Why do you play PSO?

[Forge]

From reading a few of the more recent posts and threads, there seems to be a lot of people out there who wish to be the best at PSO. This may be a good goal, but with a game as deceptively broad as PSO it is probably not entirely possible.

PSO, when compared to World of Warcraft or similar, seems very restricted in its scope - the levels are shorter, there is no way near as many quests, there are fewer 'different' things to do within the game. Yet the area where PSO can be huge is in the combination of every aspect of itself, from the weapons to the armours, to the MAGs and even the Symbol Chat icons. There is still scope for personalisation.

I am confused as to why so many people wish to top everyone else on statistics. PSO is not a competition, unless you play Battle mode. It is not an efficiency run unless you play Challenge. PSO is a community, and I think that the best part of the game is that you can express individuality through it.

People like different things. Some people like to play Ep3, some do not. I do, partly due to the play style, and partly due to the sheer variety of the deck creation. In Ep3, I will admit that I am somewhat of an uberist - but only in the Johnny way (see Wizards of the Coast for an explanation!). My favourite decks include hideously inefficient combinations with very good results. My aim at Ep3 is to break some of the cards. Such as my combination of two sub standard cards (Gulgus and Duel Strike, which are more difficult to use on their own) to create an incredible effect - a nearly unblockable instant death effect.

But in Ep1&2, I have changed my tack. There was one time when I wanted to play PSO to be the best, but I realised that there was no way that I'd quickly reach the top, and if I did then there would also be lots of other characters at Lv200. So now, I play my characters with a personal style - and very often that involves equipping sub standard weapons and armour just for aesthetic reasons. I've also decided to raise Bhima's for my characters, just because I've seen so few. Everyone else has a Sato, why should I have one?

Currently, I cannot get online, so I also play PSO to have fun with my friends, and participate in a challenge together. While I am the strongest character, that is irrelevant. I have played the game for longer, so that is to be expected. In fact, I enjoy it when the characters I am playing with are weaker, because it gives me more of a challenge to keep them alive.

And the final reason that I play PSO? Story. I want to finally work out the entire backstory and interlinking aspects of PSO, to find the links to the early PS series and to find the links to PSU when it is released. There's no way that I'll know more about the stats than some people here, but I can specialise on the story.

'But the story is not necessary to the playing of the game?' No, no it is not. However, that is one of my reasons to play the game, so I choose to do it. I read all of Rico's messages. I know them all, but I do it anyway. I might pick up a scrap of information I'd overlooked. Plus, I use it to figure out how far I am through the levels (especially in the ruins).

That is why I play. Reciprocation would be much appreciated.