Island Reflections

[Rufalus]

Now I'm seeing crowds of people waiting at the island ferry npc when a rare animal is about to spawn. Everyone's following a weather tracker app and loading into their instance at the correct times the same way we would gather on schedule at unspoiled nodes or big fish.

When I see crowds like that it gives me the sinking feeling of being sheep, going through the motions exactly when the game tells you, just like everyone else. It's another factor that takes away from this being a personal getaway experience that we can make our own.

[Jojoya]

Now I'm seeing crowds of people waiting at the island ferry npc when a rare animal is about to spawn. Everyone's following a weather tracker app and loading into their instance at the correct times the same way we would gather on schedule at unspoiled nodes or big fish.

When I see crowds like that it gives me the sinking feeling of being sheep, going through the motions exactly when the game tells you, just like everyone else. It's another factor that takes away from this being a personal getaway experience that we can make our own.

Because people choose to go through the motions of what they think they're expected to do instead of asking "is this really what I want for myself?". It's bizarre how often I see people go "I must have it because I'm a collector" at the same time they're complaining about the required grind is for something they'll never actually use once collected. If you're not going to use it, wouldn't it be better to spend your time doing things you actually enjoy?

It's also something we wouldn't be witnessing if it weren't for the bug that keeps the ultra rare creatures from spawning correctly. You would have no idea who is trying to capture those rares because they'd be able to stay in their instance.

[Iscah]

Because people choose to go through the motions of what they think they're expected to do instead of asking "is this really what I want for myself?"

It's a hard mindset to break when it's a thing that's put in front of you as part of the content, and I think it can be about not wanting to do it wrong and waste effort. I slipped into thinking I needed to be chasing the rare creatures after reading a list of the "best setup" for your farm to get a balance of materials out of it, and it took a few days of chasing bugged spawns to realise that actually it doesn't matter at all and I don't even want to own most of the creatures on offer, or have plans for the items beyond "sell for cowries", making the exact variety of items irrelevant.