i have about 48 hours of gametime and i have 2 star sword, 2-star helmet, 3-star helmet, 3star bomb, 4-1star weapons, a 2 star-bomb, 2 2star-sheilds, and recipes for about 3 2 star items not learned, a 3-star armor not learned, and i'm sure some other equipment i am forgetting. I've made my brother a 1-star sword, a 2 star helmet, and 1 star armor, free of charge. As well as given him free mats, about 100 CE for free and a couple thousand crowns. Also i have given away 3 1-star items to noobs, and 15 energy, 'just to be nice'.

I have currently 300 energy, and about 2k crowns currently. This includes mist energy. I have wasted enough mist energy to make me cringe not quite realizing what i was doing. I made many purchases at very inopportune times that actually hurt my ability to advance in the game. I have a ton of mats i could turn into about 15-25k with 3-5 hours of selling in trade chat.

This is all done incredibly inefficiently. If we ignore everything i've given away, all stupid rez's, all ill-timed purchases, and just assume a picked an armor path at the outset of the game and stuck with it. For example, if i chose wolver lines, and a caliber. I would easily be at all 3-star armor, and very likely a 4 star sword. I would say at the least. In 48 hours.

But i am not. I am where i am.

I do plan at some point to spend some money on CE. But i will do so for vanity items. An extra shield. Weapon/trinket slots i don't need. Just for fun stuff too. But as of now, i have a mind to achieve my milestones through on my own. Like i said, i'd buy energy to get an additional 3/4/5 star item, but definitely not to get a 1st. I would spend money on CE to help keep my twin brother at a level reasonable to quest together (he doesn't have the time to play games that i do because of his work).

Myself, if i have 'beat the game' at 100-150 or so hours of play, i will consider it well worth my investment of no money to progress, only for vanity items after the fact. And i will also feel like the time spent having fun marks it as a great game. I don't understand how people think they should be at endgame with $5 and 15 hours when the company built this game in 4 years.

Thanks guys, great game.