Damage Mechanics (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 10:42 (4000 days ago) @ kapowaz

I think you see reluctance where none exists. An information release timetable, sure, but reluctance? I say they do want to tell us how damage works, they just don't want to tell us right now.

You did read Deej's comments in the most recent weekly update, right? Why even address the question if only to be evasive?

How do you contrast your impression of reluctance with Bungie saying that both they and their gameplay testers are having a blast playing Destiny? And how do you reconcile it with Bungie's decade long string of successful shooters?

Easily: you're talking about subjective enjoyment. I'm asking about objective mechanics, which inform player tastes. They're not mutually exclusive.

Does this mean you are claiming that the people we hear about enjoying Destiny are doing so despite bad objective mechanics? I would think they're having fun because the game, objective mechanics and all, is good. Again, I think you need to decide whether you trust what you've been told.

Past success does not guarantee future success. ;-)

You can chant that if you want, but the reason I'm here is because I am betting that the company behind a decade of the best shooters ever made plus several other of my favorite games will make yet another great game. We can do smiley face winks at each other all day, but I see it as a rather black and white choice.

But do you believe that will continue all the way to the beta? I don't. I see them releasing new info about gameplay on a steady basis. They've talked about weapon ammo and map control, they've talked about focuses and lasting decisions. They've talked about weapon skill trees. Just recently they talked some about armor and health giving specific examples how class abilities would affect your durability.

They've talked about thiese things, but the overall picture still seems muddy. Perhaps that'll change in the coming months. Maybe feedback like mine might spur them to approach it differently? That's my hope.

There's certainly nothing wrong with wanting more info sooner! I just think you are in the wrong when you stray into attributing a lack of info to a developer not having confidence in their product when that lack of info is much more easily demonstrated to be their way keeping their community's attention. In this case what they did in the past (slowly release info) IS exactly what they are doing now.

If you could show some change in Bungie's behavior, show that they are being more tight lipped this time around, then that would be something. I think it's the opposite though. I think we're getting more info at a faster pace than we got for any of the Halo games.

Bungie is not being silent on gameplay or story like Apple is completely mute on future products. They are giving us info and will continue to do so. I don't see you so much as being impatient (though that is likely mixed in a bit) as I see you looking for reasons to indirectly claim that Destiny's core gameplay will be fundamentally flawed unless they change their way of doing things and tell us more right now.

I'm not looking for reasons to claim anything: I simply haven't got enough evidence upon which to make such claims. But that door swings both ways - it's hard to be honestly excited about a game which Bungie won't tell us about. Right now I feel like my enthusiasm has nearly dried up, but that's secondary to this nagging feeling that Bungie is being bizarrely tight-lipped about fundamental game mechanics which really ought to be front and centre to their promotion of a new game franchise.

First, Bungie is telling you about it. Just not on your timetable. The word impatient comes to mind. ;)

Second, I don't share your lack of excitement. I've been promised a massively multiplayer shooter in a giant detailed world by the creators of Halo. How can I not be excited?!