No changes to ATMA?

[Welsper59]

@Welsper59

I get what you are trying to say however I feel that just because RNG is a Traditional System and used in many games, it does not automatically mean it is a good system. I also don't fully agree with you on this part. "It's not fun for you? Good, that's essentially the point."

Sorry, bit of a wall-o-text here but: The system itself doesn't have to be "good". What's good and bad is subjective to the audience that it's intended for. That's why we have diversity in genres. Not everything about one genre will attract any given person. But genres have things that it sticks to in order for it to be... part of that genre. MMORPGs, or RPGs in general, will always incorporate RNG. It's just part of the way it works. Some people may try to get away from it entirely... but it won't last very long.

When we know when to expect something and exactly how we get it, things become stale. We might stick around for a little while, but we'll just grow bored faster. It's a bit of a gamble these days, but that's just how it is. Take pro sports for example. What if the outcomes were revealed beforehand. We knew who was going to win and how. Would we still be interested? For the most part no. We might watch highlight moments... but definitely not gonna stick around long. There's no excitement in the moment that a team wins/loses. Likewise, there's no impressionable excitement in the moment you get the item you're wanting when you know it's going to happen.

That ties in with the "not fun" remark I made. We go through burdens to reap rewards. Because of those burdens, we have a greater attachment to the reward itself. If we were guaranteed something, regardless of means (simply mailed to you, complete 50 FATEs, or required killing twintania 20 times), the reward itself doesn't have as much meaning on the individual level. Think of myth farming... fun, right? /sarcasm

If you have to spend time on a guaranteed reward, it'll just be boring. You know when to expect it, so the in-between offers nothing more than tedium because... you can't lose and nothing is ever different/unexpected. There's no potential for disappointment when you're guaranteed formulaic progress. A negative feeling, like disappointment, is not always a bad thing (within reason).

MMORPGs are about the feeling, not just the digital reward (and short-term excitement). It's a very huge reason why MMOs gained mainstream popularity. The players developed an attachment for the game they played (and often, it was just one MEMORABLE game). Not only did they love playing with friends/others, but they also grew an attachment to their character and progression. Maybe I'm too old minded and the idea of attachment is outdated and worthless to the new generation, that it's all about the pig happiness (immediate/expected reward), but attachment is one of the reasons that this game even exists. And in many ways, RNG is responsible for that. I'm not saying RNG was the perfect choice for Atma, but what I am saying is that RNG (as a system) is not flawed.