The Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Gresziek was not a fan of the Steam hit Lost Ark just a week ago. He was indifferent to the MMORPG during the beta. It was too grindy for him; he called it “the most boring game I’ve ever played” – a week later, the Canadian sounds very different. Now he confesses that he is “addicted” to the game.
This was shroud’s opinion just a week ago:
- shroud is probably the best-known shooter player on Twitch, but his passion belongs to MMORPGs: He loves grinding. After many hours in WoW, he had turned to New World, which catered especially to his grinding love.
- However, he thought little of Lost Ark. At the beginning of February, shroud said he wanted to like Lost Ark because he is really into MMOs, but explained that Lost Ark specifically left him cold. He would rather play WoW, Star Wars: The Old Republic, or City of Heroes.
- A week ago, shroud went even further in his rejection. In a Twitch stream, he called Lost Ark in the beta the “most boring game he’s ever played.” If he played it, he would surely be bored to death, he said. The leveling phase is incredibly dull; he wonders what the developers were even thinking.
shroud had 0 expectations after the beta of Lost Ark, is now addicted
This is what he says now: After the announcement of how boring Lost Ark would surely be (via twitch), shroud played Lost Ark for 52 hours last week – about 7.5 hours a day. An average of 22,786 viewers wanted to watch him during that time. That is significantly more than the 13,583 viewers who wanted to see him last in New World.
His opinion on Lost Ark has completely changed:
“Many streamers said that the game is boring. Yes, I was one of those, okay. I admit it: I believed it would be boring. Now I am damn addicted!”
shroud
What caused shroud’s change of heart about Lost Ark? Shroud evidently misjudged himself; moreover, he underestimated Lost Ark. He said he didn’t like the game because it was too grindy. Meanwhile, he has emphasized in New World how much he likes grinding as long as there are “worthwhile challenges” waiting at the end of the grind.
Apparently, the content variety and depth of gameplay in Lost Ark surprised him once he got out of the initial levels, which some perceive as “linear and rather grindy.”
Lost Ark opens up from level 27, really changing after about 20 to 30 hours in the game:
Lost Ark has a level at which the MMORPG changes significantly – and for the better
