makes the entry level to get them so much higher, making even more people thinking "Man if only i could hit that 15k uber so i can afford some armor and weapons I want..."
I too am in that bracket now, I direly want to hit that 20k+ so I can actually afford getting what I want, because I sure as shit can't afford it with the "codex market" being like it is now
and lets be real, getting a 20k is something that many people see maybe once in their entire lifetime. And when you see ubers getting 2k hofs left right and center, remember that they often pump 5k into a single hunt.. high risk, high reward something something (albeit yes, with loot 2. for ubers too the high risk high reward is vaining because of the lack of items, the reward has gotten a little to far inbetween. RTP is after all RTP, but a uber should realistically need to cycle for perhaps a year to see "ok its about 95%" vs how i mentioned lower volatile loot for lowbies, they should see that more on a hunt to hunt basis. After all a uber can cycle 5k ped pr hunt for a year, and that one 50k ped they get brings their RTP to or close to or perhaps even above their RTP95%, but a lowbie will barely see swirlies, i guess you understand what i mean
I think we all remember the olden days when you could go on a hunt, come back with a couple of guns, pieces of armor and what not to sell, the RTP might not bring you back, but it was hella exciting, and in turn it meant that the items you found, would go on to often help others as well. That just doesnt happen anymore.
The good armors nowadays cost you a metric fortune, or you get them from missions costing a fortune, or are simply not obtainable anymore, or you litterally maybe find one piece of armorin a decade.
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