How's that new model working out? (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Thursday, May 19, 2016, 19:55 (2907 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I think I'm somewhere between you and Korny on this one. On the one hand, I would say that microtransactions have absolutely not helped add anything worthwhile or substantial to the game so far in year 2. But then I think back to year 1 and remember how hugely disappointed I was by TDB and HoW... I'm not sure I could argue that either model has worked out well for the game or the community.

It's strange... I've been playing a lot less Destiny lately, and I'm finding my feelings about the game are shifting a bit. I still love the parts of it that I've always loved. It is a visual masterpiece. I love the way it feels to move, jump, and fly through the environments. The shooting mechanics are second to none.

What has changed for me is how I feel about some of the negative aspects of the game (negative IMO of course). I've gone from "tolerating" or "not worrying" about them to actively resenting them. The investment system in this game would make me furious if I let myself care about it at all. I tried for a year and a half to find that sweet spot between engaging with the loot/level grind and trying to enjoy building my characters the way I wanted to while chasing the gear that appealed to me, without slipping into crazy-obsessive rage-filled territory, but I've now given up. Too much of this game is stacked squarely against the player. The game shows too little respect for the player's time. For every step in the right direction (specific activities that lead directly to specific rewards) the game takes 2 steps backwards:

We can finally do something to personalize our guardian's appearance with this new Chroma system! Cool!!! But... I can only use Chroma by burning a consumable... and that consumable can only be earned through RNG based rewards packages... and I can only apply the color of Chroma that the armor lets me... and if I want a different color, I need to spend glimmer on a reroll that often results in getting the exact same color I just scrapped... and when I finally do get the color I want and activate it, I can't change it without scrapping the consumable I just used and going through the whole process again? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!

These (^^^) are the kinds of design decisions that I now have absolutely zero patience for. And Destiny is FULL of them. Everywhere I look, I see arbitrary systems that have been added to the game for no reason other than to make things take longer than they should. I see light levels and stats that offer nothing other than a greater chance of being disappointed by the gear that drops at the end of an activity. I see weapon perks that are so useless, they only serve to increase the rarity of drops that are actually fun and usable.

Despite all of this, Destiny continues to be loads of fun for me... just in fewer ways than it ever has before. My weekly Trials runs are something I always look forward to. And jumping into strikes or PoE or a raid with friends is still great. I'm just acutely aware, now more than ever, of how much of this game I need to ignore in order to enjoy the good parts. That's not something I typically do with any game, and I never thought I'd need to ignore so much of a Bungie game to be able to have fun with it. I hope Des2ny turns that around a bit :)