Destiny 2 Impressions from around. (Destiny)
by cheapLEY 
, Thursday, May 25, 2017, 18:50 (2525 days ago)
First up is Rob Zacny's take over at Waypoint.
As with some others, he wishes it looked like more than just more Destiny. He also questions the weapon slot changes:
The problem is that, as I was playing Destiny 2, I felt like Bungie had also put all the meaningful weapon variety into a single category. It's weird to hear Bakken using the language of player empowerment—"It's also about the freedom to build the type of guardian you want"—when the effect of that decision feels so crushingly limiting.
I can see his point. It's too early to tell, but I understand his concern.
Next up is Giant Bomb's coverage in the form of a video. Jeff Gerstmann went to the event and recorded footage of a Crucible match and the Strike. I obviously love Giant Bomb, so it means more to me than many, but it's nice to see Brad and Jeff together here. Jeff was the downer on vanilla Destiny, and Brad was straight addicted to it, so it's interesting to see their impressions here (for me, anyway--it's probably less interesting to non-GB fans, although still a good look at what Bungie showed).
For a little context, here's Jeff's entertaining rant about vanilla Destiny. He seems pretty positive on Destiny 2, which is encouraging.
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Thursday, May 25, 2017, 20:14 (2525 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Next up is Giant Bomb's coverage in the form of a video. Jeff Gerstmann went to the event and recorded footage of a Crucible match and the Strike. I obviously love Giant Bomb, so it means more to me than many, but it's nice to see Brad and Jeff together here. Jeff was the downer on vanilla Destiny, and Brad was straight addicted to it, so it's interesting to see their impressions here (for me, anyway--it's probably less interesting to non-GB fans, although still a good look at what Bungie showed).
Kind of odd that the guy who knows very little about Destiny is the one who played it, while the guy who was "straight addicted to it" knows... very little (Heck the "They're making another Destiny." "What? Wooooow." opening is REALLY dumb. I couldn't tell if they were being sarcastic or really painfully ignorant about the world of gaming in the weeks before that video, and I'm inclined to believe it's the latter). And it only gets worse:
"The Solar Super for the Warlock in the first game was the resurrection, like that was just the straight-up come back from the dead."
"Is it the same name as the Subclass in the first game? I don't know, you would know better than me." "I can't, I forget what it's called."
Ah yes, the addict for the past three years can't remember a Subclass name.
It's... Kind of way too many things that they say where they clearly don't know what they're talking about. Plus, they do a lot of talking for the sake of talking. Like, they spend twenty seconds on the Warlock jump, and whether or not it's part of the Super, despite the fact that it obviously is (with near Bromnigul levels of shock).
It's also pretty obvious that they don't prepare for these videos. I'd have a list of notes from the event, writing down everything from the new subclass names, to notable differences from the first game (they ask some questions that were clearly addressed during the reveal, but Jeff just says "No they didn't talk about that"). Then again, they sent the guy who's most ignorant about the game to the event, so clearly planning isn't their strong suit.
Thankfully the Strike wasn't as annoying, but by then they'd expended most of the dumbness...
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by cheapLEY , Thursday, May 25, 2017, 21:09 (2525 days ago) @ Korny
edited by cheapLEY, Thursday, May 25, 2017, 21:14
Everything you complained about is basically the point of Giant Bomb, and especially the point of these types of videos. They don't prepare for them--they're intended to be a look at the game without necessarily knowing about everything before hand. How would a new consumer see this game? That's sort of the point. It's way more casual than perhaps is suitable for the folks around here.
I quite liked a lot of the things you hated. Brad's reaction to the orbit screen mimicked mine almost exactly. I spent months talking about how if Destiny 2 is just more Destiny, I might not bother. Literally all it took was seeing more, new Destiny and I was sold, in exactly the same way Brad was.
I can't and won't tell you what to like, but you're looking at this way too cynically. It's supposed to be fun--these guys aren't Destiny streamers that play full time. Brad has about 300 hours according to Time Wasted on Destiny. That's pretty insignificant compared to most of us, but that's still a whole lot of time played. Of course he doesn't remember what a subclass in Destiny is called--he literally covers video games for a living. He's probably played a thousand other games since the last time he touched Destiny.
Anyway, I'm starting to argue too passionately about something that doesn't matter now so I'll call it quits. But lighten up, man.
EDIT: Just one more thing . . .
Then again, they sent the guy who's most ignorant about the game to the event, so clearly planning isn't their strong suit.
Jeff was already there for E3 judges week, so he also went to the Destiny event. Don't be thick.
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Thursday, May 25, 2017, 23:46 (2525 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Everything you complained about is basically the point of Giant Bomb, and especially the point of these types of videos. They don't prepare for them--they're intended to be a look at the game without necessarily knowing about everything before hand. How would a new consumer see this game? That's sort of the point. It's way more casual than perhaps is suitable for the folks around here.
It's not just that they don't do the research on the subject that they're talking about, but they basically don't even have a plan about what they'll be discussing, and yet they want to make sure that they never have more than a couple of seconds of silence, hence the "talking just for the sake of talking".
The guy was just, "Oh by the way, I have these videos of stuff we really don't know anything about. Now let's talk about them for 20+ minutes."
I dunno. I mean, even amateur podcasts tend to have a series of things that they plan to touch up on over the course of the thing, which helps plan and/or find segways to different observations and points, even if you have a natural conversation.
I can't and won't tell you what to like, but you're looking at this way too cynically. It's supposed to be fun--these guys aren't Destiny streamers that play full time. Brad has about 300 hours according to Time Wasted on Destiny. That's pretty insignificant compared to most of us, but that's still a whole lot of time played. Of course he doesn't remember what a subclass in Destiny is called--he literally covers video games for a living. He's probably played a thousand other games since the last time he touched Destiny.
Which again, shows how poorly planned the whole thing was. There was no "oh hey guys, our next video in five minutes will be about Destiny 2." "Oh, I should brush up on that real quick, since, you know, I literally cover video games for a living, and should probably know what I'm talking about, at all."
I'm not expecting these guys to spout out Grimoire off the top of their heads, and I can totally understand wanting an outsider's perspective on things... But that guy went to the event, and half of the things that Bungie explained during the presentation with a giant screen showing it behind them (and he got even more behind-the-scenes looks than most of us), he was like "I dunno." Guy who literally covers video games for a living: "They're making a sequel!?"
Seriously?
Anyway, I'm starting to argue too passionately about something that doesn't matter now so I'll call it quits. But lighten up, man.
Oh, you know me, I'm the lightened-uppest guy here, but the way some so-called game journalists coast by on laziness and ignorance needs to be called out every once in a while. It's just bad gaming journalism, and people listen to these guys, which might spread the wrong ideas. They shouldn't be pitching the game and singing praises, of course, but they shouldn't be as clueless as their listeners, and the constant facepalms I was in sure weren't convincing me that these guys must generally know what they're talking about.
I'm not going to tell you what you shouldn't like, but I don't think I'll ever be looking to these guys for a credible outsider's perspective (and that's okay!).
EDIT: Just one more thing . . .
Then again, they sent the guy who's most ignorant about the game to the event, so clearly planning isn't their strong suit.
Jeff was already there for E3 judges week, so he also went to the Destiny event. Don't be thicc.
I don't see how that negates the poor planning aspect. Really just makes them cheap if they didn't think it might be pertinent to send someone else. Looks like they're based in California, no?
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by cheapLEY , Friday, May 26, 2017, 13:14 (2524 days ago) @ Korny
At the risk of being the fanboy I'll answer some points here.
I dunno. I mean, even amateur podcasts tend to have a series of things that they plan to touch up on over the course of the thing, which helps plan and/or find segways to different observations and points, even if you have a natural conversation.
Again, that's intentional. It's just their style. They like to let the games speak for themselves by just showing it without planning and let talking points come as they may.
Guy who literally covers video games for a living: "They're making a sequel!?"
Seriously?
That was a joke. It's a sort of running gag they do.
Anyway, I'm starting to argue too passionately about something that doesn't matter now so I'll call it quits. But lighten up, man.
Oh, you know me, I'm the lightened-uppest guy here, but the way some so-called game journalists coast by on laziness and ignorance needs to be called out every once in a while. It's just bad gaming journalism, and people listen to these guys, which might spread the wrong ideas. They shouldn't be pitching the game and singing praises, of course, but they shouldn't be as clueless as their listeners, and the constant facepalms I was in sure weren't convincing me that these guys must generally know what they're talking about.
The thing is, they do. Jeff Gerstmann is probably the most knowledgeable gaming personality around right now. He famously got fired from Gamespot for refusing to change the review score for Kane and Lynch (while the site was covered in Kane and Lynch ads), which isn't necessarily relevant but shows his ethics.
The thing is they're not journalists and don't claim to be. Their primary focus is entertainment, not information. They know there are plenty of places to go for info on new games, so they don't try to compete. Their Quick Looks is sort of a middle ground to show games, but it's still more about watching the personalities than seeing the games. I still think this was a perfect look at how most people probably see Destiny. Most aren't in as deep as we are, and that's important to remember.
I don't see how that negates the poor planning aspect. Really just makes them cheap if they didn't think it might be pertinent to send someone else. Looks like they're based in California, no?
They're in San Francisco. They're also owned by CBS, so maybe they couldn't get approval for sending two people. More likely they just didn't care, as they knew it wouldn't be that important, given that the event was streamed and that everyone would be there getting footage. Giant Bomb isn't trying to compete with all the hot take journalists, so they intentionally don't even try to be like that.
Again, I wouldn't tell you what to like, but you're calling out things that are basically entirely intentional. Looks like GB just isn't for you, fine. I'm not trying to convert anybody. I just wanted to make it clear that GB isn't doing anything that needs to be called out. They're not being lazy or unprofessional or whatever--they're just not trying to serve the same function as IGN.
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Friday, May 26, 2017, 13:54 (2524 days ago) @ cheapLEY
The thing is they're not journalists and don't claim to be. Their primary focus is entertainment, not information. They know there are plenty of places to go for info on new games, so they don't try to compete. Their Quick Looks is sort of a middle ground to show games, but it's still more about watching the personalities than seeing the games. I still think this was a perfect look at how most people probably see Destiny. Most aren't in as deep as we are, and that's important to remember.
This is sounding a lot like Top Gear for games.
Somewhat annoying thing to listen to/watch...
by cheapLEY , Friday, May 26, 2017, 14:00 (2524 days ago) @ stabbim
That's actually a pretty good way to look at it, yeah.