Pointless game is pointless.
So I got Borderlands 2. I'd pre-ordered it and have been playing it obsessively ever since. I play as Axton, the Commando, and have recently finished True Vault Hunter Mode. All that's left at that point is to kill the bosses repeatedly for a chance to get rare, legendary equipment.
I was actually looking forward to that, since I'm a loot whore at heart. I love me some rare loot. I had no idea what I was getting into with this game, though. So, a warning to all of you Borderlands 2 players out there, if you you intend to farm the bosses, make sure you don't have any plans ... ever.
Here's my most recent, spectacular failure. I tried farming the game's final boss because he has a chance to drop a really nice shotgun I've been lusting after ever since I'd first heard about it. I wanted that shotgun. I REALLY wanted that shotgun. So when it turned out that I could pretty much devote the whole weekend to getting it, I was all over it.
3 days later, 26 hours of constant farming and roughly 400 kills of the final boss, and I now have ... nothing.
You heard me (or rather, read me). Nothing. Zilch. Nadda.
Now I'm no stranger to long, tedious farming. I think the worst farming I've ever done was in World of Warcraft. I once spent an entire MONTH in one forest area, killing bear people, raising my ranking with a certain faction, just so I could get a rather pointless trinket that let's me summon one of the bear men to throw lightning at my enemies for a few seconds. I did it mainly so I could say I did it. That farm was so time-consuming that most people either didn't bother or gave up partway. It was an endurance test, if you will.
But, now that I think about it, that farm was actually more rewarding, since I was guaranteed to eventually get what I want. It just took a hell of a long time to collect all the points necessary. Borderlands 2, however, is completely random. If the Random Number Generator God doesn't favor you, you're screwed.
I had something of an emotional breakdown at the end. I suddenly realized just how much time I'd put into this pointless task that has no guarantee of a reward. My whole weekend. I just spent my entire weekend doing this one thing repeatedly, and I have nothing to show for it. I would have felt a little better if I'd gotten at least ONE legendary item, even if it wasn't the specific one I wanted, but no.
I could have done so many other things. I could have watched TV. I could have read a book. I could have wrote at least a couple of new chapters for the book I'm writing, or edited the manuscript I'm currently polishing. I could have watched a movie. Several movies. That realization led to an "oh my God, what am I doing with my life?" moment, and I decided to stop playing Borderlands 2. I probably won't pick it up again until the DLC packs are released.
Which illustrates just how pointless the farming was. When the new content is released, there will be more bosses and higher level equipment. So, basically, on the very day I download the new content all of that gear I would have spent Goddess knows how long farming would have been rendered obsolete anyway.
Anyway, that's one weekend lost that I will never get back. I'm going to have a drink and finish reading Mockingjay.
I was actually looking forward to that, since I'm a loot whore at heart. I love me some rare loot. I had no idea what I was getting into with this game, though. So, a warning to all of you Borderlands 2 players out there, if you you intend to farm the bosses, make sure you don't have any plans ... ever.
Here's my most recent, spectacular failure. I tried farming the game's final boss because he has a chance to drop a really nice shotgun I've been lusting after ever since I'd first heard about it. I wanted that shotgun. I REALLY wanted that shotgun. So when it turned out that I could pretty much devote the whole weekend to getting it, I was all over it.
3 days later, 26 hours of constant farming and roughly 400 kills of the final boss, and I now have ... nothing.
You heard me (or rather, read me). Nothing. Zilch. Nadda.
Now I'm no stranger to long, tedious farming. I think the worst farming I've ever done was in World of Warcraft. I once spent an entire MONTH in one forest area, killing bear people, raising my ranking with a certain faction, just so I could get a rather pointless trinket that let's me summon one of the bear men to throw lightning at my enemies for a few seconds. I did it mainly so I could say I did it. That farm was so time-consuming that most people either didn't bother or gave up partway. It was an endurance test, if you will.
But, now that I think about it, that farm was actually more rewarding, since I was guaranteed to eventually get what I want. It just took a hell of a long time to collect all the points necessary. Borderlands 2, however, is completely random. If the Random Number Generator God doesn't favor you, you're screwed.
I had something of an emotional breakdown at the end. I suddenly realized just how much time I'd put into this pointless task that has no guarantee of a reward. My whole weekend. I just spent my entire weekend doing this one thing repeatedly, and I have nothing to show for it. I would have felt a little better if I'd gotten at least ONE legendary item, even if it wasn't the specific one I wanted, but no.
I could have done so many other things. I could have watched TV. I could have read a book. I could have wrote at least a couple of new chapters for the book I'm writing, or edited the manuscript I'm currently polishing. I could have watched a movie. Several movies. That realization led to an "oh my God, what am I doing with my life?" moment, and I decided to stop playing Borderlands 2. I probably won't pick it up again until the DLC packs are released.
Which illustrates just how pointless the farming was. When the new content is released, there will be more bosses and higher level equipment. So, basically, on the very day I download the new content all of that gear I would have spent Goddess knows how long farming would have been rendered obsolete anyway.
Anyway, that's one weekend lost that I will never get back. I'm going to have a drink and finish reading Mockingjay.