Not Marathon Infinity... (Gaming)

by Avateur , Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 20:40 (2142 days ago) @ cheapLEY

My problem isn't that 343i changed their art, or that they're responding to what fans want. I'm glad they did, and I think it's great that they are willing to do so. My problem is maybe just one of semantics. Even that paragraph there is something I take some issue with. The narrative is that they fucked up. I just think that's a shitty way to put it. They didn't fuck up--they just made something some people didn't like (excluding the MCC at this point, because even I'll acknowledge they fucked that up). The narrative is now "343 fucked up, and we made them fix it" rather than "343 made changes we didn't like, and they listened to us to make it better." Is that effectively the same thing? I dunno, maybe.

I'm one of the people who think their art was awful and that these changes are a recognition of that fact. I get where you're at as far as how people are describing things. I'm one of them, obviously. While they may be effectively the same thing, I think that their reasons for changing might be a combination of both. They went a direction people didn't like, they refused to genuinely hear and accept feedback, they screwed up along the way, overall numbers and feedback did make them fix it, but I think there's now a genuine want of them to listen to reasonable feedback to make things better.

Also, in the past they've claimed to listen and have totally not done anything of the sort. I'm not the only one who feels this way. Thus, it's hard for people (including myself) to acknowledge that they have listened instead of thinking that they just realized that everything they do is horrible and that they've finally gotten wise.

I hope all that happens. I fully realize that all the folks complaining about Halo will probably have been the ones to bring about the change that makes it truly great again. Just like all the folks complaining about Destiny might be responsible for Forsaken, which looks incredible. I think healthy criticism is great and necessary. I just don't like the way all too many folks express that criticism, and think not liking something makes it automatically bad. I'm always willing to listen to people with actual criticism and points of discussion, but so much of what I see is just "That thing sucks! It used to be better!"

There's the opposite problem. There are the homers who refuse to acknowledge when a thing isn't working or can be improved upon, even when the people complaining aren't just saying "OMG IT SUCKS" or something similar. Great way of stifling discussion or progress. As far as Destiny goes, I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said (positive or negative). Frankly, I don't feel like D2 has anything to offer beyond Raid stuff and Crucible. I don't post as frequently because no one really needs to hear that, and I feel like a lot of people may even agree. Ideally, Bungie will get this next expansion right. I'm gonna wait and see before I drop cash on it.