A way-too-long answer. (Destiny)

by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Thursday, November 27, 2014, 08:20 (3439 days ago) @ petetheduck

My reaction to this idea and to games that use it is as negative, immediate, and visceral as most of you who have posted here. I Also, however, see that there is a certain value to it that I can't deny intellectually even though I have this emotional recoil. I have plenty of people who I liked playing Halo or other static multiplayer games with who simply don't have time to farm resources and level up gear and such. They won't play a game like Destiny just as certainly as some of you have said you will not play a game that did this sort of pay to catch up micro payments. In those friend's case it is about where they spend a limited free time or even if they can ever level up enough to be part of the group. Their jobs or family require more time than what a game like Destiny requires to be left over.

Part of me expects and understands the counter-argument that they simply are correct that they should not play a game like Destiny then. But I think that only delays this question. This sort of mini rpg mechanic is getting more and more previlant (those friends first starting talking about this leveling mechanic as why they won't play a game starting with modern warfare and it has been a discussion more and more frequently since then as more and more game generes adopt it.) Now, asking whether a game has this mechanic has become part of the prolegomena for many of them.

As Scarab noted, for many people time has a money value (often determined by salary) and the game developer asking them to farm, level or otherwise invest time into the game to be competitive or to not be a drag on a group is a difference without a distinction to asking them to pay more money. If the "time players" are happy because their hard work is not just de-valued by giving away upgrades they spent a long time on, and the "money+time players" are happy because they can pay what they see as a low or reasonable cost to get to where their time play friends are and get the group back together, and the developer is happy because more money and happy players, well, that's a scenario that has enough value that I expect we will need to confront it again in the future.

And in the name of connecting with friends I bought Destiny for MS and Sony platforms yet strangely I didn't feel nearly so bad about that idea that cost me 60 dollars as I do about this idea that costs someone else 1 dollar.

I also think it is important to distinguish this from micro pay in a game that is free to play otherwise as this would be a minor revenue source instead of the only source and therefore would not corrupt game decisions as strongly (hopefully) and this is not a situation where the payments bring pointless value (single player games don't have any of this value to equalizing player progress despite different availible time to invest I was discussing above).

Destiny made significant efforts to level the levels for pvp but almost not at all for PvE. I have "accidently" leveled two charectors past the point of their purpose because I have enough friends stuck at much lower levels than my main so I made alts to play with the lower level friends. I can join them for story missions, and to a lesser extent for strikes (if the game matchmakes a third it seems to match with the higher level and then they just feel like they are being drug along rather than playing along.) but that requires me to be playing for no benifit in-game. I don't mind so much but I know it make them feel left out and like a charity case. And there are fun experiences in the game they won't have access to because of level caps or because my willingness to play. With lower level friends does not extend to pulling a 26 along through VoG (nor to I think they would enjoy that experience).

But yeah, despite all that I hate the idea and would say no to it every time.