A Gameing Lament, I guess. (Gaming)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 16:32 (520 days ago) @ Korny

This post is weird to me, because your sadness doesn't come from your relationship with Destiny, but rather, your addiction to it. Your dependence on it to fill the hole that it once did.
Here's the thing, though. That hole? It's not Destiny-shaped. It's not even filled by Destiny itself. More than anything, it's been filled by the people you play/used to play it with. People who don't regularly hop on anymore. People who shared the new content, who struggled by your side, and who would often end the nights with an extended trip to the tower and a "see y'all tomorrow". The Dogcows, Ottermacks, MEZes, BaghdadBeans, Up Norths, and Cougrons :(
The list of people to share these new experiences has dropped steadily.

I think that's the itch that the gaming nights fail to scratch for you. Each person you can no longer have experiences with is one more shortcoming that this game has. And those who have stuck around aren't experiencing new things, they're just on the wheel with you.
When I reinstalled the game recently, I hopped on, and didn't even bother to look to see who was on, because nobody would be doing the struggle of leveling from 1600 the long way like I was. Everybody would be doing the fifteen runs a week of the ritual activity that they needed for the pinnacles and patterns and fish and nightfalls, so they could be leveled for the raids, and Grandmasters, and Exotic quests, and dungeon, and blah blah blah blah....

I haven't been in a rush, so my goal was to go up five points of light per game session, then I'd call it and play something else. I hung out in parties, but listening to folks play destiny was a weird bummer, because I don't hear anyone having fun. It's just people doing work, discussing pinnacle drops, frustrated about loot, looking for checkpoints, ranting about Crucible, mocking Claude's builds (lol)... It's weird to see some of these folks have absolutely nothing to play besides Destiny, but so desperately need to play something besides Destiny.
So that's where I see you. "Can such good times exist elsewhere?" My guy, Destiny is probably the worst place to seek good times! You need to play something besides Destiny. There are some really fantastic gaming experiences just waiting for you, like you said, but you know why you just let them sit in your library? Because that live-service itch just keeps pulling you towards Destiny. So you know what you need? You just need to rope a friend or two into a co-op game. You need a transition game to push the Destiny addiction out, then you'd be Cyberpunking, Finalizing your Fantasy, and Ragnaroking in no time.

You may remember a player we used to play Destiny with named Sammy.
Sammy likes playing games with others, but refused to play Destiny on Bungie's terms, so when it came time for her to figure out how she would engage with gaming, she bounced to games that don't demand grinding for numbers or item rolls to play. She wants things to just work, so when a new expansion, or raid or dungeon came out, I made sure to have builds and Light levels ready for her to experience the content.
Because to her, it's playing with others that's fun, but if it means grinding for ages just to experience that tiny portion of content, nobody's worth that to her (except maybe playing with Claude, lolx2).
So recently, she convinced one of our friends who only played BRs to play a co-op game with her. I've never heard the guy have so much fun as when he was playing Resident Evil 5, which is famously remembered as a "bad" game.

So, there is something in here in your text, but you've made a lot of assertions that skim the water if you will. You keep using the word "addiction", and it's a fairly inaccurate -if close- description. What I speak of throughout is more habit, built by decades. And even then that might be incorrect as well, as, as to bring parity, I have habit of drinking water and eating food. We don't need games/sport/some-other-third-thing, but it is through such mediums that we can do the social thing, which for us all is needed in some amount, much as water or food.

And, odd as it may seem, it had to be done out loud, this public self consideration upon the social aspect of games. After all, it doesn't make much sense to lament the social aspect, and be completely silent about it, right? To bring it forth out in the open among the folks with whom I play with seemed right to me. An open realization, and an open question... both that I could very well answer on my own, but it would be all the lesser for it, I think. And Indeed, the response by cheapLEY and some of what I've quoted below really nailed it on the head here. Fresh food for thought that I would not have if I said nothing.

As for sadness? Well, I suppose I can't disagree, as I do indeed lament. But it's more from surveying the land then any "addiction" gap. Eyes that have seen some time and so forth in my mentioning. And, I'll even add that... we're Bungie fans, right? But long has it been for us to see a face that had earned admiration. I've been a fan long enough that I've seen Bungie recycled into a Theseus ship that no longer knows most of its old timbers. And so, is it really so strange that after so long, that I would poise a question and aims of where to go now? I mean, I'm here now because of Halo, and it's been nice to have a home for decades. And now I'm packing and getting ready to leave to shores I've yet even decided to know.

In light of this, I don't think any of what I say is strange at all.

We all then started playing The Forest, and listening to us play convinced another friend to get the game (as detailed in the community check-in post). So while you mentioned co-op games under the caveat of being "something you want to play", the trick is to just play one. Any. Find someone, find a good co-op game, and play it. Remnant: From the Ashes is a fantastic co-op experience. Try out Deep Rock Galactic for a night or two. Both of these games have investment systems, but unlike Destiny, the investment is not the game.

Grab anyone and run through The Division 2's free Descent mode, which is completely separate from the buildcrafting of the main game (which has long separated itself from the numbers grind in favor of targeted sets of gear and upgradeable secondary stats).

Noted.