Competitive play and Meaning (Destiny)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Sunday, June 18, 2017, 22:41 (2805 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Destiny had it right at launch when the lowest-skilled player in the match could get a Gjallarhorn to drop.

I don't disagree with basically anything you said, but just out of curiosity, how do you feel about stuff like the Black Spindle mission? It's not PvP, but it is (or was, I don't know if it's still difficult to obtain now) undoubtedly a special reward for at least somewhat skilled players. I guess I don't know the numbers, but anecdotal evidence of posts around here months after the mission was discovered by folks who were still attempting to get it shows that not everyone managed it. I like that it was a cool thing that was challenging to obtain, and I'm not necessarily sure why that shouldn't be true for PvP, too. It sucks, because I know its something I'm unlikely to see, but I'm not sure how much of a distinction between the two modes there should be. I feel like PvP players should be able to earn cool things, too, I guess.

I don't have an issue with exclusive PvE rewards. Those require coordination, teamwork, and skill, yeah. But they encourage positive interactions with others. The focus is on teamwork and going up a known quantity (and as an added bonus, not requiring you to deny other people success). PvE rewards encourage positive interaction, because you can always pick yourself up and try again, getting better each time. In Competitive PvP, if you or your teammates aren't doing the best, you fall further behind. You lose rank, or more familiarly, you have to buy another Trials card and start over from 0.

It tough to explain. Imagine if every time that we wiped in a raid, the reward pool got smaller and smaller (with the raid exotic being locked behind Flawless Raider), or we would have the number of wipes show up on our profile.
If the reward pool got smaller, people would flat-out refuse to raid with folks who weren't the absolute top tier. If would add toxicity to playing with your own friends (that is exactly what Overwatch's Competitive Mode does). As it is now, I'm happy to bash my head against a wall until 3am, because I'm spending time with friends, and the focus is on getting better and better.
If the number of raid wipes showed up on your profile, LFG raid groups might kick you out if your number was too high, even if you were the best player in your groups (other people mess up? Tough!). You wouldn't want to play with any friends if they were "liabilities".

Competitive multiplayer does this. Ranks do this, and exclusive top-tier rewards do this. They add toxicity. They damage the community simply to grant a small percentage of players a slightly bigger ePeen, and they give people incentive to play dirty (and when they play dirty, they will always hurt the experience of others).
And I've always hated that. And I especially hate when developers cater to this small crowd, because it changes the whole focus of the game. It changes what made it great. It's not the fact that there are rewards, it's that it twists people who want those rewards.

The good thing about Trials is that The Lighthouse (and the weapons and gear that you get from it) isn't the be all end all reason to play Trials. It's neat, but the weapons and gear are attainable even if you aren't the absolute best. As long as you fill out those bounties, or you win a few games, you will get rewarded. I know folks with zero chance of making it to the Lighthouse who still do trials regularly because it is fun to play the gametype, and they can set different goals for themselves (Bounties > Win drops > Five Wins > Seven Wins > Nine Wins), and they don't get punished for failing to win every singe match.

In Iron Banner, you don't lose rank. You get a medallion that rewards you for succeeding when you try again. And regardless of whether you win or lose, you get good loot. THAT'S the sort of reward system that works great, and I hope we get more of that in Destiny 2.