Levels

by Dean Hofmeyer (unhh) , Warsaw, IN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 20:30 (4294 days ago) @ General Vagueness

Leveling isn't a bad thing. It can be argued that it's an easy way to simulate real-world skill progression.

I'm sure that's why it exists in the first place, and that's why I don't like it. Maybe playing video games isn't that useful in general but at least with most of them I'm getting better at that particular game and probably working on my dexterity, but if I'm just increasing some numbers that make what I've been doing (or roughly the same thing) more effective, I don't even have that actual progression, and it seems even more pointless.

It's impossible to get across all the nuances of (for example) shooting a gun through an interface as simple as a game controller. The skill curve just isn't as high in theory. So we have leveling, in which you control your character and your character controls the gun - and gets better at it as he goes along.

Of course it's more necessary in more point-and-click-y RPGs, but I don't think it's irrelevant or should be shunned in a shooter, especially one like Destiny* that seems to be taking the focus off of competitive multiplayer.

On that point, however, I think that with the inclusion of competitive multiplayer in Destiny and given Bungie's love of a consistent sandbox, there's hope that any leveling system will have relatively low impact on gunplay.

*I could also point to Mass Effect again here. Both single- and multi-player modes have leveling systems which impact gunplay, and it works. Going into a multiplayer match with a low-leveled character leaves you somewhat less effective than your compatriots, but not helpless by a long shot.