Hmm is it just me or are Invasions really rare ? I have never been invaded for the whole time I have been playing and I have also kept the blue covenant ring on for around 30 minutes without being summoned...
Invasions are pretty rare until ng+ and/or you become a sinner.
Why untill ng+? And also I highly doubt anyone is on ng+ right now it's only been out 2 days
(This is all based on my console experience but I doubt it will be much different on the pc once the game has a few weeks to get set in.)
You can't buy unlimited cracked red orbs until ng+; The only other source of red orbs are fighting in the arena, which at least on the console, is mainly populated by serious pvp types and thus not an easy place to win in unless you are also a serious pvp type, and many of which go into ng+ to get new equipment. I doubt it will be much different on the pc in this regard, (I don't remember much of a difference in the pvp community between the two versions of DS1) but it could be.
So tldr itsa pain in the arse to get cracked red eye orbs.
Also probs lotsa people focusing on PVE for now, invasions might go up within the next few weeks.
it's fun and all but I rally dislike how the enemies stop spawning and the merchants only seem to sell a finite number of each item. I loved switching around between various equipment to keep it interesting in the first game, but now it really seems like a bad idea since the titanite shards ran out very quickly.I also can't seem to play co-op with a friend who is just a few levels (5-8 or something similar) ahead of me.
Note that the amount of stuff merchants sell increases as you progress in the game, most consumables and shards and stuff will end up being sold in infinite amounts by the end of the game.
Also, matchmaking isn't based on SL anymore, its soul memory so your friend likely has just earned more/less souls than you.