What keeps you playing?

I keep asking myself this because I haven't actually played Destiny all that much. Which I know is a healthy thing. I was just curious why people keep playing. This isn't meant to be a negative question, like "why in the world are you still playing this game!?"

I just wanted to know, is it the people? the challenge? the events? What is it and why?

I personally do it for the people I play with and also because I'm a completionist, a lazy one, but still one :-)

I've actually found that now a days I really only play games, unless they are single player, with people because they really are the thing that makes games entertaining.

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*all other games I own.

I do it for the people, but I also enjoy being able to hop on for 30 minutes and have fun, make "progress" and yet know I won't be sucked into playing longer than I want to. Other RPG style games seem to often not allow quick fun play, or entice you to play longer to complete whatever you got yourself into.

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For me it is absolutely the people that keep me coming back as often as I do (I have played Destiny for at least a few minutes almost every single day since it launched), but there is also a quality and diversity to the game that I can't find most other places.

Not to dive too deep into my own personal rabbit hole... ok, I'm sure there's a better way for me to have said that, but moving on... being a parent leaves me with very little spare time throughout the day. There are lots of things I used to enjoy that I simply don't have time for anymore. Spending time with friends, working on creative projects, scratching my competitive itch with the occasional game of basketball... these are all things that are more or less gone from my life now. And of course, I also love playing videogames. I'm lucky to be able to fit gaming into my life. I don't need to leave the house, it doesn't cause a bunch of noise so I can do it while my wife and daughter are sleeping.

That's where Destiny comes in. I believe it was a writer for Kotaku who said "other game developers are tying to make the best bottle of beer, wine, or scotch... Bungie went and made the whole damn bar". This rings true for me, in that Destiny is so rich and diverse that I can cram multiple different experiences together.

First, there's the social side of it. The friends I've made through DBO are very important to me. Every night, I can jump online and hang out with my buddies. With so little time for social interaction in my life these days, playing Destiny with friends helps me fill what would be a pretty massive void.

Of course, I love playing videogames, and Destiny offers several of my favorite gaming experiences. The Raids are the absolute best co-op gaming experiences I've ever had. And while I don't get the physical exertion of playing basketball anymore, my competitive side gets to go nuts with Trials of Osiris every week.

It all adds up to a pretty unbeatable combination for me. Any time I play another game, it feels thin or hollow. Destiny controls better, the action is better, it looks & sounds better, the range of activities is more diverse, and I get to do it all with friends. No wonder I can't put it down :)

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It all adds up to a pretty unbeatable combination for me. Any time I play another game, it feels thin or hollow. Destiny controls better, the action is better, it looks & sounds better, the range of activities is more diverse, and I get to do it all with friends. No wonder I can't put it down :)

There are no PS4 events on the FTB. That should be fixed ASAP. I go off the grid and come back weeks later only to find emptiness!

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For the next little while I'll be playing with my kinderguardian brother-in-law. I'll be making some events when he's ready to do some raids. Last night we played the Sword of Crota mission, he said he had the most fun he's had yet playing Destiny. That was a fun little mission.

Edit: At the rate we're leveling up we'll be ready for the VoG by the time he finishes with the Black Garden. We're currently level 18 and have yet to go to Venus.

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It all adds up to a pretty unbeatable combination for me. Any time I play another game, it feels thin or hollow. Destiny controls better, the action is better, it looks & sounds better, the range of activities is more diverse, and I get to do it all with friends. No wonder I can't put it down :)

There are no PS4 events on the FTB. That should be fixed ASAP. I go off the grid and come back weeks later only to find emptiness!

Do we really need them? On any given night, I have at least two dozen friends online playing Destiny. Odds are you can gather a group to do pretty much anything without needing to set something up on that stupendous tool.

Would explain why not many folks set up events as often as they could...

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The challenge modes sort of killed kings fall for me. It was already getting a bit longer on a per-session basis than I would have liked.... but running them multiple times in place of the raid was a bit difficult for me, even though I really enjoyed the challenge. I'm happy to help, but I'm not pushing to get groups the past couple of weeks. Add SRL and IB in there and there were lots of pickup things going on.

Add to that that I now have a standing event with a couple people Monday nights, I really am only on Tuesday and Thursday nights with any regularity. Which also has coincided with raiding up until the past few weeks.

Been thinking about Crota some though, as it's been a while. I've heard a few rumblings of people wanting to get flawless raider, and that's still the place to do it. So maybe we should get a new flawless raiding group going if people have current interest in that.

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It all adds up to a pretty unbeatable combination for me. Any time I play another game, it feels thin or hollow. Destiny controls better, the action is better, it looks & sounds better, the range of activities is more diverse, and I get to do it all with friends. No wonder I can't put it down :)

There are no PS4 events on the FTB. That should be fixed ASAP. I go off the grid and come back weeks later only to find emptiness!

Do we really need them? On any given night, I have at least two dozen friends online playing Destiny. Odds are you can gather a group to do pretty much anything without needing to set something up on that stupendous tool.

Would explain why not many folks set up events as often as they could...

Totally. I love the FTB and use it somewhat regularly, but one of the things that makes Destiny so great is that it really is set up to allow you to jump on and check your roster and see what your friends are up to, if they have an open spot in their fireteam, or seamlessly send invites yourself. On both systems (but especially on PS4), I feel like I can jump online at any given time, any night, and usually find at least one or two DBOers willing to join up and run strikes or play crucible.

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There are no PS4 events on the FTB. That should be fixed ASAP. I go off the grid and come back weeks later only to find emptiness!

Do we really need them? On any given night, I have at least two dozen friends online playing Destiny. Odds are you can gather a group to do pretty much anything without needing to set something up on that stupendous tool.

It really depends on what you're looking to do. If you're running strikes or playing a bit of PvP then sure; jump online and see who else is around. But that rarely works for longer time commitments. If you need a team of 6 for a 2-3 hour challenge mode session, it's unlikely you'll be able to gather a group without using the FTB or LFG.

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I love Destiny . . . I'm just done with it for right now. It's not out of anger or disappointment or anything else. There are just too many other things to do right now, too many other games (I finally beat The Witcher 3 and just started it's Hearts of Stone DLC! Now I'm looking at Metal Gear Solid V, but I've never played one before and I'm not quite sure about it).

I played for a week when SRL hit (for the first time in nearly a month at that point), but haven't touched it since. I really liked SRL, but it wasn't enough to keep me playing, though, unfortunately. Even the promise of all that free 320 Light gear didn't work.

I'm not sure when I'll return to actually playing Destiny in addition to just hanging out here, but I'm sure it'll happen at some point.

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I love Destiny . . . I'm just done with it for right now. It's not out of anger or disappointment or anything else. There are just too many other things to do right now, too many other games (I finally beat The Witcher 3 and just started it's Hearts of Stone DLC! Now I'm looking at Metal Gear Solid V, but I've never played one before and I'm not quite sure about it).

I played for a week when SRL hit (for the first time in nearly a month at that point), but haven't touched it since. I really liked SRL, but it wasn't enough to keep me playing, though, unfortunately. Even the promise of all that free 320 Light gear didn't work.

I'm not sure when I'll return to actually playing Destiny in addition to just hanging out here, but I'm sure it'll happen at some point.

I actually appreciate this answer just as much as any of the others. Because I'm actually partially in the same boat. I haven't played Destiny in a while. I started playing a lot of Dota 2 with some friends and I have only just recently started a Fireteam event so that I can try to finally beat the hard raid. But past that I'm actually rarely on.

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Part of the issue for me is that until last week when I finally dove back into the Witcher 3, I hadn't touched my Xbox for more than a few hours in the previous month. I switched over to working through some stuff on Steam, and just didn't make time for the Xbox.

Now I'm fully back into Witcher mode, working through it's DLC. Not sure what I'll move to then, but it probably won't be Destiny. As much as I love it, I played basically nothing else through most of 2014 and 2015, so until I exhaust my backlog or more content drops, I definitely won't be back in Destiny with any regularity.

I get why a lot of folks are really attracted to Destiny and want to play it all the time, but after I did that in 2015, I'm definitely planning on approaching it much differently. I'll play when new content drops until I get bored, then jump on whenever I want to for fun. I'm definitely done investing in the loop that Bungie seemingly has planned to keep me playing forever and grinding out gear (not trying to take a dig at Bungie here, at all). The way most people seem to play Destiny is no longer the way I plan to play Destiny. Me not having played it in nearly two months is a big part of that right now. I did all the content I wanted to do (other than still wanting to give Trials of Osiris a shot at some point). I don't have Touch of Malice (and likely never will), nor even an exotic sword, and I'm okay with that, whereas a year ago I definitely would not have been.

That being said, I still love playing Destiny, so if any of you Xbox folks are ever looking for someone to fill out a Fireteam, don't be afraid to send me an invite even if I'm playing a different game. Playing Destiny with you folks is still some of the most fun I've ever had playing videogames.

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I love Destiny . . . I'm just done with it for right now. It's not out of anger or disappointment or anything else. There are just too many other things to do right now, too many other games (I finally beat The Witcher 3 and just started it's Hearts of Stone DLC! Now I'm looking at Metal Gear Solid V, but I've never played one before and I'm not quite sure about it).

I played for a week when SRL hit (for the first time in nearly a month at that point), but haven't touched it since. I really liked SRL, but it wasn't enough to keep me playing, though, unfortunately. Even the promise of all that free 320 Light gear didn't work.

I'm not sure when I'll return to actually playing Destiny in addition to just hanging out here, but I'm sure it'll happen at some point.

Same here, aside from finally actually beating Oryx on hard I don't have much play time right now. Mostly because I have a back catalog of games I need to catch up on. I'll be back regularly in a week or two, but if I see an event I want to do (or people I want to play with) I'll jump in!

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I played for a week when SRL hit (for the first time in nearly a month at that point), but haven't touched it since. I really liked SRL, but it wasn't enough to keep me playing, though, unfortunately. Even the promise of all that free 320 Light gear didn't work.

I loved loved loved SRL. I think it would have been better if it were limited to two weeks and allowed you to rank up faster.

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I miss it dearly.

They should have rotated in new rewards each week, though.

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I miss it dearly.

They should have rotated in new rewards each week, though.

My problem was I did it and nothing else for 2 & 1/2 weeks (christmas got in the way of that last week, else it would have occupied all 3 weeks). It was so much fun I didn't want to do anything else. I guess my point is that I want to see it come back with some frequency, but in order to keep it special, and to help it not overtake my destiny experience, that a 2 week run would probably be better.

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It isn't one thing that keeps me playing, because each thing taken on its own isn't enough. It's one of those the sum is greater than its parts thing.

The parts are:

People - my clanmates who are active are all good guys and know what they are doing now. It's fun shooting the breeze and telling remember when stories about our first year with Destiny.

Gameplay - It is still a solid shooter with great movement.

Investment - So many new games I pick up want me to level up everything from scratch. I don't really want to do that all over again for yet another game.

Completionist - There are still a few exotics I need to get to fill out my Year 2 panel in the Hall of Vanguards.

Lack of Competition - All the games I'm really looking forward to don't come out until in 2016 and I try to limit my video game purchases, so I still play Destiny.

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Right now, the updated Dragon's Breath and Super Good Advice, which are recent acquisitions for me, and both such a joy to use. They're both HUGELY improved IMO.

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Right now, the updated Dragon's Breath and Super Good Advice, which are recent acquisitions for me, and both such a joy to use. They're both HUGELY improved IMO.

Oh man, I need to pickup some of those new old exotics and level them up. I really wanted to love the original Dragon's Breath, adding tracking would have made it amazing for me. Now that I have the Taikonaut and the extra fun deployable napalm... I need to give that gun a try.

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Took a break, realized I could live without doing everything. Came back, felt like your favorite jeans and sweater.

I play for fun. If the activity is also rewarding loot-wise, bonus.

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Took a break, realized I could live without doing everything. Came back, felt like your favorite jeans and sweater.

I play for fun. If the activity is also rewarding loot-wise, bonus.

Same for me, more or less.

I still wish the story were better, and I have yet to do the Raid but at this point I don't really care, and that is a good feeling.

It's good to play with friends but is lacking if I'm not. Just not enough to offer for a solo experience.

When I am on with you guys it's very good.

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At the moment not much unfortunately. Black Ops pulled me away for about a month and now after the Holiday season I'm finding myself doing more outdoor stuff. I haven't played since about a week after the 2.1 updated that adjusted weapons and classes. I think I'm just burned out on the content.

What will bring me back? The fact that Destiny is probably the most solid shooter ever, new content of course, but mostly the folks around here. I miss u guys! I'll see you again soon. Maybe I should learn how to be more of a casual player rather than a hardcore casual.

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At the moment not much unfortunately. Black Ops pulled me away for about a month and now after the Holiday season I'm finding myself doing more outdoor stuff. I haven't played since about a week after the 2.1 updated that adjusted weapons and classes. I think I'm just burned out on the content.

What will bring me back? The fact that Destiny is probably the most solid shooter ever, new content of course, but mostly the folks around here. I miss u guys! I'll see you again soon. Maybe I should learn how to be more of a casual player rather than a hardcore casual.

Dude, if the outdoors are calling you then pick up the phone and have a long chat! I fully endorse enjoying the outdoors over Destiny :-)

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I went to an area called Tunica Hills which is a long lost extension of the Appalachian mountains. It's located in the very southwestern tip of Mississippi and runs a little south into Louisiana. Pretty unique for these parts in that it is very very hilly. Elevation runs from about 100 ft above sea level at the lowest, to 400+ at the peaks and there are about 10-15 waterfalls. My new hiking boots I got from Santa did quite well.

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Clark Creek Natural Area?

I went there with my family when I was a teenager. I was very surprised to see large rocks--almost boulders--in the creek. That doesn't generally happen in Mississippi, particularly southern Mississippi.

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I'm no expert, but I was just going to bed, checked my laptop, and there was some geology talk. My degree requires a couple geology courses at undergrad level, and it's super interesting, so I went and got some USGS quadrangles from the university's online library, since the remnant of the Appalachians thing didn't make sense to me, and I wanted to know about the boulders.

Here's a layman overview, from a layman, who may know nothing. Take this with a grain of salt.

The Appalachian mountains were created during a few mountain building events, the main ones being the Alleghenian and Acadian orogenies, from the Silurian period to the Permian period. That is, just before dinosaurs showed up in the fossil record. This was the result of a few continental collisions, and the Appalachians originally extended into Arkansas. The Ouachita mountains are a remnant, and originally Louisiana was a basin. These go too far north for the area to be a part of them.

The area's formation goes north in an unbroken line to the Ohio river along the east side of the Mississippi, and appears to be löß. This stuff is windblown sediment that showed up during the ice age, millions and millions of years after the Appalachians were formed. It shows up in the floodplains of glacial rivers which were seasonal. When the glaciers were no longer melting, the rivers would dry up, exposing the entire floodplain to wind, which made these big piles of silt sized junk on the side.

This occurred all down the east side of the Mississippi, creating the blufflands that exist there. Let's look at the rocks.

[image]

At the top we see the löß, and underneath we see more sand and crap. There is a good chance this is the Citronelle formation. Underneath that, we need a better look to confirm it.

[image]

This is a waterfall. It is weird to have a waterfall here, since rock like this is normally very easily eroded. Indeed, it's barely even really rock. However, if it's is undergoing lithification, it will be cemented together and become more difficult to erode.

Cementation is pretty weird; it works with ions, but it turns sand into sandstone, and silt into siltstone. And mud into mudstone. And lime into limestone. And Sly and The Family into Sly and The Familystone.

Anyway, if these parts are becoming cemented, they appear to cause the waterfalls, and even the boulders. As waterfalls erode the cliff, other parts fall off, creating the boulders, as seen in the picture. It's also *technically* possible for big ass rocks called glacial erratics to form the boulders. These are usually big rocks glaciers scrape away and carry downstream, then leave there when they recede. Mississippi is too far south for that, but they can also be carried in ice chunks borne by rivers during floods. I haven't seen any in the pictures I searched for and looked at, but they may exist. If the only boulders you saw were in the creek, it's just due to erosion. Here's the search I performed.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=clark+creek+natural+area

Using the maps and some information on the hopelessly recondite USGS website, I found out that this is probably the Catahoula formation in Mississippi, and the Fleming formation in Louisiana. Here's some info on it. Sandstone and junk.

http://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=MSMIc%253B0

So yep. That's why you have boulders.

That's two hours of my life I'm never getting back.

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To answer Marmot, yes I was hiking at Clark's Creek! It really is a striking place.

Funk, you are probably right with all of that. What looks like bolders in the creek bed are really large chunks of clay that seem to be going through that cementing process you'd describe. Basically they are drying out and turning into clay bricks that look like rocks. You never actually see any bedrock like you would in the mountains.

I've always heard that there are a few species of plants that are found in Tunica that are also found in the Appalachians. A little research shows that there are plants found here that are found nowhere else in Louisiana, but I can't find anything connecting it to Appalachia.

Here's a link to Mississippi's DWF site. It's a pretty amazing place that kinda sticks out of the norm for Mississippi/Louisiana.

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I play because it is fun. I'm no longer after any particular thing. Don't care about reaching 320. It's just, Destiny has the best feel out of all my games. The movement is better. The guns feel better. The enemies are more fun to fight. And it looks better. And there are a lot of fun people to play with.

I don't play it constantly, I play other games or nothing at all for long stretches of time, but Destiny is a nice place to come back to. Kinda like Halo was... back in tha day. :)

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What keeps you playing? (Destiny)

The people.

+1

because all other games are still less fun