[MakeshiftWalrus]

In light of recent events and posts made on the forum, I thought it reasonable to write up my own post on something we only crossed over, but never went into proper depth with. We're all people of different cloth, with different wants and visions of how the game should function. And while some might group together in light of their desires, even then, each individual has their own sense of what exactly they want out of their experience. This is why I invite you all to expand our collective knowledge of each other openly, instead of sitting in our own circles and slinging mud back and forth.

No opinion is wrong here, but please keep everything positive and understanding, even if your beliefs contradict another's. Remember, it's better not to comment on a post at all than to be a jerk about it.

The controversial question of 'Why we play?' is one I thought long and hard about given the recent attention Trex's own thread got. Why do I play? Is it my obligations as a guard? The many hours I spent grinding on my characters to get the most optimal setup out of them? The many relations my characters have with other people? It was hard, at first, to discern between the reasons I laid before me. On one hand, I hated leaving all that effort behind I'd done on my characters, but I realized I didn't care much after the Reckoning hit. Obligations with my characters came next-- I hated to abandon them, or end them, where I could, but here too I found myself unable to say it was the reason why I stuck around.

I enjoyed the PvP-aspects of the game. The thrill of turning a match around, but I began to see it grow stale with meta-builds and super efficient setups with few weaknesses. Builds made to win, are infinitely less fun to play against, or as, for me. Now, I very rarely PvP at all, despite my past success.

So I pondered long and hard, until I reached the conclusion that it wasn't the game itself that I stuck around for. It was two specific things that kept me coming back to this game, despite the times I tried to pry myself away. And they're likely the two reasons I shall continue to stray back into these layers of the sky.

The first, was the people. And as contradicting as it sounds when I say that I love the people of SL2, but hate the community, that's what it is. Collectively, Sl2 is a giant piece of gobshite, divided into different groups and sects. At its worst, each group tries to back stab each other at opportune moments, throwing fits and hisses at others for not following their way, but at its highest, the people here can be amazing, justifying the cliques people cling to with excellent RP and opportunities for growth. It was here I gained some of my best friends today. And those are friends I would see to the end, outside of the game. The individual person can. And certainly do, mean a lot to me.

The second, however, was the potential SL2 had, as a community, as a game and as a platform for RP and growth. I still see such potential, despite how the community in my own opinion, has grown lazy. Many expect to be fed events. And while many others embrace the idea of creating narratives, it often results in others getting annoyed. Being someone whom previously story boarded and hosted events within the community and aspires to do so again, it makes me disappointed to see bench sitting so large an issue. Something that initially made me pick up the creation of my own narratives for others.

These two points became the primary source of why I kept with this community and continues, today, to be my anchor. It isn't the game, but the people and what I personally make of my own experiences with the tools I'm given. We, as a community, should strive to do the same, but try to get better at understanding each other and what we want from the same game.

Because as I said previously, we've all got our own ways we'd like to see the game run. Be it casual RP, hardcore RP, PvP-centric or some other crazy wicked idea. So let's talk. Let's find out why we, the community, play the game.

[Snake]

Addiction? It just feels like Dev stole my soul with his game. That might be the reason I play this.

Just kidding (partially). I can relate to that, I've made and ruined many friendships thanks to this cursed game and a civil war simulator of community. One of the parts pointed at that post which caught my attention was the lazy part.
People got lazy, and their standards raised by a fucktouple since the first time the event tools have been used ever, and started expecting high quality 'this and that' coming from anything, and the main 'fun' people expect comes more from a spooky ghost narrating things and then mobs being spawned from nowhere. This is already boring because it's the only thing that ever happens when the word 'event' is mentioned.

A lot of things are dug deep in the sands of past, and you know what I really miss too? Chimera Enterprises, and small edgy non-PvP related events that you can actually live your character in, the ones that are mostly storytelling. Those are not just 'fun' but satisfying.

Also when the Arena was full of people who wanted to PvP for fun and for the sake of winning 'ye olde rock scissors paper' (my HOME PLACE, I'll never forget the days of Faker ;_;7), instead of Boxers and Hexers everywhere, now the place is devoid of people most of the time because nobody wanna be BS'd to death, and people take SL2's PvP too seriously.
One loss in a spar is "the end of the world!! must fruit!! oh my god this cant be happening! I'm the best i should had not lost this fight who's selling fruit of fluidity?!", and no, this is not a made-up example. This actually happened but not like I typed, around it tho'.

But anyway, I guess that 'for now' I only play SL2 because I don't have anything better to do with my life. The game has already ran stagnant in my mouth and I could care less about anything but the newer updates so I can strive for something while I can. (Such as those potentials). Because once the 'update' enchant runs out in my eyes and brain, I'll be back being a suffocated RPer who resorts to memeing or falling asleep due to the boredom.

I still hold my words, it's a game that is supposed to be fun and casual. But if people are not making it fun for me due to it being a sandbox or just taking it too seriously and competitively, then I'll make my own fun, and they might not enjoy it. Heck, if I wanted to be in a competitive game, I'd be better trying to grind my ELO up in League, or just simply playing Dragon Universe.

[Raigen.Convict]

Why do I Play? Well, simple. I play from love of the game and the people that play. Not just the veterans but even newcomers are pleasant to meet and interact with. The roleplay AND the battle system and other part of it are just addicting to me and also enjoyable enough that I am willing to dedicate time to it. Also sometimes some of the stupid drama that happens that i'm NOT involved in, whether ic or ooc is entertaining. But that's probably just me being a person that likes to laugh at others pain occasionally so long as no one's -seriously- hurt.

[Fern]

Despite all of its obvious problems, Sigrogana Legend 2 is a game that has kept me attached for reasons I barely expected. When I first logged on, I thought I would stick around for something such as its well-made combat system, or the fact it's one of those few games where you can set a faceicon and portrait along with your description. But I was surprised when I found out it wasn't just that.

I really, really adore the way the battle system works-- and it's hard to find me complaining about the roleplay you'll generally find in the game, as I'm not constantly wishing for a perfect RP video game. I don't care if the game's community gets 'toxic' or if the gameplay is ridiculously imbalanced anymore. I don't take these things far too seriously, and it's a part of the reason why I'm able to gain entertainment from such a 'messy' gaming environment.

SL2 is one of those few games that has 'grown' in me. It holds emotional value for me, and that's why I keep playing. It has allowed me to meet interesting people - and some of them are my closest friends as of this day, one even becoming my girlfriend. All of the experience I've had with its players has taught me some life lessons as well, even with sacrifices that are to be expected with things like this. I'm daring to say that it has literally helped me become a better person in some aspects. Specially learning that some people aren't as bad as others make them out to be.

TL;DR I find it to be one of those things that you can love for emotional reasons, in spite of its obvious problems. And I'm most likely going to remember it for years.

[Autumn]

I play because I like to RP for the most part, even within this community its still one I can call home, I talk to people individually most of the time, and a good bit seem to understand that my criticism over the last few months has been rather out of hand, but its not meant to spread hate in the end of things and some understand that.

besides that, its also the class system this game has and item customization that you can offer for each and every character, and while some builds are straight up always going to be better than others, I have no qualms running a weaker, more fun build anyways if its just cool in concept, that is why I play, purely to have fun with my little theory crafts, and incorporate them into RP more often these days, even if I haven't been around to RP as much lately and thus have grown bitter in my leave.

TL;DR, I play to have fun, and to roleplay, because without roleplay I'd grow very cynical and bored.

[GSM]

http://www.neus-projects.net/viewtopic.p...712#p24712

Enough said here.

[Ranylyn]

I arrived at SL2 at a relatively low point in my life. I had just been kicked out of my apartment and the only new place I could find on such short notice was too expensive for me - but what choice did I have? I needed to keep a roof over my head, even if it meant going hungry 4 days a week (Meals were provided at work, and I was there 3 days a week.) On my days off, I decided it was time to resort to an old friend: Roleplay as escapism. This was also around when I was finally diagnosed with my depression - which explained my entire life going back to age 6. If only we'd known sooner, but hindsight is 20/20.

It wasn't too long into it that one of my characters bonded with someone over their pasts. The things they'd been through, how they rose to those challenges, the things they weren't proud of but knew they had to do, things like that. It had been a long time since I'd bonded with anyone on that kind of level IRL (I've mostly had the same cliques since elementary school, not counting friends I've made on forums,) so I found the whole thing to be rather touching. Due to the fact that I wasn't at an emotionally stable point in my life... I got emotionally invested, moreso than I think I'd like to admit. I'm hoping no one gets upset when I ask if we leave it at that. Anyways, I haven't spoken to the player of that other character in quite some time, but those were some powerful memories.

And honestly? That emotional attachment is why I'm still here. It's why I get butthurt when people derail RP for the sake of shorhorning in a forced meme that doesn't work in SL2. It's why, even when I find myself disagreeing very strongly with some people, I don't actually find myself hating them. (Seriously. If you think I hate you, I'm offering a big group hug as a peace offering.) In a strange way, SL2 has become one of those retreats I come back to even after trying to quit, simply since... well... even if a new game can keep me busy for a few weeks, few games have the kind of replay value SL2 does.

Don't get me wrong. I do feel the game is a husk of what it was. The kinds of people who wanted to have RP commitments have mostly since moved on (Man, I remember back when people used to get together to celebrate weddings on a near-weekly basis, and when they'd eventually recruit friends to play their children once they were old enough. When was the last IC wedding held?) and it's made me afraid to get too involved, myself, lest my own characters be left high and dry when their entire social circle quits. It happens every single time, without fail, which really sucks, and has led to me playing the game much more casually than I used to... but I just care too much to leave, you know?

[K Peculier]

The game is fun. I like fun things. Fun things are fun.

When it stops being fun, I'll take my leave.

[iStabOreos]

Gonna keep this simple, I play because I love the RP, and the friends I made so far and just simply having fun.

[Grandpa]

I'd like to write some long explanation for this. But I don't think I have the ability or the time to do so, so I'll keep it short. My reasons for playing have changed a lot over the years, but it's almost always been rooted in some kind of addiction. As much as I'd like to say it's because SL2 is fun, that only goes so far. It's more because there are no better alternatives though god knows I've tried to find them.