Semi-related (raid matchmaking post) (Destiny)

by kapowaz, Monday, August 04, 2014, 03:22 (3573 days ago) @ Blue_Blazer_NZ

He makes good points, but they're also questions which have inevitably been asked before for other games.

You get matchmade with five other players that also use Arc-weapons? Good luck against this Arc-resistant boss!

Requiring that players carry around a second (presumably inferior) weapon just to ensure they have a damage type that isn't resisted isn't interesting gameplay. I really hope this hypothetical example doesn't come to pass in the released game. I much prefer the idea that bosses require you to change what type of weapon within a class you use, e.g. Auto Rifle vs Scout Rifle. Blizzard used to include so-called 'resistance encounters' in its World of Warcraft raids, but thankfully they made the decision to drop them. Having a mandatory meta-game step of acquiring a whole load of gear just for that fight was a terrible chore that wasn't fun.

And on the technical side of things; how would the checkpoints even work? You get to a certain checkpoint and quit. Two days later, you want to pick up again, but the randoms you worked with earlier have progressed further or aren't online.

Blizzard solved this by breaking the matchmade version of each raid into smaller chunks, each lasting 30-45 minutes. You would then queue for that section of the raid, assuming you had unlocked it by already completing the previous chunk. That's a no brainer to me, plus it's far more time-friendly to those who can't commit to a solid 2 hours of gaming without interruption (how many people can, anyway?) - I've been able to experience the developing storyline of the past two WoW expansions without committing to endgame raiding thanks to this.

These are difficult challenges when designing a game like Destiny, but they're also solved problems if you look at the state of the art elsewhere. Maybe there are some other reasons they felt they couldn't do things this way that will only become apparent once you play a raid, but it seems like that might not happen soon for a lot of players.