Anyone else feel a little let down by Crucible combat?

I feel like it suffers a lot from the same issues Halo 4 had (though obviously that was 343 not Bungie) and to a much lesser extent Reach. The custom loadouts make for a game with no sense of flow - instead of map control and/or roaming the map looking for a weapon/opportunity, it feels like one big rush for the objective. 

It's the same meat grinder gameplay we see in CoD, with players spawning, racing to the closest objective or enemy (no need to do anything but, because you already spawned with your preferred weapons), and hosing the general area with rounds because everyone dies in just a few hits - especially when you add supers into the mix. And when you die, you hammer the respawn button, and race back to the objective again. 

I know Bungie have said that the presence of Special and Heavy ammo drops would prevent this, buy I can't say I've noticed it. 

In a game of Halo, a player with a preferred weapon would have to go out of their way to go to that weapon's spawn point. The player may pick up another weapon or a couple of grenades along the way, but if they want that shotgun then they have to go get it, or set up in that area to be sure to get it. And at every point during that trek across the map they have the choice to instead go on with the weapon they currently have, or carry on to their goal. That's part of what made games of Halo so dynamic, and ensured players moved about.

In Destiny, every single weapon pickup is a shotgun, or a sniper, or a fusion rifle, or whatever you like. There's no incentive to do anything other than grab just the NEAREST ammo pack (assuming you havent already got loads because you start the match with some) and rush straight in, same as always. And because it doesnt make you choose between this weapon or another, you can just pick it up as you go, with no repercussions. I've only had to actively go and collect Special ammo once so far.

I'm hoping heavy ammo will have more of an effect, but so far in every match I play I seem to be the only person picking it up; everyone else is just leaving it there for minutes at a time.

Not to just complain though, Im digging the actual design of the maps, and the seamless cooperative stuff is great fun.

Sorry to rant, just wanted to see what the general opinion is

I love it. Haven't really thought through the "why" enough yet to post something as long and thoughtful as your post though...

My arsenal in Destiny feels much more personal to me than the arsenal available in Halo (and other shooters). The fact that I am not rushing to get the same rocket launcher or shotgun that everybody else wants is awesome. The feel of that common rush can still be found in Destiny (primarily for heavy ammo drops), but I am rushing for a personal reason (my Sargon-C machine gun) rather than a generic one. It is also super satisfying when you get to a heavy ammo drop and take the extra time to make sure that some of your buddies get there in time to get partake as well.

The rapid cycle of spawn, rush to objective, and start shooting is not necessarily a bad thing because it just means you can get to the 'killin and controllin' a lot quicker. At the same time, however, there are places to slow things down and get some quality, tactical time with your special weapon if you're in that sort of mood - whether that's on top of a building on the moon shooting across the map with your sniper rifle, or roaming the hallways and pathways between objectives blasting people with your shotgun or fusion rifle.

I have had very high expectations for Destiny since the moment Bungie went dark after Reach. In early June, when I started to watch streams of people playing the Alpha, I began to get a little worried that I was going to be underwhelmed by the Crucible because watching those people play it was not as compelling as my expectations demanded -- especially because I was having a great time with Titanfall at the time. BUT, once I got the chance to jump in the Alpha myself, I instantly found that I enjoyed the Crucible as much, or perhaps even more, than Halo multiplayer.

Seemed like a dumb mode to me.

But now I realise what it is, which is AWESOME. It's just the ever popular Team Slayer (Well, maybe Swat given how soft you are in this game) but with an anti-camping mechanism in the form of the territories.

Bungie has been really, really good at this. Remember the ball and KOTH and territories mode in Myth? Even FFA worked in that and it was a freakin' RTS! Thanks Bungie for not trotting out the same old shlosh.

Bungie has been really, really good at this. Remember the ball and KOTH and territories mode in Myth? Even FFA worked in that and it was a freakin' RTS!

Lol. Body count only worked AFTER the 1.1 patch. In the original, if you lost all your units you couldn't win. So, what would happen is people would hang back and avoid everybody until the very end when they are whittled down. With the patch, if you died but had the most kills you would win, making incentive to actually engage.

Bungie has been really, really good at this. Remember the ball and KOTH and territories mode in Myth? Even FFA worked in that and it was a freakin' RTS!

Lol. Body count only worked AFTER the 1.1 patch. In the original, if you lost all your units you couldn't win. So, what would happen is people would hang back and avoid everybody until the very end when they are whittled down. With the patch, if you died but had the most kills you would win, making incentive to actually engage.

Sorry if the quote is messed up, have no idea how to do it right.

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

I realise I come across as a bit of a whinger. Its just that Ive been so excited for Destiny. It comes from a place of love I swear.

I will concede that I've not really found a loadout Im super attached to yet. Theres so much variety (even within weapon types, which is obviously a plus) Ive been trying a bit of everything, so Im not entirely accustomedor attached to any one thing yet.

The other thing is, is voice chat disabled during Crucible matches? Either that or no one else is using their mic, which makes coordination pretty hard.

EDIT: That all said, Im gonna give it another shot tomorrow with some friends. Its entirely possible I wasnt in the right mindset, nd youve inspired me to give it another go.

I realise I come across as a bit of a whinger. Its just that Ive been so excited for Destiny. It comes from a place of love I swear.

I will concede that I've not really found a loadout Im super attached to yet. Theres so much variety (even within weapon types, which is obviously a plus) Ive been trying a bit of everything, so Im not entirely accustomedor attached to any one thing yet.

The other thing is, is voice chat disabled during Crucible matches? Either that or no one else is using their mic, which makes coordination pretty hard.

EDIT: That all said, Im gonna give it another shot tomorrow with some friends. Its entirely possible I wasnt in the right mindset, nd youve inspired me to give it another go.

I didn't take it as whining at all and it was clear to me that it came from a place of love. I hope my post came across as a friendly addition to the conversation as well.

What platform are you playing on? There were 4 or 5 of us playing for a few hours on PS4 last night and a great time was had by all. As far as microphones, I think talking amongst players is turned off unless you are in a fireteam or a PSN party. I'm sure a handful of us will be on PS4 and PS3 for most of the weekend if you want to join up -- we can't promise victories but we can promise a good time!

Btw, I meant to ask, is this by any chance yourself:

http://boardgamegeek.com/user/someotherguy

?

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

You're in good company. JJ despised it.

- M

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

You're in good company. JJ despised it.

http://halo.bungie.org/fuckthat.mov

Found the transcription, that was done by….. Butcher. ;-) Back when he was just a rabid fan. Oh, the feels.

The other thing is, is voice chat disabled during Crucible matches? Either that or no one else is using their mic, which makes coordination pretty hard.

As far as microphones, I think talking amongst players is turned off unless you are in a fireteam or a PSN party.

Right, you need to be in a Fireteam or PSN Party for voice chat to work.

What platform are you playing on? There were 4 or 5 of us playing for a few hours on PS4 last night and a great time was had by all. As far as microphones, I think talking amongst players is turned off unless you are in a fireteam or a PSN party. I'm sure a handful of us will be on PS4 and PS3 for most of the weekend if you want to join up -- we can't promise victories but we can promise a good time!

I'm PS4, but Im an xbox convert so my friends list is basically empty. I'd be glad to tag along, thanks. Though I probably wont help much on the victory front. I'm on UK time though, so that could potentially be an issue?

Ah, no, that's not me.

I guess I'm some other someotherguy ^_^

Time zone shouldn't be too much of a problem.

My PSN ID is Guardian513 so feel free to add me as a friend.

Most of us have our gamertags/ids on this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0As2JheUlkO_jdHhSeThRY0VpN0tRbXBkVGVBYzBvN3c#gid=0

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

You're in good company. JJ despised it.

http://halo.bungie.org/fuckthat.mov

I can't hear it.

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

You're in good company. JJ despised it.

http://halo.bungie.org/fuckthat.mov

I can't hear it.

I'm guessing you're using Chrome. (I tried it in Chrome, and there was no sound.) Try it in something else (or download it and play it with a native movie player).

I don't know if it's helpful, but I played it in Chrome without issue.

And my Windows Media Player failed to play it

Probably because iTunes and QuickTime and plugins. I mean, I have to tell Chrome, "Hey, yeah, QuickTime can run this one time." But then the video loads and plays.

QuickTime videos? Not a problem. What is a problem? A random percentage of YouTube videos that never play audio for an unknown reason. But you've read me bitching about that.

It's a MOV...

Of course WMP will have trouble playing it...

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A bit more today, and the one game I got on shores of Time was much more enjoyable with a slightly different loadout/outlook.

The games on the moon though? Totally dependant on who's interveptor survives the initial clash. If *IM* capable of going 20-0 with it, that thing is definitely OP haha

I never played Body Count, seemed like a populist compromise to those without the patience for finer game modes.

Holy shit that sounds like I am an egotistical elitist SOB... but I really had no attraction to that game mode!

You're in good company. JJ despised it.

http://halo.bungie.org/fuckthat.mov

I can't hear it.

I'm guessing you're using Chrome. (I tried it in Chrome, and there was no sound.) Try it in something else (or download it and play it with a native movie player).

Downloading and playing with VLC worked, but I actually tried every browser I have before I posted and got no sound in any of them (which means Chromium v. 35, Chrome v. 36, Firefox v. 30, and IE v. 11).

The games on the moon though? Totally dependant on who's interveptor survives the initial clash. If *IM* capable of going 20-0 with it, that thing is definitely OP haha

Or you play with idiots who don't know you can use your super or heavy weapon to blow it up ezpz.

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Sorry to rant, just wanted to see what the general opinion is

My opinion is that so far crucible is fun as shit!

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I'll stick to the "story" mode instead. Crucible isn't really my cup of tea.

Might give it another go later and see if it was just a bad match.

I'd actually encourage it.

I played with a group of randoms in party chat tonight and had a blast. Looking at my scores I didnt fare that differently, but I had a much better experience overall. Being able to communicate with your team makes all the difference (as did tooling about in the Tower for about an hour just chatting beforehand. I *really* like the Tower as a social space)