I would very much like to escalate. (Destiny)

by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 06:38 (2363 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Just wanted to chime in here and say I play very much with the same mindset. I'm down for anything, and hanging with the people I know (primarily DBOers), is what keeps bringing me back. Sure, I have hazy goals (I'll get around to Masterworking my Solstice gear eventually), but I really don't focus on the grind at all.

Escalation Protocol seemed like a stretch up until I got near the level cap, and now it feels almost easy with a set of 400-405 Solstice armor.

But I got to thinking recently about something that Claude has said in the past about Bungie titles: There's always a particular twist you don't expect. And the way that tends to play out is in terms of how they've implemented things. I think in this case, with EP, there's a phenomenon that's really important to take stock of.

I've made more friends out of randos running EP in the last two months than I have in almost any other similar period since Xbox Live went live. And whether by design or not, the reality is that the way that groups have to self-organize in order to achieve a win is something that works better than anything else (at least that I've seen) to build new bonds within a community; especially for a game that's at this point in its lifecycle. Frankly, I'm more than ok with the solution being placed just out of reach (with no "proper" matchmaking); and needing to rely on the community to come together to beat a challenge.

My mind begins to race considering what kind of experiences one could craft by scaling things up past 9 players...