You make valid points on the game design, but... (Destiny)

by Kahzgul, Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 19:19 (3262 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

your argument that RNG based loot drops are bad in PoE and chests because you didn't get a Key or good loot, but RNG based loot drops are good from Raids and ToO because you did get lots of raid gear and Etheric Lights is a terrible argument.

RNG based loot is AWFUL. Period.

For each of your "I got loot so it must be okay" I've got an "I didn't get loot; it's not okay."

Vault of Glass: I've cleared this at least 20 times. I've gotten 1 Praedith's Revenge. 2 Hezen's vengeance. 1 boots. 5 chests. 9 fucking cloaks. THAT'S IT. That is 100% of the loot I've gotten from VoG that isn't shards.

Crota's End: I didn't get my third piece of set armor until February despite running the raid every single week since it came out. I was level 31 in my raid group's hardmode runs for over a month because of bullshit RNG loot.

ToO: I played just as much as you did and I got 1 chest armor and an emblem. My buddy who I played with got absolutely nothing in that same amount of time.

The raid loot system is every bit as bad as the ToO loot which is every bit as bad as the key from chest system which is every bit as bad as the RNG loot from PoE system. They're all bad because they're all totally random. RNG = fail when it comes to loot system design.

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Now, to address your very valid points about game mechanics: PoE level design sucks because the AI sucks. The strategy is always exactly as you described, regardless of the numbers of enemies, the types of enemies, the faction of enemies, or whether or not a boss is up. The encounter "design" is awful, but that's systemic from the enemy design and their AI scripting. As a result, the boss mechanics feel tacked on to an endless flow of enemies with frustratingly large amounts of health.

The AI isn't reactive, really, so there's no benefit to defensive positions, high ground, or covering fire. There's no fog of war or line of sign obfuscation in the game at all. The enemies don't work as a team, ever. Staggering attacks aren't predictable enough to use in coordinated attacks. The enemies shoot so often that PoE feels more like an FPS bullet hell game than like a strategic wave survival FPS mode.

I don't *hate* the game mode, but I feel about it the same way that I feel about Destiny as a whole: It has potential, but there's no real substance there and I'm rapidly tiring of it.