Did a JRPG pour sugar in your gas tank? (Destiny)

by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 10:25 (3807 days ago) @ SonofMacPhisto

My first couple times through the campaign were really great, Firefight was a blast, and the multiplayer was even fun for a time. Thing is, I played it WAY past its (personal) expiration date, and that was directly tied to the investment system. I just needed that superficial piece of gear with literally no real impact on anything and sunk WAY too much time doing something I no longer enjoyed to get it.

Same reason I stopped playing, but by that point I felt I'd been through most of what the game had to offer me. I expect the same will be true of Destiny after a certain point, until D2: Destined Harder. I'm hoping, though, that there will be high-level loot that bestows unique benefits rather than just a cool looking trinket for completing a lot of challenges. Surely there's a limit beyond which most 'reasonable' players will take a look at their accomplishments and realize they aren't going to earn any more gear. I remember that for me, there were breathing apparatuses for the Gungnir and Security helmets I really wanted, but they were on the opposite side of a lot of grinding I wasn't willing to do. And while they really completed the look I wanted, it just wasn't worth it.

I guess my point with specific regard to this is that some high level loot should bestow advantages in gameplay, but there comes a point where only completionists are going to worry about the nigh-unreachable loot, after which point it should just be superficial. One can only be angry with oneself at that point for burning out.

The problem I see there, though, is that high-level loot that actually affects gameplay is likely to become a foothold for players at that level to get by. So while some may see it as 'hey, neat. finally got X weapon', that becomes a matter of life and death for the folks who are running raids all the time and really pushing hard to the endgame content.

Plus, the game lacked a depth of heart, so that just compounded it.

Won't argue here. The departure from Nylund's text completely disconnected me from my investment in any Halo storyline since. I wasn't wholly dissatisfied with what we got, by my investment was shot at that point.

When I realized all this, there was great RAGE, and I really haven't gotten over it yet. Part of it was my own immaturity and inabilty to get away from it (which is funny, cause Mass Effect 3 came along, and I enjoyed that WAY more than Reach because the core game was SO FUN in SPITE of the investment system so it was basically a revenge fuck towards Reach). Maybe someday I'll toss Reach back in and give it another go, but I wouldn't hold any breath over it.

Excellent point here. ME3 was (and continues to be) fun, because the core gameplay is so strong. Having a build system to tweak according to your desired play style is what continues to bring me back. Well, that and the collaborative aspects of gameplay. Nothing like power combos to make for a satisfying evening (TWSS). And personally, I never really minded the random loot system. I've never once felt forced to play a class I didn't want to.

~m