Progression vs. Fun (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Tuesday, July 09, 2019, 17:50 (1752 days ago) @ Korny

Ragashingo made this post the other day about how much fun he had playing with other people for the Lumina quest.

The best nights I've ever had in Destiny have all been nights in which I made exactly zero meaningful progress towards anything. It's nights where many people are online, and everyone has something they're chasing. Nights where I've jumped from a full Escalation Protocol instance into a full team for quick play, then into Gambit, then over to a Nightfall, then back into Crucible, etc. And every time that's happened, it's always been when I'm not at any appropriate quest steps for any of that, where I've mostly done my powerful drops for the week. The most I've ever accomplished from any of those great nights is some bounties and a few Prime Engrams. And, on those nights, it's never mattered, because they have always been amazingly fun. They've been nights that make me actually marvel at how awesome Destiny is when you're with a group that enjoys jumping from activity to activity and sampling the whole package. It's really like no game I've ever played before.

It's becoming much more difficult for nights like that to happen. Every time I take a break and then come back, I feel so far behind, and doing things that aren't "worth it," that won't make that stupid little number get bigger feel like a waste of time.

I'm not going to sit here and tell anyone that Warframe doesn't have it's share of feeling left behind, the fear of missing out, etc. I'm not anywhere near far enough in to judge how I'd feel about the game if I had as many hours in it as I do Destiny.

I can tell you that so far, nothing feels like a waste of time. I don't feel like I'm being punished for not exploring Cetus, like I do when I miss a few Powerful drops for the week in Destiny. I just play whatever I want and level up. I'm sure that changes in the end game. I'm sure there are plenty of instances of highly specific paths to get the thing you want, but I think that's the difference--it's to get the thing you want, not make the number bigger. I have no problem running raid repeatedly for a shot at Anarchy or One Thousands Voices. I do have a problem being handed homework every week if I want to keep up and be able to play the cool surprise missions like Zero Hour with my friends.

I also think the clan stuff in Warframe does a whole lot more for that game that the basically nonexistent clan stuff in Destiny. Warframe really seems to encourage and reward clan play. The research/resource collection stuff seems awesome, and it's cool to actually see something that rewards the whole clan coming together to make blueprints available for everyone. Destiny's clan features need a complete overhaul in my opinion, and I hope they look to what Warframe does in some ways. A clan area in the Tower much like the Dojo in Warframe would be absolutely incredible.

In any case, as I said last night, I don't think Destiny will every be fundamentally different than it currently is in that regard. But I sure hope there are some people at Bungie playing Warframe and thinking about better character customization. Their touting of the reintroduction of actual RPG mechanics has me interested in Shadowkeep. I hope it's as big a revelation as Forsaken was.