So let's talk about PoE (the activity, not the livestream) (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, May 06, 2015, 19:54 (3733 days ago)
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Wednesday, May 06, 2015, 20:00

Now that we know a bit more about how this game mode will work, what does everyone think about it?

A few thoughts.

First, stuff I like:

* Moving to different rooms for each round is nice. Great way to mix things up and add a sense of literal progression.

* Mini-objective = Cool!

* Boss Fights mixed in... might be cool. Depends on how tough they are to kill, but interesting idea at the least.

Some potential problems I see:

* Loot only drops at the end. I see this causing LOTS of problems, particularly with matchmade teams. Losing a player 5 minutes into a 10 minute strike is a bummer, but not the end of the world. Losing a teammate 40 minutes in to a 45 minute PoE run is way worse if it prevents you from completing the mission and earning your drops. I think they'd be better off splitting the drops up (after round 2, 4, and 5) with the better drops falling at the end.

* The environments. I can't comment on how these arenas play, but I can say I don't much like the look of any of them aside from the Fallen zone. Not looking forward to spending time in any of them.

* The announcer. That voice got on my nerves INSTANTLY. Not crazy about hearing his stupid "they will try to kill you... kill them back" line between every round. Silly little thing to complain about, but it did get on my nerves.

Overall I think the Prison of Elders will be fun, but not something I will sink crazy amounts of time into (unless the gear turns out to be really great). It's pure Destiny combat, which is fantastic, but it also appears to be just random enough to make it feel the same every time.

I know what you're thinking: "that doesn't make sense", but hear me out.

The thing that makes the Raids (and even the strikes to a lesser degree) so much fun to replay over and over is that they are predictable enough to allow iteration and improvement from the player. The raids don't change, but the players do every single time, as we learn new tricks, new fireteam formations, new strategies and weapon combos. If an encounter is randomized, the players can't learn from their previous attempts in any substantial way. Every single round is just "GAAHHH SHOOT ALL THE THINGS!!!". And that's totally cool for what it is... I just don't see it as the infinite fun generator that others seem to :)