The real problem is fantasy. (Destiny)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Wednesday, June 10, 2015, 23:00 (3452 days ago) @ Cody Miller

The real problem with the new content has to do with mastery.

It's very satisfying to take a problem or task, figure it out, get better at it, and end up having mastered it. Starting from something seemingly impossible, and ending up accomplished is a great feeling. Previous challenges had a lot of that. I don't think the major barrier to the Vault of Glass was ever you gear or level. Provided you were at level, you could do the raid if you prepared and knew your shit. The hard part was the strategy, and the fun part was coming up with something that would allow you to win. You could get better at the Vault without ever gaining a level or getting a new weapon.

Part of why I think people started to complain about the Crota hard mode raid is that having a level disadvantage is something that can't be overcome through pure mastery. No matter how much you practice, or strategize, that penalty to damage dealt and increase to damage received never goes away. You pretty much needed to get good gear to do it on hard. Mastery is not what you have, it's what you know.

Prison of Elders I feel has no room for mastery. Especially with the mine rounds, there is no structure or order to the fights; it's all just random. It comes down to running at the mines, and hoping you don't get shot, since they appear so quickly you can't possibly take out all the enemies before you have to start with them. Plus, their locations are not in a set order. How often do you find yourself simply running around, be it to a mine, or to escape the enemy, and just hope you don't get shot? That happens a lot in PoE. Not so much in a raid.

So you have these chaotic fights PLUS a level disadvantage, and I simply don't feel like I can ever truly improve at this without either leveling up, or getting better gear. There is a sense of accomplishment in finishing PoE 35, but not a sense that you feel that you could improve your skills and do it better the next time.

It is amazing how you are continually baffled by Bungie's continued and persistent inclusion of a certain amount of randomness in their game mechanics.

Almost as if their games were not designed to be, first and foremost, tools for measuring how good you are at playing them.

I also seem to recall many posts on this forum stating this exact same thing as a criticism of the raids-- the idea that once mastered they are no longer challenging, therefore not interesting, and no longer worth continued participation. The damage penalty of being underleveled and the randomness of things like mine locations deny mastery and thus maintain some challenge even after you know what you're supposed to do. It means you'll fail sometimes even though you know what's going on and execute as well as it is possible to execute.

It never fails to amaze me how deeply ingrained the power fantasy is; gamers complain bitterly at any element that undermines it even in the slightest-- anything that suggests that the entirety of the gameworld cannot be dominated by a player with sufficient skill.