On Authenticity (Destiny)

by cheapLEY , Sunday, June 28, 2015, 23:17 (3230 days ago) @ Durandal
edited by cheapLEY, Sunday, June 28, 2015, 23:21

Leveling mechanics are all the rage in games, and to complain that Bungie put them in cynically to pad out the content is a bit harsh and undeserved. Everyone puts in leveling mechanics and gates equipment. ME3 had totally random drops of gear and classes, which you then had to level, even in multiplayer. I put a ton of hours into that game and still didn't get some of the guns, and I knew people who dropped a large sum of real money into the equipment packs in order to speed things up. Your complaint is essentially that Bungie didn't let you get gear as fast as you want, and that somehow makes them inauthentic?

Yeah, leveling mechanics do gate your progress in any game those mechanics are in. The difference is, in all of those other games, the more I play, the more my level goes up. In Destiny, past level 20 that doesn't happen. When your level is tied to the Light level on your gear, all progress stops until you can acquire new gear. And they arbitrarily limit how fast you can get that gear by capping the currency you can earn per week, and capping the amount you can have at one time. So once I get my 100 Marks, I might as well just stop doing Strikes (Unless you just have fun doing them, which I do, depending on the strike.).

Bungie is giving this their best shot, and that is clear. They haven't been afraid to make major mechanics changes to appease the fans like etheric light and weapon smithing, unlike Bioware and ME3's cop-out of a 3 color ending. I think you are letting your frustration get ahead of enjoyment again.

I think they are giving it their best shot. I just think at some point, they lost sight of what they were aiming for. Some of the decisions they made are very obviously not for the benefit of the player, but for the benefit of the longevity of their game, and to keep players coming back even if they're not having a particularly good time.

When it takes a month to get the gear I can see at the vendors just because there's a limit on the amount of currency I can earn, there's a problem.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Destiny. I think it's really, really fun. I just can't help but think how much better it could be. I'm not saying I could do any better, but I always think of Borderlands, the other very popular loot based shooter, and how that game was never frustrating. I never felt like my gear was holding me back, and I never felt like I was getting screwed by the RNG loot system. Whatever they did just worked, whereas whatever Bungie did ends up a lot more frustrating (some of the time).