Pay to not Play (Gaming)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, February 25, 2014, 14:08 (3924 days ago) @ Cody Miller

If the only possible reason to want to be level 90 were to skip the previous parts of the game, I'd agree. I'm going along with the assumption here that by doing so, you are skipping actual content (maps, enemies, etc.), rather than a Borderlands scenario where even at max level you could still play the campaign start to finish. Having never played WoW, I don't know whether that's actually the case.

One legit reason I can think of to allow this is if someone is new to the game, but has friends who are not. If it's anything like Borderlands in the way it scales between player levels, being in a group of characters who are maxed out (and presumably, enemies who also are) when you're not isn't fun. The gulf between your numbers (hit points, damage output, and so on) and theirs is so massive that you have almost no ability to affect the outcome. In that scenario, I think it would be preferable to be able to just jump to your friends' level. I do agree that skipping all the content in between (again, assuming that's how it works) could be a bummer, unless that content sucks. Still, I can understand not wanting to have to grind 90 levels just to finally be able to play with your friends, all the while knowing they're having experiences you can't join in on. BTW, I used the word "grind" not to imply that that's ALL the level 1-89 content is good for, but rather to convey the irritation and boredom that can result from playing ONLY with the goal of leveling up - I think playing that way can feel like a grind, even with quality content. Just having that mindset that you're not really doing well until you hit the goal level can ruin the experience all on its own.

I can't recall exactly which interview it was, but I remember reading something that indicated to me that Destiny wouldn't have the massive gaps in hitpoints and damage output between player levels that happen in Borderlands (and, I'm assuming, WoW). It seemed to me that the differences between new and old characters will be more in acquired gear and maybe skills/special abilities. My hope is that this type of system will be more forgiving of differences and actually let new and old characters feasibly play together. If I'm correct, there'd be less incentive for players to WANT to pay to not play in the first place, and as a result less incentive for Bungie/Activision to cave to that demand. Not that they would anyway (I hope). But like you said, it's hard to know these things until the beta is in hand. Granted, things can still change after a beta, but surely these things will be much more clear at beta stage than they are now.

Edit: I forgot to add that while charging to level to 90 can be seen as a money grab, and probably is, at least partially, it also serves to keep everyone from just starting at 90 without considering whether they really need to.