But how many friends? (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, June 22, 2015, 15:02 (3681 days ago) @ Kahzgul

The game lacks solo content and it seems to not be on Bungie's radar at all

I understand this. But at the same time, Bungie has stated over and over again, that they made this game to play with friends. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have more solo content, but I also understand that Bungie would have to put resources into that instead of a really awesome raid or multiplayer maps.

It's a trade off and Bungie at least has a clear goal in mind.

They made a game to play with 5 friends, and then HoW turned it into a game with 2 friends. The result is that the first 3 members of my core group of gaming friends log on and form a fireteam. Then someone else logs on, sees the fireteam is full, and logs off. Repeat 2 more times. Since I don't get finished putting my kid to bed until 8 pm at the earliest, I'm now stuck on the outside every night, which means solo play. And the game I used to play with my friends is now a game where I listen to my friends play in chat while I sit on the sidelines, and that sucks. It really, really sucks.

Does it really, really suck when your friends don't magically show up at the same restaurant you decided to go at the last minute? And hey, if you have or had five friends who were consistently there whenever you logged on ready to raid, you're ahead of me and most other people. I'm a bit incredulous that you're stuck on the outside EVERY night or that finding two people to play with is harder than five, but okay.

I think a lot of people struggle with the idea that a gaming session is something worth planning and scheduling, like it is going to a show or any number of other enjoyable social activities. I've said before that some of non-DBO friends don't seem to get it, responding to attempts to plan things with "Yeah, I might be on then." I understand adult responsibilities, but for activities that require a certain headcount, that means you don't usually get to do that activity unless you can commit to the thing ahead of time. Expecting it to work out any other way strikes me as almost childishly naive.

As for myself, I don't assume I'm going to be able to do anything in Destiny that requires other players unless I've planned it ahead (usually using the Fireteam builder) and even then, it's not a sure thing. My alternative strategy for three-man activities is to send messages to people not in a raid (or arena) 10 to 15 minutes before I'm ready to start. For strikes that can work, but common sense dictates it wouldn't be as effective for more time-intensive activities.

Kermit