I'm not F000CH, but what he said about enjoying being pushed by the challenges connected with me.

I haven't done regular strikes in quite some time. Same with Throne World activities (especially Wellspring - which gives you 10% per, more than most things there). I haven't played much Dares of Eternity. Being asked to go back to those activities to earn the event currency is enough of a prod (for me) to discover that I enjoy that stuff, even if I don't remember to play it all the time.

I NEVER liked the actual event activity - I didn't like it when there were chests to chase, I didn't like it when I could get stuck on the geometry long enough I couldn't get to the disappearing special guy, I didn't like falling when I missed my jumps. I still don't like it - but it goes faster now, so I dislike it less.

I like the armor I've earned, and I like the events I'm asked to participate in to earn it - so I'm glad the Solstice exists... I'm just pretty happy I don't have to waste as much time in the EAZ.

All of what Claude said stands for me as well.

Admittedly, I took three months off from Destiny, and now that I’m playing again, I just remember how much I like the game. And especially how much I like the parts of the game that aren’t “current,” so having an event challenge tell me to do those old things I haven’t done in ages is a fun twist on how Destiny is normally played.

The difference between these challenges and the IB ones is restrictions. The IB challenges dictate how I played. It restricted my subclass choice. For a game about playing how I want and building my own monster killing machine or whatever dumb marketing bullshit they’re using now, they sure are pretty intent on not letting me actually do that. These event challenges just let me play the damn game.

I can’t speak to whatever modifiers from the past you’re taking about. I only ever did the first EAZ event. I’ve skipped the last couple of Solstices. But no, it doesn’t sound like something I’d have like. I hate Mayhem, for instance. Having constant supers is not a fun way to play Destiny to me. That’s why I wish there was a more difficult version of the EAZ. The game is so brain dead easy already, making it even more so with constant supers isn’t fun. If I could flip a switch and turn literally every activity in the game to something equivalent to the Legendary campaign, I would. No question.

I would dearly love a more comprehensive event that truly changes the way I play Destiny, something that twists the whole game in some fun way. However, I’m fine with the current event. I’m not a Triumph chaser, not even a little. I don’t even look at them anymore—I just don’t care. These event challenges aren’t the same thing, though. For one, I need to do them to full upgrade a full set of armor. And, as I said, I liked going and doing Blind Well again. I liked it enough that I kept running it after the challenge was done. I’m looking forward to going and doing Altars of Sorrow for a challenge.

EAZ is neither here nor there for me. I never articulately enjoyed it. Chasing shit down and having to climb and look through the buildings was always tedious and never fun for me. I like that the current iteration doesn’t ask that of me. I can just shoot shit and be done. I’d love if it was more challenging and actually engaging, but I’ll take this over having to run all over the map for no real reason.

Speed once told me my sentiment towards Destiny depended on whether I was actually currently playing it or not. That’s definitely true (though less so than it used to be, I think). It’s easy to peer in from the outside and think “wow, that seems like dogshit, who made that decision?” It’s easy to think that while in the thick of actually playing, too, because seriously, who makes some of the wild decisions over there? But it’s easier to forgive what probably is a mediocre event (or whatever other criticism) when I’m just having fun playing the game.

I wish the entire game was a little less tedious, but after years and years, I’ve finally reached a point where it doesn’t affect me like it used to. I still chase things, but I no longer let the chase be the thing I’m doing. I used to let the stuff I wanted dictate my play time at the cost of fun. Hunting down those stupid things on Mars to finish the Wayfarer title was maybe the least fun thing I’ve ever done in Destiny, but I wanted the title and it was getting retired, so I felt obligated to do it. There’s no way in hell I’d do that today. I truly don’t pay attention to Triumphs anymore. I claim them so the menu quits blinking at me, but if it didn’t, I probably wouldn’t even do that.

I wanted a DFA last week, so I ran a bunch of GM Nightfalls. If I hadn’t been having a bunch of fun running those Nightfalls, I wouldn’t have done that, though. I like the DFA, but I wouldn’t have wanted one bad enough to grind through some shit I didn’t enjoy to get one.

I look at this event the same way. Rerolling armor is cool, and it’s something I hope they continue to explore. I already have tons of great Artifice armor, though, and it’s so easy to get in the new Dungeon, so the current event armor isn’t a draw for me. I certainly don’t think it looks good, so that’s not a seller either. I might upgrade a full set if I do enough of those challenges to get the Kindling. I’m having enough fun that it’s pretty likely, but if I stop having fun, I’ll just stop doing it.

The problem I see lots of folks having with the event is the misguided notion that they have to do it. I see folks complaining about having to do it in every character to get a set. That’s the problem—so many people seemingly feel obligated to do everything, to get everything. The game becomes much more enjoyable if you can shed that mindset. Instead of looking at everything as an obligation, I’ve tried to approach everything as an option. This event is a neat diversion for me, but for others it’s a guaranteed way to get some decent high stat armor. I don’t need that armor at all, so it’s not a driver for me. It’s just another option I can engage with if I want, ignore if I don’t. With the exception of the power grind (which I will always call out as horseshit), the entire game is that for me, and it’s so much better for it.

I've had a little epiphany. The Bonfire Bash? It's just a reskinned Black Armory. Yet, unlike Black Armory, which I was fine with, for some reason with this Bonfire Bash Mode (and I'm not sure why*)...

---
*Right before I posted, after I finished writing all of this, it occurred to me that it may be because there is beyond no challenge what so ever. It's not just easy, it's a conveyor belt of worthless trash adds. And every time you play it, it's the same thing, in the same way, done again the same. It's actually greek hell. What have you done BUNGO! D:
---

BONFIRE BASH MIGHT BE THE MOST REPREHENSIBLY BORING THING I'VE EVER PLAYED IN THE ENTIRETY OF MY DESTINY CAREER! ...it hurts. I feel actual pain in the spirit of me -interacting- with this mode. And to make things EVEN FLIPP'N WORSE, all the Event Bounties are REQUIRED to be done ONLY in Bonfire Bash.

Event Bounties are my Jam, y'all. SO, UH, TO THAT EFFECT...

PAIN. PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!! >_<

BUNGIE WANTS US TO DO THIS SAME-Y SAME SHIT FOR THREE WHOLE WEEKS?!?!!? AAAAAAAAAAAA! THE DESTINY 2 BETA WAS MORE ENGAGING THAN THIS SHIT! Son-of-a-Bitch! THIS EVENT IS SO UNDER-BAKED FOR ME, I FEAR I MIGHT SOMEHOW CONTRACT SALMONELLA THOUGH MY TV SCREEN. Because, EVERY TIME I PLAY IT, I FEEL LIKE IT MIGHT BE ACTUALLY KILLING ME. IT'S! SO! BORrrrrrING!!!

TL;DR:

SEND HELP! D: ;_; ...*cry* *whimper*

*AGGRESSIVE SIGH* ...lol.

...

...man alive...

...

Ok... alright, with the emotive side of me indulged, now maybe I can respond with some cognizance. I'll start this with, Thank You. And Thank You All. And then, perhaps, I can continue with an ever encompassing...

Yeah.

...

What I have to say first is a given, since its Cheap & Wu who made the posts;

• I, in turn, had found mild enjoyment in the former actual event activity, both in the EAZ and outside it.
  
• I enjoyed the on the spot randomized challenge of the chests to hunt down. The randomization of things in the gameplay helped keep things mildly fresh.
  
• I didn't mind getting stuck on the geometry long enough that one is unable get to the disappearing "special guy" (A.K.A Rolling a 1).
  
• ...falling when I missed jumps... wait... hold up...

Come on Wu. Really? That's not Bungies fault. Get good man, jeez alive. When you stub your toe, do ya blame the pavement?! lol

• I greatly enjoy Mayhem.
  
• I enjoy (most) of the Supers.
  
• I'm just going to mention Arcstrider in here, cus' I kinda have to.
  • OMG Bungo please don't screw it up with Arc 3.0.
    • Arcstrider haters gonna hate.

And yet I can find parity with a want in an increase of difficulty for event spaces (Note: More than I apparently realized when I was writing this!), but then again that's because that's true across the board, WITHOUT the context of an event span. Shoot, give us a Legendary Mode Patrol and depending on how its all handled it'll be a safe call that this game would light its self up, no Traveler needed. We got the slightest taste of what that would be like in D1 with Vault of Glass and some early Beta play, and... and I digress.

Indeed, as we all are to my eyes. Likes and Dislikes? Heh, we speak with what we know but, what I have to say and have said is larger than that. I should probably prefix this; I'm not here to dictate anyone on their taste, though I suppose we all sure do tempt sometimes. Y'ALL CRAZY! NO U! :P

I should also say, I am not the fun police. I have neither any want nor inclination toward such silliness. As long as no one gets hurt, shit ain't gettn' damaged, so on so on... then hey. Go and do you. We gonna' do what we gonna' do.

But as I said, all this talk of "I like this" and "you like that" and so on so on is incredibly incidental against why I made the post at all. Yes, I did ask for some of it, and I thank you. I wanted to be sure there wasn't some outlook I missed. Some purview I did not see. Thank you. I did not make this post just because I found this event to be so instantly boring. Such alone is not why I said;

"Bungie you should be ashamed of yourselves. How fucking dare you lower your standards to this."

... which is quite strong. Isn't it?

Why would I say such a thing for something which, is frankly, an excuse to inject both an "Amazon holiday" into Destiny (which is probably Codys fault somehow ;D), and a little more time of "something to do" into the season while things wrap up. To space things out and give a little more time to prepare for the next season. Well, I said such strong words for the same reason in part why I gave Glaives such a poor rate against the Destiny Sandbox, despite their utility.

(Ok, so I'm going to hurt some brains now. Nothing personal.)

It's because, there are those who act as if function alone is more important than the sum of its parts. And regardless from where the source or context comes from, I must refute such a take. It's slow death. The sum is a factor in the effectiveness and ability of the function, but for those whom act in their conclusions with function alone, I've found often it brings to it a sort of... "good enough". Which then, effects the quality and the motivation to keep said quality. Because you can always fall back on "good enough", but "good enough" is never (or is very loosely) defined. And so the quality slips, because as long as the thing does the thing, who cares?

"The Sum" does. And if you screw up "The Sum" enough, things break. And then that is a whole 'nother world of hurt.

(Ok, you can breath now.)

Well, golly gee INSANEdrive. WTF does this have to do with your Original post & (most of) cheapLEY's responses?

Oh, just a question built on top of my observation.

...And that is?...

What is the collective bar for quality? This is why I posted my double take, as well as for reasons already mentioned. I just declared how awful this event is, and in come Cheap saying "I like it". Ie-ie ie-ie ie. So, then what is the collective bar for quality?

For the fandom in whole? Not sure if it's possible to find out beyond gross approximation. I swear the fandom at large change their calls like a Class VI River Rapids. Us here at DBO? Well, I'll broadly peck at y'all at the end. Bungie? Well, I can't speak for Bungie on this either, nor am I going to try to guess. But I can compare what Bungie has published now against what Bungie has published in the past.

We are in the latter half of a FULL GOSH-DARN'd decade of this game being developed. In the last year and a half (so farther than that in reality, it's just what we've seen in such span), Bungie finally seemed to find whatever behind-the-scenes equilibrium was needed to bring forth wave after wave of quality content. Seeing as we all have our calls for what "Quality" might mean, let's presume that it means for most players, that the Destiny Content is enjoyable and engaging. Bonus points if it's something you want to play again.

I think it's safe to say that we've had quite a lot of quality as of late, AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. But, because of that, this quality we've had for a period of time, the result is now the bar has been raised. We have seen a consistency in quality.

Which leads us to, finally, this updated event now simply called "Solstice". What happened of the heroes? Who knows! All the same, these next three weeks are supposed to be an "event". An event is "a noteworthy happening," to quote Webster. It's supposed to be a change of pace to mix up the play.

This is the part where "function" vs "sum of its parts" comes in.

So far, the only thing of note which has been "mixing up the play" after a long season, seems to be a bug (unless proven otherwise) with the Dream Work Origin Trait. Not a feature. The armor thing is cool, but that's the CHASE, not the GAMEPLAY. I hope it's safe to say this in my presumption, but hopefully we can agree, GAME PLAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CHASE! And yes, I suppose the chase could be considered a factor in the gameplay, but it is not the gameplay out right. It's a side hustle. A bonus on top of the play. The dungeon is the play, and the loot is the hustle, yeah?

There is nothing in this event do define it, and certanly not compared to what it was before. It functions like one, it's all kitted up and shiny, with a special limited play space and all that. But in the sum of this event, the play of the event, there is NOTHING which stands out. Halloween didn't have this issue. Dawning neither. They both have the trappings and the play themed off of what those respective events are about. Or at least relatably so. Thus, for this "Soltice" event, the end result is that this whole "event" thing is hardly even above a normal public event in thrill, if even any thrill at all. Far far lower, if you ask me, but I repeat myself. Both inside the "event space" and outside in the rest of the activities have nothing which stands out. (I miss the elemental buffs ;_;).

This "event" went backwards, EVEN IF, there are those of us here tho LIKE IT this way. Those of you who are finding the fun in the challenges which bring you to play past content? I'm happy for y'all, truly. Happy DBO is a good DBO.

But, real talk folks, this is AN EVENT FOR YOU??!

Cuz' folks, if this is what you call an event, it's nothing personal but I do not want to come to your Birthday Party. Flipp'n room temperature water with a side slice of tofu (not the silken kind), while the pruned up exotic dancer sits melting in the chair over in the corner, reading War and Peace. (There's a "your mom" joke in there somewhere. lol XD)

Bro, I'm out. lol.

Just more of the same is not an event. It's more of the same. This EAZ is less event, and more utility (uh oh that word again) for the Open Beta Test of the "Build-able" Armors. It's a gross slog. If they took it out and changed it so that you redeemed "leaves to dust" somehow in any patrol space, there would be little to no change in game play, and in fact it would be an improvement (probably, somehow). You'd get to choose the battlefield to mix up the play on. Still wouldn't be much of an event, but it would be better than what we got.

I think Bungie missed their newly established bar for quality. Bungie can do better. So Bungie... do better!