Topic: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

So I've been playing PO for about 3 days now, about 2-4 hours a day. I am not really getting anywhere. I got some faction to 0.68 on my combat character, gave my kernels to my indi character, he learned a lot of prototypes and even managed to create one CT. But I don't feel that i am getting anywhere really.

Do you need to play this game like 6-10 hours a day to achieve something? I thought its all about extensions which means that this game no matter how much you play it every day you won't go anywhere far because of lack of EPs.

Am I right? I am not seeing PO as a casual few hours a day game. Seems more like a hardcore game where you have to spend endless hours mining, grinding assignments and EPs are almost secondary.

2 (edited by Recognizer 2010-12-01 18:56:51)

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

if your a solo-mmo player, then its definately no casual game.

Forum Rule #5
Pyramid quoting, quoting excessive amounts of text or quoting without any senseful reply is forbidden. Only quote that is necessary to show what your reply refers to.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Its a long, hard road for a solo player. In one of the larger corps, I'm sure 2-4 hours a night would be plenty.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Things are just starting.

There's nothing on the market yet, corps are still building up, most everyone is still in light bots.

It's a sandbox. We players create the content. We've only been here for a few days so there's not much to do yet.

I'd say right now it's all about the EPs, but they come slowly and nobody has a lot of them so things are a bit quiet right now.

First of all the resource market needs to get settled in. For this to happen miners are first going to have to reach the miner mechs and heavy mechs. Once this happens manufacturers can start focussing on specific products and start cranking out big numbers. When this happens the PvE people can start buying bigger bots on a larger scale and start raking in the NICs. Which in turn allows the miners and industrialists to start forming the economy because there's finally a demand for masses of ammo, bots and modules. This in turn will allow the PvPers to really get started as competition will bring the prices to a natural level on the market and the PvE content will supply sufficient NICs for them.

So right now things are slow while people build up sufficient EP to settle into their chosen professions with enough support skills to allow them to function efficiently.

As a hardcore player you now have the opportunity to be the first player to do so many things and get the related benefits from that.

As a casual player you have the opportunity to start stocking up NIC and EP so that once the market settles you can get right down to your chosen business without needing any additional time to prepare.

See it as a colonisation. First the hardcore scouts move in and explore and map the lands. All the while the casual settlers wait at base camp and prepare themselves to populate the lands. Once the hardcore scouts have started things up the casual settlers move in and will mostly take over all but the most dangerous areas where the hardcore scouts will still reign supreme.

*Insert really awesome sig here*

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Its still all about the EP's because the disparity between someone joining in Early Access and someone joining on Release is about 2:1.  In a couple months this will be negligible and the power will come from economic strength and pvp skill.

I am Perpetuum's Most Dangerous Agent and an equal opportunity troll.
-> You just lost The Game <-
"Perpetuum sounds like a something I would stick up my *** for enjoyement." -Kaito Kurusaki

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

The main problem is it sounds like the OP has no goals....

-Gallowglass-
I've played just about everything once. Now it's Perpetuum's turn.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

From the perspective that things are not moving along very fast, yeah, it would seem to be a hardcore game. That really just depends on how much you want how fast. And as has been pointed out, this is the slow build up period for the economy.

Still, I think the basic design of EP (and SP for EVE) is a very good one for the casual players. You may get behind in economic terms, which is no small thing but at least you don't get behind in character development. If you want to play only 2 hrs a night you will still progress in your skill at the same rate as the hardcore guy. He just may be richer.

Any game that involves competition will encourage the competitive to put in high levels of effort. That is something that cannot ever be entirely avoided. Unless you are willing to have no development over time in your game and then it wouldn't be an MMO.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Gobla wrote:

Things are just starting....

I like Gobla's response. Yeah I definitely understand all that. I actually like the game for it's complexity, I get bored in MMOs quick if I have to run around and press 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I think the complexity of PO is what appeals to me, but with complexity comes time investment. basically people who have most time on their hands will eventually be dominating the market since they can mine more ore, make more NIC from assignments, etc. I already see some people run assignments from the Outposts in baren lands. Those must be the early access guys smile.

I think ore and NIC is the most important in game right now even though everyone is waiting on EPs to regenerate. They will have a good reserve for later production.

So the question rises then - since not many people have good refinery skills yet and maybe don't have access to tier II - III refinery stations - does it make sense to just stack on ore and not refine it until your refinery is like close to max? Same with prototype and factory production. My indi has some good indi skills, but his mass production skills still suck and I feel that I kind of wasted that ore.

Also what skill should I increase to increase the amount of produced end component in factory. At this point it says that I can onnly create up to 2 max. I understand its one of the mass production skills, but which one?

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Its a sandbox game, ya can achieve whatever ya set yourself.

Ask your self what do you want to achieve.

Look at it this way.
You spend 2 hours a day growing your garden,
Next door neighbour spends 5 hours a day,

You both will end up with plants, maybe even the same size
its just he may have more

Good luck I'm sure your find your place.

10 (edited by GLiMPSE 2010-12-01 19:30:48)

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Chief Ubenor wrote:
Gobla wrote:

Things are just starting....

I like Gobla's response. Yeah I definitely understand all that. I actually like the game for it's complexity, I get bored in MMOs quick if I have to run around and press 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I think the complexity of PO is what appeals to me, but with complexity comes time investment. basically people who have most time on their hands will eventually be dominating the market since they can mine more ore, make more NIC from assignments, etc. I already see some people run assignments from the Outposts in baren lands. Those must be the early access guys smile.

I think ore and NIC is the most important in game right now even though everyone is waiting on EPs to regenerate. They will have a good reserve for later production.

So the question rises then - since not many people have good refinery skills yet and maybe don't have access to tier II - III refinery stations - does it make sense to just stack on ore and not refine it until your refinery is like close to max? Same with prototype and factory production. My indi has some good indi skills, but his mass production skills still suck and I feel that I kind of wasted that ore.

Also what skill should I increase to increase the amount of produced end component in factory. At this point it says that I can onnly create up to 2 max. I understand its one of the mass production skills, but which one?

One thing I like about time based progression is Player A (12 year old middle school dropout) can play for 20 hours a day and can't have access to anymore mechs than I can as Player B (20 something family man with a mortgage). It all comes down to relationships in a sandbox. And if you're able to build those relations to get access to the badder content and you have the necessary skills (time based leveling) you can theoretically be ahead of Player A fairly easily with less time/day invested.

But at the end of the day, to each their own, these types of games aren't for everyone.

Compare this to corporate america and you have a good example being the grunts that spend 70+ hours a week trying to feed their kids and the brains that work smarter not harder and have an easier time furnishing their house in plasma t.v.'s

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

serenekaos wrote:

The main problem is it sounds like the OP has no goals....

I certainly have goals. maybe they are not as bold as yours smile.

For my combat pilot - get a mech, missile spec with some tanking abilities possibly. The goal is pretty broad - get a mech, I know. maybe its because I know the game just as much as I've seen so far. I'll keep doing assignments until I get access to lvl 2. Then we'll see. Some of the kernels I'll be selling while most of them my indi will be researching stuff with.

For my indi pilot - he will be a good researcher, but he also needs to be able to put his prototypes into a good Calibration Template, which may take a while.

I'll try to be self sufficient. Need my indi to get some good missile CTs, I for some reason made a slug CT, stupid. Anyway I just need to get over this time thing I think. The way EP regenerates makes me think of PO as much slower game than it actually is. I think patience is a virtue here. patience and a good planning of course.

12 (edited by Ricimer 2010-12-01 19:38:05)

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

A solo player AND he's splitting the training between 3 alts and he's not getting anywhere.
duh.
A little focus here would go a long way.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

not really I have only 1 main character on each of 2 accounts. i created another miner on main account and then realized that I don't have EP.. lol. But I'll still use him as mining helper. So its actually zero alts and 2 mains. And EPs go to those mains only. Well I did spend a days worth of EP on my 'mining' alt. But thats no biggy. I'll keep him handy, maybe raise his mining skills a bit later when my main combat pilot feels buffed enough smile.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

well sounds like you do know what your doing so as the other said, its all very slow now. and you don't need hours in the game to adv but you wont adv faster then any corp player would. specially the large corps will adv way faster then you. as a solo player you either have to depend on your own production/hunting or wait for the market to "level up" , how fast your own hunting/production rate is depends on the time invested.

best thing to do for you is to join a nice corps you feel relaxed in. working whit people toward goals is always faster then alone smile

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Chief Ubenor wrote:
Gobla wrote:

Things are just starting....

I like Gobla's response. Yeah I definitely understand all that. I actually like the game for it's complexity, I get bored in MMOs quick if I have to run around and press 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I think the complexity of PO is what appeals to me, but with complexity comes time investment. basically people who have most time on their hands will eventually be dominating the market since they can mine more ore, make more NIC from assignments, etc. I already see some people run assignments from the Outposts in baren lands. Those must be the early access guys smile.

I think ore and NIC is the most important in game right now even though everyone is waiting on EPs to regenerate. They will have a good reserve for later production.

So the question rises then - since not many people have good refinery skills yet and maybe don't have access to tier II - III refinery stations - does it make sense to just stack on ore and not refine it until your refinery is like close to max? Same with prototype and factory production. My indi has some good indi skills, but his mass production skills still suck and I feel that I kind of wasted that ore.

Also what skill should I increase to increase the amount of produced end component in factory. At this point it says that I can onnly create up to 2 max. I understand its one of the mass production skills, but which one?

As a mission runner I would just run the missions that you can handle, that aren't too busy and make good NIC. So that when Assault Bots and Mechs hit the market at large you'll be able to buy one right away and start enjoying all the advantages that such machines give.

As an industrialist it's a bit more complicated. If you're in it for the money I'd grab a calculator and spend one of your sessions finding out which markets are profitable right now with your skills. Probably one of the ammunition markets or maybe the light bot market as a casual indy. If you're in it for the crafting I'd focus on expanding your knowledge base, preparing your library of CTs and possibly stacking up materials.

The way I see it most of the casual player base and probably some of the hardcore is currently in Perpetuum University. You've chosen your major subject ( combat, trade, industry etc. ) and possibly a minor and now you're learning. Maybe you're a Perp genius and in a week you'll know exactly what to do and what not to do. Maybe you're not sure and you switch to a new major and maybe take up a new minor. Maybe you're just like most players and you've got a decent idea of where you want to go but not much of a clue on how to get there. So you stick around, you explore, you learn, you try things out and when you feel you're ready you go for it.

Sometimes you'll screw up, just make sure you learn from it. This weekend I lost my prometheus, had to buy a new one with all the mods. Cost me half a mill. Half my money. Taught that maybe lasers being long range weapons it isn't so smart to use them from 50m while 5 NPCs are pounding you. Maybe you should stick at 150m where they can't hit you. So all in all, good money and time spent. I consider myself in the second year of Perp Uni now.

*Insert really awesome sig here*

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Gobla wrote:
Chief Ubenor wrote:
Gobla wrote:

Things are just starting....

I like Gobla's response. Yeah I definitely understand all that. I actually like the game for it's complexity, I get bored in MMOs quick if I have to run around and press 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I think the complexity of PO is what appeals to me, but with complexity comes time investment. basically people who have most time on their hands will eventually be dominating the market since they can mine more ore, make more NIC from assignments, etc. I already see some people run assignments from the Outposts in baren lands. Those must be the early access guys smile.

I think ore and NIC is the most important in game right now even though everyone is waiting on EPs to regenerate. They will have a good reserve for later production.

So the question rises then - since not many people have good refinery skills yet and maybe don't have access to tier II - III refinery stations - does it make sense to just stack on ore and not refine it until your refinery is like close to max? Same with prototype and factory production. My indi has some good indi skills, but his mass production skills still suck and I feel that I kind of wasted that ore.

Also what skill should I increase to increase the amount of produced end component in factory. At this point it says that I can onnly create up to 2 max. I understand its one of the mass production skills, but which one?

As a mission runner I would just run the missions that you can handle, that aren't too busy and make good NIC. So that when Assault Bots and Mechs hit the market at large you'll be able to buy one right away and start enjoying all the advantages that such machines give.

As an industrialist it's a bit more complicated. If you're in it for the money I'd grab a calculator and spend one of your sessions finding out which markets are profitable right now with your skills. Probably one of the ammunition markets or maybe the light bot market as a casual indy. If you're in it for the crafting I'd focus on expanding your knowledge base, preparing your library of CTs and possibly stacking up materials.

The way I see it most of the casual player base and probably some of the hardcore is currently in Perpetuum University. You've chosen your major subject ( combat, trade, industry etc. ) and possibly a minor and now you're learning. Maybe you're a Perp genius and in a week you'll know exactly what to do and what not to do. Maybe you're not sure and you switch to a new major and maybe take up a new minor. Maybe you're just like most players and you've got a decent idea of where you want to go but not much of a clue on how to get there. So you stick around, you explore, you learn, you try things out and when you feel you're ready you go for it.

Sometimes you'll screw up, just make sure you learn from it. This weekend I lost my prometheus, had to buy a new one with all the mods. Cost me half a mill. Half my money. Taught that maybe lasers being long range weapons it isn't so smart to use them from 50m while 5 NPCs are pounding you. Maybe you should stick at 150m where they can't hit you. So all in all, good money and time spent. I consider myself in the second year of Perp Uni now.

You already had a mil?:cool: You must be doing well on selling the ammo, or you running assignments none stop?

17 (edited by Ricimer 2010-12-01 20:10:38)

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Chief Ubenor wrote:

not really I have only 1 main character on each of 2 accounts. i created another miner on main account and then realized that I don't have EP.. lol. But I'll still use him as mining helper. So its actually zero alts and 2 mains. And EPs go to those mains only. Well I did spend a days worth of EP on my 'mining' alt. But thats no biggy. I'll keep him handy, maybe raise his mining skills a bit later when my main combat pilot feels buffed enough smile.

Well boss...sorry if i sounded a little testy...i'm feeling that way this morning, but this game is so obviously for team play..the logistics problems alone.. maybe you're just not approaching it in the most efficient way.  I was going to solo it also, but by Monday it was obvious what I needed to do and joined a well organized corp with experienced betatesters and a plan.  I didnt beta, so by the time I conquer the learning curve, the 'first days' openings would all be exploited.  This appears to be the best choice, do consider it.
I had made about 2 million to that point, btw, I had become the big Helio supplier for that area.   I think the free  carton of rolling papers with every Kilo made the difference.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

kernels are worth a fortune

-Gallowglass-
I've played just about everything once. Now it's Perpetuum's turn.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Sandbox games never have a real goal.. figure out a goal, or something you like to do and work towards it or do it.  It's all about personal or guild goal setting to keep the interest!

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

It's not a solo game for casuals. Find a corp if your only going to play 2 hours a day or it will take you months to catch up and you will probably lose interest before you do.

21 (edited by Chief Ubenor 2010-12-01 21:22:27)

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Ricimer wrote:
Chief Ubenor wrote:

not really I have only 1 main character on each of 2 accounts. i created another miner on main account and then realized that I don't have EP.. lol. But I'll still use him as mining helper. So its actually zero alts and 2 mains. And EPs go to those mains only. Well I did spend a days worth of EP on my 'mining' alt. But thats no biggy. I'll keep him handy, maybe raise his mining skills a bit later when my main combat pilot feels buffed enough smile.

Well boss...sorry if i sounded a little testy...i'm feeling that way this morning, but this game is so obviously for team play..the logistics problems alone.. maybe you're just not approaching it in the most efficient way.  I was going to solo it also, but by Monday it was obvious what I needed to do and joined a well organized corp with experienced betatesters and a plan.  I didnt beta, so by the time I conquer the learning curve, the 'first days' openings would all be exploited.  This appears to be the best choice, do consider it.
I had made about 2 million to that point, btw, I had become the big Helio supplier for that area.   I think the free  carton of rolling papers with every Kilo made the difference.

I'll definitely join a corp. working towards a common goal is more fun. Its just not easy to find a GOOD corporation. Trying to join one corp at this point. Hopefully it will all work out.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

I think you can play this game casually (first off i think everyday for 4 hours a day isn't casual but whatever) You just need to prioritize your goals, have patience and get in a corp with some dudes you get along with.

"False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade."

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Chief Ubenor wrote:

So I've been playing PO for about 3 days now, about 2-4 hours a day. I am not really getting anywhere. I got some faction to 0.68 on my combat character, gave my kernels to my indi character, he learned a lot of prototypes and even managed to create one CT. But I don't feel that i am getting anywhere really.

Do you need to play this game like 6-10 hours a day to achieve something? I thought its all about extensions which means that this game no matter how much you play it every day you won't go anywhere far because of lack of EPs.

Am I right? I am not seeing PO as a casual few hours a day game. Seems more like a hardcore game where you have to spend endless hours mining, grinding assignments and EPs are almost secondary.

I disagree entirely the game is supremely a casual game. For one you get EP 24/7 logged in or out so long as your account is active. So whether or not your play 1 hour a day or 12 hours your characters will get the same amount of EP as any other character in the game. No one is gona be more uber than you because they are getting the same EP you get, the playing field is the same for ever one(exception early start accounts which got 40,000 more ep than retail accounts).

I play 1-2 hours a night after work and I have just as much EP as the next guy. I mine and gather materials 4 days a week and on my off days I do other things. I'm not in any hurry to get anywhere in game so the limited play time does not bother me so long at the EP keeps flowing.

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

To the OP. Remember it is a sandbox game. It is up to you how you play and what you want to achieve.

It is not about the awesome blue sword of might and magic... whatever etc that no one else has!

It is more about what you do with it.

But, right now solo will be harder until the game has been live for a bit. I would recommend playing with a corp.

John 3:16 - Timothy 2:23

Re: This game is not for casual play, am I right?

Its the most casual type of game there is. You dont GRIND your skills. If you started early you are JUST the same as everyone else.

Hardcore players will have more money and stuff though. But they deserve to.

I wouldnt be able to play this game if it wasnt so casual.