Polygon Opinion Piece: Raid Difficulty is Awesome (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 18, 2018, 14:17 (2047 days ago) @ EffortlessFury
edited by Cody Miller, Tuesday, September 18, 2018, 14:22

I hope Bungie continues with this level of challenge and complexity into future raids.

Some folks in the Destiny community are angry at Bungie, and feel like the studio has made the raid too difficult for the average player.

Which is it? Is the raid challenging, or is it difficult? I wouldn't expect a games journalist to know the nuance of the difference.

Difficulty is straight up how hard something is. Lifting 10 pounds is more difficult than lifting 5. But it's basically the same thing… just harder. Challenge is about complexity. Playing a grandmaster is more challenging than playing an amateur; as he will be using more advanced moves, strategy, feints, etc. It's NOT basically the same thing.

Difficulty and Challenge can be linked. If you have to lift 3000 pounds, that's more difficult, but you'll have to get creative and lift it in a different way.

You need a mix of both, but I think challenge should be relied on more heavily, as it is more rewarding to overcome. Having everyone be too low a level is just difficulty…

In short, ask yourself how a player would overcome a problem. If the solution is within them (better strategy, more practice, etc) then that is good. If the solution is without them (power level number going up, a more powerful gun) then that is not as desirable.

Also there is zero reason why a 530 and a 560 version could not have been released at the same time… the hardcore players could chase the higher light version and still have the prestige, but the challenge could have still persisted between the two.