Too long; do not read (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Thursday, July 30, 2015, 15:27 (3403 days ago) @ Miguel Chavez

Seems like people are still complaining about Mig's "attack" on Cruel, without trying to engage with him. I think we’re taking everything personally, especially those who know and have played with Cruel. That’s natural. In the same way, Mig’s not just a name on a screen for me, either.

My thoughts: Mig said 90% of his OP was directed at Cody, and he took the opportunity to tease others. Mig likes to tease. It's part of his humor, but I get it that many of you don't know that. I think this last post of his apologizes enough.

About Cody--he had interesting arguments that compelled me to think about why I disagreed with him most of time. I guess I'll miss that, but overall I'm glad he's gone. I take Claude's word that he's a great guy in person, and every interaction I had with him in-game was positive. I really enjoyed playing the game with Cody and talking with him over a headset, but the Internet Cody Miller often was a giant douche, and I know some of you jumping on Mig right now absolutely agree with that.

Cody and his brand of cynicism is the virus Mig speaks of, I think. We’ve all been infected. Yes, Mig shat on Cody’s goodbye post, but Cody’s goodbye post was all self-aggrandizement and shitting on all of us rubes who stay because we fall for Bungie’s “tricks.”

I understand what Mig’s saying. Here's how it manifests for me: I don't feel like I can let my bungie freak flag fly anymore. I feel shy about it. I feel I must include disclaimers, acknowledge sins, and make sure people understand that I did not just fall off the turnip truck as a gamer. I blame Cody in this local context, but he’s certainly part of a larger problem.

I love this place and 99% of the people here. I’m confident that it’s the best community I’ll find, but often I feel like I’m back in grad school where I realized I wasn't allowed to love literature or admire writers any more. I had to give deference to the political meaning of it all, the power structures in play, and all the “isms.” (An aside: that Journey podcast posted the other day was great except for that idiot who kept saying it was about white people and brown [sic] people.) A cigar couldn’t be appreciated as a cigar anymore (Levi, I totally got the penis vs. sword ref). If I began a sentence with “The genius of Dickens …” I was looked at askance.

In Bungie fandom these days the liturgy is Dinklage sucks, the progression system sucks, the story sucks, exclusives suck, Grimoire should be in the game, Activision is evil, Bungie isn’t Bungie anymore, we deserve a game that does such-and-such, and on and on. You have to dig through all of this to find any joy and wonder at what Bungie has created. If Randall Glass made the Warthog Jump video today, someone would point out how lame it is that all the ragdoll animations are the same, and someone else would say we should just be able to drop grenades and it shouldn’t require so much work.

A long-time buddy of mine in his 40s very recently started playing Destiny. He’s digging it, but he says it’s been weird playing with his work buddies who are jaded and cynical. I witnessed this, too. I bought some green stuff to delevel and was playing through the Black Garden with him (his first time) and a 20-something co-worker of his joined as a 34, killed most the things, sounded bored as hell while doing it, and then, before the final cutscene loaded, sarcastically said, “Prepare yourself to watch the greatest ending to a video game ever.” When the cutscene started he began talking over it, describing what he planned to play next. I shut him down, but the whole thing felt emblematic. The message was that there’s nothing interesting in the game except where’s my next loot drop is coming from. Being an enthusiastic fan is gauche.

At DBO, the best of places, you see the virus at work in the best of us. (And Cruel, I think Mig has made clear that he considers you one of the best). A thread cataloging “wow” moments in Destiny begins with a hat tip to the liturgy (Destiny is no Halo), and then those of us who were wowed many times during the game begin to doubt ourselves. We apologize, we feel obligated to include caveats.

I love Bungie. They’ve earned it from me. I don’t love another game studio the same way. I like 343 a lot, and I don’t keep posting on HBO saying the next Halo might be great, but let me remind you yet again that this is the studio that made the (all together now) disappointing Halo 4 with awkward terminals and weapons that instantly despawn.

Destiny is an amazing game and as time goes on some of its flaws have ceased to matter to me. Other so-called flaws now seem like strengths. I missed the upfront storytelling, and maybe some of the gossip about its troubled development is true, but now I’m thinking they have a plan for the story and we could look back in ten years and be stunned by what they pulled off. The art on the frontpage right now--I’m struck by the fact that Destiny is one of the only games where the game itself exceeds the vision put forth by the concept art. I could go on.

I had an epiphany a little while ago where I realized I really love this game, and because the virus is so strong, I started wondering if there was something wrong with me. Maybe there’s nothing wrong. Bungie kept their promises in all important respects. It is a place I like going to. It does provide an activity for every mood. I do enjoy playing with friends. I may not always play it as much as I do right now, but I’ll look forward to coming back. I’m a fanboy. Call me that, I don’t care. I thought Bungie.Org existed for people like me.

I mentioned age several times, and I want you to know that some of you younger folks are my favorite people to play with, but it does strike me as funny sometimes that I’m not the cynical old codger. I like the dream forum that Mig describes, and don’t get why that isn’t appealing, but I like the forum as is (at least better than any other). So many great people here. Look forward to growing even older with you.

Speaking of age, I need to make another post.