ITT: Cody undercuts his central argument against Destiny

by electricpirate , Friday, August 09, 2013, 06:54 (4126 days ago) @ narcogen

It interests me that you praise Dues Ex, when the hooks are very similar to that of Destiny. Players spend so long creeping around these tunnels looking for nooks and crannies or doing missions for people for new gear, new guns, and upgrades!

I'm one of the first to jump on Cody when I think he's full of it, but I think you're misinterpreted his argument. When he talks about hidden content, it is not hidden weapons or gear or upgrades (although it may include those). He means game content-- gameplay and story, not collectibles or items. He means that parts of the story only proceed in a certain manner when you take action that has not been specifically suggested as an option.

That said, it doesn't take everything into account. I killed Navarre on an airplane and then carried her dead body into my boss' office and he never noticed. Can't anticipate everything, I guess.

Nope, I understand his argument. My point is that the gear and loot acts as the carrot to get people to that hidden content. Story bits, and world building isn't enough for all the players to go hunting through this world (and I'd guess that it's not even a significant minority).

Cody has maintained that no good can come from player investment systems, but he's presenting a really compelling argument for why they can be used (IE, modifying character player to draw them deeper into the story)