Exploring (Destiny)

by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Friday, December 19, 2014, 14:31 (3437 days ago) @ scarab

I've been to every area in Destiny (I think) at this stage of my playtime. But that doesn't mean exploring stops. I'm still finding Ghosts. I'm still finding details of the world. I'm still noticing things in the art direction. Hell, I still notice things in Halo 3's art direction for that matter. I love that stuff, and the world-building that Bungie pours into their art and architecture has always been one of my biggest interests in them as a game developer.

Some games, the environment is just there to be pretty, or matches the occupants at a very basic, visual level. But in Bungie games (and some other developers) you can notice so much more. They inform the story as much as the cinematics, for me. You learn things in the parallels and differences between the races and cultures. And even after you think you've seen it all you read something pivotal in the Grimoire (or Terminals, etc.), and you can go back and examine everything again in a new light. So far I've gotten a dozen theories on each enemy race from thinking on their art direction coupled with relevant Ghosts. I've even started to form some stories based on the similarities between the Sepiks Prime, the Shrine of Oryx, and the Traveler.

With each new Crucible map, I go in and go get killed because I'm staring at the skybox. Just last night, I played a little of the new Raid and got to see one of the coolest skyboxes yet, and it gave plenty to speculate on.

Beyond the art side, I'm finding and buying new guns and gear that behave differently. I'm exploring their uses and caveats and perks. I didn't even use a Fusion Rifle for the first two months of the game, and am just now learning how to use them effectively. I've only recently been able to comprehend the best ways to use my Hunter classes, and I've got a Hunter coming along to do that all again with, not to mention a Warlock someday.

So that's how the game is still giving back to me, still explorable.

If people have reviewed the previous answers and didn't find them satisfactory then they should say why they didn't find them satisfactory. That at least gives us something to base a reply on.

That's why I was asking different questions and coming at the topic from different angles. I was using metaphors, joke images, etc. Because I was attempting to understand and was getting confused.

In a situation where someone tries to understand a bunch of negativity coming from some people, and they receive negativity ot hostility directed back at them for doing so, it really closes down any possibility of understanding and conversing meaningfully. If that happens, it just becomes about people typing to hear themselves type. And if we're not here to converse, then what are we here for? :)

If there is anything that doesn't make sense about our behaviour it is probably down to a mistaken idea of how people work. Perhaps he thinks that people are rational. People who think that people are rational should do a psychology course then they wouldn't be surprised at the things we do. It would be nice (I think, not really sure about that) if people were rational but given how we came about it is to be expected that we would not be rational.

Stop thinking of humans as rational entities, consider our evolutionary baggage and constraints and then be impressed that jumped up monkeys can reason at all.

... So, you're saying that if I'm perplexed as to why someone is playing a game so often that causes them to voice such ire and bile, it is because it simply doesn't make sense in the first place and they're playing it out of 'irrationality'?

If that's the case, what would be the purpose served by criticism borne out of such irrationality?

It'd be like someone telling a mystery novelist "For some reason I read all 20 of your novels in a few weeks even though I didn't enjoy reading them. Here's why they sucked..."

Anyway, back to Levi

I can see that I hurt his feelings and cut deeper than I intended. At the time I just thought that he was being too thin skinned, "I said that it wasn't personal so that should be enough". But I get the impression that Levi is genuinely upset that Destiny hasn't turned out so great for a lot of people. I think he is feeling rather raw and so can't shrug off stuff easily right now. So Levi, I am sorry I hurt your feelings. I can't say I didn't mean what I said but I didn't intend it to have such a large degree of impact to your feelings.

Nope. It's not upsetting to me that some people on this forum dislike Destiny - most of the people I know and play with are enjoying it actually! And even if they didn't, I'm quite accustomed to enjoying things most people don't. What IS upsetting is to see pretentious, insensitive, rude comments directed at people who are enjoying it, or who made it, or are trying to understand the criticism, whether it's straightforwardly or in a snide, passive manner. Most of my posts these days here are not debating a criticism, but trying to keep those attitudes in check.

Still, I appreciate the apology. :)