I seriously don't get some of this (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 17:14 (3937 days ago) @ Avateur
edited by Kermit, Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 17:22

Bungie said the loot cave didn't fit their vision of how you should be playing their game. They said they don't want you farming. I believe them. They want you playing via the investment system's drawn out process instead. :P

That last sentence is your spin on their motives, but one could just as easily say that they don't want you doing stupid stuff just to get loot. Maybe they're hoping you'll find enough fun in the game and think of the loot is merely icing on the cake. Yes, they designed progression to work at a certain pace and have fixed some exploits that subverted that plan. But you've repeatedly reduced everything to that purpose, and claim that as Bungie's only motive. I quote:

The thing is, this change [to the Raid] was not made because there are some people out there who can't beat it and found an easier way, but Bungie wants to keep the thing difficult. Bungie did it because the people who have conquered the Raid are now finding ways to get gear and items quickly and to beat the thing quickly. Those people have already beaten the Raid numerous times. It's investment system protection, mixed in with what you're implying in defense of "we want this Raid to be hard all the way through" because god forbid it isn't hard and taking up all your time once you've beaten it like fifty times.

But maybe Bungie really does want to the Raid to remain a challenge because challenges are fun, exciting, and add meaning to the game, and maybe that really is their primary motive for fixing exploits and removing easy buttons. Maybe one way to think of the investment system is that it is an extra feature designed to provide a way for users to demonstrate (in-game) that they had met certain challenges, and yes, perhaps Bungie doesn't want to see the significance of that gear and armor devalued, but that doesn't cancel out what could be their primary motive. (And Vagueness, notice my language here: I'm not saying I know their motives, and if I ever I did, I hope I based it on what they've actually said.)

Maybe this has something to do with the gambling gene, and maybe for some people the investment system is truly a bad thing because it becomes their primary focus, the only thing they can think about, and their primary reason for playing the game. I've never gambled, and frankly I was a bit worried about Destiny for the same reason I avoided WoW out of fear that I could become one of those people whose life is ruined by a video game. So far, so good. I think I'm someone for whom the investment system is a supplement to the game, but not the reason I play. I quit a Raid this past weekend in part because I had chat issues, but I had played all the way to the Atheon fight, and if loot was such a driving force for me, I think I would've tried to tough it out.

The amount of cynicism expressed about Destiny, though, rubs me the wrong way--all the final pronouncements made about it, as if it will be the same game a month from now that it is today. It's not enough to say I'm disappointed with public events so far, it's that they have been shown to be BS! I've got my own disappointments, sure, but the pessimism is what I can't abide. I was disappointed with Halo 2, but Bungie made good, and gave me a final fight in Halo 3 and a great urban environment in ODST. I have hopes for the future of Destiny, but a bright future is not really possible, or at least that seems to be gist of many posts. There's lip service paid to "fixing the investment system," but in the same post oftentimes investment systems are identified as the contagion that cannot be in the game without ruining it. Same deal with Activision's involvement, people leaving the company (and idle talk related to that), and the rest of it. Yes, Avateur, you and others have expressed notes of optimism, but they don't always come across as genuine. It's like, "Gosh, I sure hope Bungie can turn this thing around, but here's why they can't!"

Constructive criticism is good. Assuming you know what Bungie's goals and intentions are and making them into an enemy who is out to get our money doesn't strike me as particularly constructive.

Kermit