But how many friends? (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, June 22, 2015, 16:48 (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

Kermit, the restaurant example is insulting and I'm guessing you knew it when you wrote it. Of course you don't go to a restaurant expecting your friends to just be there, even if that restaurant is Cheers and your friend is Norm.

No insult intended. You described a scenario that I thought was analogous, but my point is that yes, maybe a group of friends' habits coincide to make planning social events unnecessary. (Everyone goes to Cheers at 9 p.m. This is also why college can be such a social nirvana--everyone is there by default!) That said, my experience in life is that such regular serendipity is short-lived. Things change. I find your response hyperbolic, but it wouldn't be the first time.

There's nothing last minute about my game time. I'm on by 8:30 pm, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But of the four active players in my old raid group, that's the latest log on time. The other three guys have a party up by 6:00, usually. Now maybe I'm weird in that I really only game with people with whom I'm also friends in real life (or friends of friends), but I like that I actually know all of these guys and we all hang out together on the outside as well. I don't want to play with randoms; I want to play with my friends.

That's very luxurious. At no time in my life have I had five real-life friends I hang out with regularly who I also game with regularly. That must really, really suck for me.

What you want socially is different than what you have. Been there, so I understand. For most of my gaming life I had one other friend who I gamed with with any consistency. I decided to change that a while back. Now it's a rare Raid where I haven't met at least one other person on the team. Not the same as real-life friends who I can hang out with, but I'll take it.

Back in the days of raids as endgame, it was reliable that there would be 6 of us online, so "casually" forming two 3-man groups was no big deal. HoW shook up this dynamic and I've clearly had trouble adjusting from the old methods that the earlier Destiny endgame ingrained into me.

The way it was sounds awesome. Nice work if you can get it. Don't know your gamertag, but if it's Kahzgul, I've never seen you playing with the numerous DBOers on my friends list. Maybe branching out would bring new experiences? Sign up for an event you think you'll be able to join. Most start after 9 EST. You might even make new friends!

Nowadays, I really don't enjoy most of Destiny, so anything that's a solo activity means that I'm logging off to play something else instead. Even PoE I'm not really a fan of. ToO I've been really, really enjoying (and scheduling a team for), but to be maximally competitive at ToO I need to get Etheric Light, which means PoE, which takes so long that my group only gets 1 done per night, and since I'm the last one online I'm the odd man out.

Maybe this is your complaint. I took issue with what I thought was a "no one to play with" complaint. I generally think people making that complaint need to take more responsibility for solving the problem.

I'm not about to start neglecting my kid in order to be online earlier, so HoW has lost its shine for me and the problem is that it lacks compelling single-player or matchmade activities for me. I'm not saying this is THE problem with HoW that everyone should agree with me on, or that this isn't a problem that Destiny always had, but I stand by my statement that a lack of solo endgame is my biggest gripe with HoW.

I want to play with my friends, but I can't most nights, and playing alone just is boring to me.

Your experience being a father is infinitely more worthwhile than playing Destiny, and I'd never suggest otherwise. Destiny is a game geared towards playing with others. If you want to play it with friends, you've got two options a) adjust your schedule (not possible) or b) make new friends (very possible).

If I misunderstood your original complaint, I apologize.