Tourists, Collectors, and Hobbyists (Destiny)

by Kahzgul, Friday, December 01, 2017, 15:19 (2346 days ago) @ Blackt1g3r

All of which brings me back to the podcast and Luke's desire to make the time it takes to reach max power level even longer. Why? Towards what end? Without addressing the true end-game and making the experience of gameplay at maximum power compelling, all you're doing is delaying the inevitable. Whereas if you make the end-game fun, the only complaints about the mid-game is that they can't get to the end game quickly enough.

I think there is an assumption that those who dumped thousands of hours into Destiny 1 are the players who like the grind. However, I don't think that's actually true. Instead I think most of us who dumped that many hours in were there to enjoy PvP, raiding with friends, tackling difficult challenges with friends etc. We joke about caring about loot, but in reality we don't care that much about it.

If it were me, I'd just dump the light level/power level/phase 2 entirely. Instead, make "gaining power" be unlocking new abilities during the story. Make "gaining power" be about having more tools of destruction at your disposal instead of some random numbers that don't make sense (at least to more casual players).

I'd be so down for that. The endgame just isn't compelling right now *at all* and Luke's takeaway is not that the endgame sucks but rather that, because people are willing to slog through the grindy mid-game to reach endgame, that grind should be longer. It's completely out of touch.