Is this game stressful late game ?

[Ramzal]

yes it gets worse

starts to feel more like work than actual fun and a video game

I know a real grind before white knights attack me, EQ1 veteran of 5 years

Pretty much this. It just feels like a job more than anything.

[Khyranthir]

It's stressful for the wrong reasons.

Everyone gets to 50 in the end, but not everyone will do it the same way. When all these people with different play styles, attitudes, and value systems start congesting the end game then conflicts arise. It's easy enough to see from the posts on this board. Gearing becomes more important to compensate for harder/trickier fights, so there is much grinding. But I really wouldn't mind that all too much if people didn't let it get the best of them and become absolute pricks.

We have met the enemy, and they are us.

[gadenp]

The issue is that after doing the same content for the 10 or 50th to infinity time.

People that make mistakes often (noobs, new to content players or just tired) and people with bad gear (aka new players) start to annoy you extremely fast.

Then there is also the feeling that WTfreak why am I grinding this for the xxxth time and WTfreak that guy is extending my time here by (can be) an hour (or more), etc.

And if you doing primal, you sort of know that after this hour or two, you will most likely not get anything thanks to the wonderful RNG.

If you doing AK or CM, you know that you need to do it like 5~10th times more for your next gear and more after that. Just count how many gear slots you have and times it by 8 runs each of at least 35 minutes (pro group), etc.

If you grind CM for Darklight gear, it would take an estimate of 42 hours with constant pro group (not including time outside of dungeon), to get armor that is one level above your class armor. Then even longer to get AF +1 armor.

Weapons, a standard persons ifirt grind will be 30 minutes x avg. 20 times = 12 hrs (that is if you never wipe and your group is pro). That is not including Garuda lvl 70 weapons that will be harder to get.

AK to get the max 300 tokens per week x one month or more for AF+1 and relic is 8 runs of 40 minutes per instance per week (pro group again).

You see it adds up. Very soon (after hundreds of hours) you quit (or not), but not before raging at SE an any other players that delays you.

Also if you just starting, you know that the road is like crazily long that it is your gear and your inexperience that is trolling the others and you know that they are starting to get annoyed... (unless you are dense that is)

FYI: I do not know how to fix this and still keep people playing. But super long constant grinds is not it. At least for me. I rather they drop the costing and increase RNG chances (or 2 loot per primal) and cap the amount of tokens you can grind each week.

FYI2: I just started last week the grind and am a working adult. My "cannot take it" levels are slowly building. If I "no life" each day can maybe do 2 AK runs, 1 CM run max. I am seeing a long long long road ahead, in which the rest of my "no life", "still schooling" FC is moving way ahead of me. You can say, suck it up, etc, etc, etc. But realistically things like this kill your entertainment making you play less and seek other stuff slowly over time.

FYI3: Did I mention that CM is BORING like no tomorrow and AK mobs are also BORING... At least the AK bosses can make it. Maybe not the first boss though...

FYI4: I am the healer, yes heal botting is so fun

FYI5: It is official, after adding to it again and again. This is now a rant post... boo me