Can someone explain the flaw to me? (Destiny)

by Earendil, Monday, October 03, 2016, 15:59 (3065 days ago) @ petetheduck

Here is my experience:

Play activities, get drops that are sometimes 1-3 light level higher than myself.
Faction rep (vanguard, crucible, cryptarc, faction) rises, and packages drop that are always one to two items 1-3 light higher than current light level.

Guaranteed light progression. No RNG required.

Bonus:
1. Blue items decrypt to 5 higher than previous max and purple decrypt to 30 light higher, making the immediate jump faster.
2. Spare anything can be turned into faction rep, which is guaranteed items higher than your current light level.

The one thing this system does have built in is time. I spent probably more time that I'd like playing strikes with 3 free days in the last week because I wanted to be as raid ready as possible for this last weekend. But every progression game I've ever played has time built in, that's what makes progression measurable. What I (and many) have a problem with is the RNG aspect where two people put in the same time and have vastly different power. But are we really at vastly different power? I'd wager (with no data) that our skill difference as individuals is significantly greater than the 5 light level difference that RNG has dealt us.

If anything, I'd have been okay with a greater delay between the RoI launch and the raid release. However, I also recognize that desire as selfish, because it would have only accommodated my life and my ability to put time into a progression system. And at the end of the day I started the raid at 365, finished at 367, and never felt like it wasn't doable, I just had to play smarter and more consistently.

So I don't know. The game can still feel grindy, but any progression game can if you find yourself google searching "how to progress the fastest". At least with the current system the race is a predictable one, which makes it a good system. The trick for me personally is to allow it to be a walk-a-thon and not make it into a sprint.