I really love this idea (Destiny)

by slycrel , Wednesday, July 17, 2019, 14:52 (1974 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I don't.

It's hinting at something that could be cool, maybe, with some work.

I don't want to spend any currency that the game is already pretty stingy about handing out to rent a gun. I don't want to rent a gun and then not get rewards because I'm using a rented gun. I don't want to get a cool new weapon along with a bunch of caveats. Sounds needless and silly to me.

Banshee's weapon testing stuff was cool, because it was just a nice diversion to get you to try out new weapon archtypes.

I would, however, like to see more exotic quests give you the weapon early and then make the rest of the quest about upgrading it and unlocking its full potential. The evolution of the Braytech MWP MK II into Polaris Lance, for instance.

Catalysts are sort of that, but that feels a little more rote than I would like.

I think a way can be found to give players temporary/limited access to weapons so they can play the game for fun, rather than playing for progression. Ideally these things will overlap. I think sometimes they don't.

I was very careful to not propose a crippled version of a gun, because we do already have that in some ways, on a per-weapon basis. Nechrochasm was super cool in that regard, and I think that kind of idea led to catalysts and such.

Currency and economy are a careful balance. This is already a dance that's done, this doesn't have to ruin any economy or additional fun, if done intelligently and intentionally.

I've played a lot of destiny and destiny 2. I've hardly ever unlocked guns like nechrochasm to their full potential, usually due to time/resource constraints. I look at all the "grind" quests around PvP and, while I have completed some, and some have given me new ways to play, I find the game un-fun if I follow those hardcore and make that the reason for playing. So I go without, which is totally valid... and yet I wonder sometimes at what I am missing, and why I can't have access to those things over time... especially when I've "fallen behind" my peers. Those progression hooks become things that actively keep me away from the game.

For PvP I also am good enough to run with people who are in the top 25-30% or so of players -- and often don't put in the time to get the rewards that top tier players do. So I find myself up against players that have superior weaponry. This can also be fun, but in a brutal, challenging sort of way.

Other games deal with this directly bu allowing you to play pre-made characters with set inventory or best-of-class weapons. Others have modes where you can use anything and everything in a pseudo-sandbox mode -- but can't use it all outside of specific settings. Or make gear essentially irrelevant, and rely on stats and other boosts to make you more effective.

Lots of solutions to this, but this one struck me as particularly helpful for those who may want to enjoy the game without making it a part-time job. It's been said before, progression keeps people playing more and longer, which is great for the game. But not always good for individual players. I'm not sure this progression vs fun line has to be win-lose, and that's the general thought here -- how can we let people enjoy content without messing up the goals we are giving them for progression?

And this wasn't meant to be a "bungie, please plagarize this and implement it exactly as I've described" sort of suggestion. It was meant to highlight that there are ways of bridging this seemingly polarized issue. It would definitely take fleshing out and careful consideration... but I mentioned it not because I was bored on the internet, but because I hope someone there does take a moment to consider that question. They probably already have, and have hashed over that multiple times. But on the off-chance they haven't, here we are.