Below are the observations and suggestions from a player who was one of the last to play MO1 before the release of MO2 (hello to the PVE group MO1) and who has been playing MO2 almost since its release, with occasional breaks. I’m not only speaking for myself, but as both an ordinary guild member and a guild master, I’ve seen what other players experience in the game. Based on that, I’d like to share my thoughts.
1. I believe it’s no secret that the game needs players—both a good, steady influx and as low a churn rate as possible. In my opinion, MO2 is currently following the same path as MO1.
Most players these days are casuals, with commitments like a home, job, family, business, or education. They could potentially pay for a subscription to support faster game development and bug fixes, but their main issue is time. They don’t have enough time to spend on simple tasks in the game (like raising a pet or gathering and crafting rare resources), which could take 1-2 weeks or more in real life. Then, they can lose everything in just 2-3 seconds, often without understanding what happened. After that, they have to start from scratch.
This means the game needs an adequate in-game mechanism (this shouldn’t fall on the players; it should be built into the game design) that serves as a counterbalance to ganking, making it either unprofitable or impossible in certain areas.
2. Now, imagine someone who has been working all day, solving complex problems, or genuinely studying. They finally have 2-3 hours in the evening to sit down at the computer. This describes the majority of players who could pay for a subscription.
Currently, if such a person logs into MO2 and joins a guild, they have three paths to follow:
2.1. The first, easiest path is that of a ganker or bandit. You roam the map, engage in fights, kill everything that moves, and hunt down players—preferably solo players. If a well-organized zerg shows up, you complain about how bad they are and claim they have low skill.
Eventually, these gankers either dominate that part of the map, leading to empty lands where you rarely encounter anyone (as in the north of MO2 or across the map in MO1), or they face organized alliances that wipe them out repeatedly. Gankers don’t achieve any major goals, and with each wipe, they have to remake gear, find or buy pets to gank again. This leads nowhere, and sooner or later, this gameplay becomes boring. There’s no endgame goal. The result is a cycle of gankers leaving the game and being replaced by others, who also leave soon, leaving behind their ruined guilds / buildings, and so on.
In the long term, this leads to a decline in the player population, as we saw in MO1 and are now seeing in MO2. I’m not saying gankers or bandits aren’t needed. They are, but their activities should be regulated by in-game mechanisms.
2.2. The second path is to play as a non-ganker—meaning you don’t attack other players without reason. You try to establish your own "kingdom," guild, or alliance, create and uphold rules in the territory where you live, and engage in mass PvP, guild wars, alliances, and in-game politics. This is more interesting and complex than being a minor bandit and offers better long-term retention for players.
However, in practice, what do we see? Looking at PvP logs in various guilds and alliances on Discord is amusing—it’s a non-stop war. Every day. "10 players from Guild A are gathering there for a wipe," "25 people needed for this location," "8 people in the dungeon, let’s gather here," and so on, every single day. This is great for newcomers. It’s a good opportunity for PvP enthusiasts to quickly gain experience and improve their skills, even within a zerg or a well-coordinated group.
But what happens next? A player who comes home from work, tired, with only 2-3 hours to spare, logs into the game and is immediately dragged into a fight here, then there, and logs off, only to do it all again the next day.
These players could have 2,000-3,000-4,000 hours in the game and still not know the world map, basic crafting mechanics, or taming. They don’t know where many basic resources come from, let alone rare ones!
They just fight day after day. Initially, it’s fun and different, and they learn something about the game, probably developing good PvP skills. But what happens after that?
Burnout. Most normal working people can’t physically or mentally log into a game every day just to run around and fight, or defend something.
And what’s the result? A cycle of PvPers coming and going, leaving behind the ruins of their guilds for the next group to come along.
Even strong PvP guilds with veteran players voluntarily abandon KEEPS in the game, which has already happened more than once! Why? Isn’t this a sign for developers to think about what’s wrong with the game design? These players won’t directly tell you the reasons, but it’s always the same: burnout. They don’t see the point in continuing to defend the keep and surrounding territory when they gain nothing from it.
I’m not saying PvP players aren’t needed—they are. But players should be able to choose their likelihood of encountering PvP through in-game mechanisms, not in spite of them.
Right now, the game essentially says, "Either log in and fight, suffer, or go play something else if you just want to relax and spend time with friends or do something solo under some music or a TV show."
But a person can’t constantly fight, battle, and struggle! If this is supposed to be a game world and not just a pretty PvP arena, there should be some simulation of a world. In a world, people don’t constantly fight!
2.3. There is also a third path: the path of solo players. This is when players try to play the game alone or in small groups. Typically, this is the "hard mode" of the game. Most solo players, after encountering gankers here and there, simply leave the game, leaving behind their abandoned homes or simply nothing.
It turns out that the design of the game itself encourages players to leave! This isn’t due to the hardcore nature or full loot mechanics—it’s due to the game’s poorly thought-out design. There are many in-game systems that should exist in a true game world but don’t.
1. I believe it’s no secret that the game needs players—both a good, steady influx and as low a churn rate as possible. In my opinion, MO2 is currently following the same path as MO1.
Most players these days are casuals, with commitments like a home, job, family, business, or education. They could potentially pay for a subscription to support faster game development and bug fixes, but their main issue is time. They don’t have enough time to spend on simple tasks in the game (like raising a pet or gathering and crafting rare resources), which could take 1-2 weeks or more in real life. Then, they can lose everything in just 2-3 seconds, often without understanding what happened. After that, they have to start from scratch.
This means the game needs an adequate in-game mechanism (this shouldn’t fall on the players; it should be built into the game design) that serves as a counterbalance to ganking, making it either unprofitable or impossible in certain areas.
2. Now, imagine someone who has been working all day, solving complex problems, or genuinely studying. They finally have 2-3 hours in the evening to sit down at the computer. This describes the majority of players who could pay for a subscription.
Currently, if such a person logs into MO2 and joins a guild, they have three paths to follow:
2.1. The first, easiest path is that of a ganker or bandit. You roam the map, engage in fights, kill everything that moves, and hunt down players—preferably solo players. If a well-organized zerg shows up, you complain about how bad they are and claim they have low skill.
Eventually, these gankers either dominate that part of the map, leading to empty lands where you rarely encounter anyone (as in the north of MO2 or across the map in MO1), or they face organized alliances that wipe them out repeatedly. Gankers don’t achieve any major goals, and with each wipe, they have to remake gear, find or buy pets to gank again. This leads nowhere, and sooner or later, this gameplay becomes boring. There’s no endgame goal. The result is a cycle of gankers leaving the game and being replaced by others, who also leave soon, leaving behind their ruined guilds / buildings, and so on.
In the long term, this leads to a decline in the player population, as we saw in MO1 and are now seeing in MO2. I’m not saying gankers or bandits aren’t needed. They are, but their activities should be regulated by in-game mechanisms.
2.2. The second path is to play as a non-ganker—meaning you don’t attack other players without reason. You try to establish your own "kingdom," guild, or alliance, create and uphold rules in the territory where you live, and engage in mass PvP, guild wars, alliances, and in-game politics. This is more interesting and complex than being a minor bandit and offers better long-term retention for players.
However, in practice, what do we see? Looking at PvP logs in various guilds and alliances on Discord is amusing—it’s a non-stop war. Every day. "10 players from Guild A are gathering there for a wipe," "25 people needed for this location," "8 people in the dungeon, let’s gather here," and so on, every single day. This is great for newcomers. It’s a good opportunity for PvP enthusiasts to quickly gain experience and improve their skills, even within a zerg or a well-coordinated group.
But what happens next? A player who comes home from work, tired, with only 2-3 hours to spare, logs into the game and is immediately dragged into a fight here, then there, and logs off, only to do it all again the next day.
These players could have 2,000-3,000-4,000 hours in the game and still not know the world map, basic crafting mechanics, or taming. They don’t know where many basic resources come from, let alone rare ones!
They just fight day after day. Initially, it’s fun and different, and they learn something about the game, probably developing good PvP skills. But what happens after that?
Burnout. Most normal working people can’t physically or mentally log into a game every day just to run around and fight, or defend something.
And what’s the result? A cycle of PvPers coming and going, leaving behind the ruins of their guilds for the next group to come along.
Even strong PvP guilds with veteran players voluntarily abandon KEEPS in the game, which has already happened more than once! Why? Isn’t this a sign for developers to think about what’s wrong with the game design? These players won’t directly tell you the reasons, but it’s always the same: burnout. They don’t see the point in continuing to defend the keep and surrounding territory when they gain nothing from it.
I’m not saying PvP players aren’t needed—they are. But players should be able to choose their likelihood of encountering PvP through in-game mechanisms, not in spite of them.
Right now, the game essentially says, "Either log in and fight, suffer, or go play something else if you just want to relax and spend time with friends or do something solo under some music or a TV show."
But a person can’t constantly fight, battle, and struggle! If this is supposed to be a game world and not just a pretty PvP arena, there should be some simulation of a world. In a world, people don’t constantly fight!
2.3. There is also a third path: the path of solo players. This is when players try to play the game alone or in small groups. Typically, this is the "hard mode" of the game. Most solo players, after encountering gankers here and there, simply leave the game, leaving behind their abandoned homes or simply nothing.
It turns out that the design of the game itself encourages players to leave! This isn’t due to the hardcore nature or full loot mechanics—it’s due to the game’s poorly thought-out design. There are many in-game systems that should exist in a true game world but don’t.