I think a curse should rest on me (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Saturday, August 10, 2019, 12:11 (1720 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Saturday, August 10, 2019, 12:15

During the First World War, Winston Churchill said this:

“I think a curse should rest on me because I love this war. I know it’s smashing and shattering the lives of thousands and yet I can’t help it, I enjoy every second of it.”

I'm loving this year's Solstice event, and I can't figure out why. At face value, it looks like everything I've ever disliked about Destiny, rolled into a single event; Juggling a ton of overly grindy and repetitive tasks that fill arbitrary progress bars that all build towards gear that doesn't change our play experience in any meaningful way.

When I first looked at the event, I thought "well that Hunter armor looks pretty darn cool... I'll get that and then stop". Very quickly, I found that I agreed with every single complaint that everyone seems to be leveling at this armor upgrade quest. Its way too many patrols, and public events, and EAZ Miniboss kills... totally unnecessary time sink. And yet... I was having fun. A LOT of fun.

I already spend a lot of time playing Destiny (not "streamer" levels of time, but 2-3 hours per day, most days). Even so, I knew right away that I wouldn't be able to chip away at these objectives casually and get them done before the end of the event. I needed to focus on them, and try to knock them out simultaneously wherever possible. It seems that my desire to complete these objectives as efficiently has I can manage has lead to me playing the game in ways that I don't normally play, which is in turn breathing life into it. Trying to get certain elemental orbs AND solar melee kills AND Gambit match completions all at the same time has forced me out of my comfort zone. I'm using weapons and subclasses that I never use, and its great. The notorious "100 EAZ miniboss" requirement has encouraged me to learn my way around the EAZ in far greater detail than I normally would. I engage with it using the "speedrun" portion of my brain, learning specific routes and jumps that get me from point A to B as quickly as possible. I'm engaging with a dimension of mastery that I probably would have ignored otherwise.

I finished my Hunter set in 3 or 4 days... way faster than I'd expected. I love the way the armor looks, and I realized something else; I felt a tiny little tingle of accomplishment wearing it. Seeing other players wearing full legendary sets also brings out a little moment of recognition. Part of me thinks I shouldn't feel this way, but in a game that so often fails to give players ways to stand out visually to other players (I solo-flawlessed the shattered throne and all I got was this stupid t-shi..., err, triumph), here was something that players can do that makes them look badass and stand out if they're willing to put the time in. And I'm sure that feeling will fade over time, but for now, its pretty cool, I think.

Long story short, I've got my Hunter and Warlock sets fully masterworked, and I should get my Titan's legendary set unlocked tonight or tomorrow (I really want to get all 3 sets masterworked before the end of the event, which means I need to get my Titan up to legendary now-ish so I can do the shattered throne run before reset).

I don't say any of this as an argument against any of the criticisms that anyone is making. I agree with just about all of them. But somehow, despite everything, I'm loving my time completing these stupid requirements, and I'm getting a stronger feeling of accomplishment completing these armor sets than any of the recent raids or exotic quests.