Not to be a downer but: Destiny, Fallout 4, and power creep (Destiny)

by red robber , Crawfish Country, Thursday, October 29, 2015, 01:14 (3409 days ago) @ Kahzgul

In just about a week and a half, Fallout 4 will be upon us. I plan on playing until my retinas get screen burn-in. Which means I won't be playing Destiny. Which begs the question: Will I even want to come back after taking time off?

Destiny, now more than ever, seems to be full of very limited time events with very powerful rewards, missing out on which could easily leave you feeling left behind. While I actually think some limited time content is a good thing for MMOs, I'm concerned about the way that this limited time stuff in Destiny seems all geared towards power creep, and the feeling that I may not be able to recover my "edge" in PvP after a 2+ week hiatus.

I've taken time off before, during HoW, but that was totally different... I was burned out on Destiny and not having any fun at all playing it. Now I'm enjoying my playtime, but I'm concerned about the endgame state I'm approaching. The current pattern seems to be unlocking specific items or quests on specific days which any non-daily player will easily miss. Not just one time, but many times, as there's no calendar of unlocked quests or notifications of events outside of the game.

I'm truly concerned that this might lead to mass disenfranchisement of player groups as new games come out. They don't even need to be better games, just games that draw a large audience during the same time that Destiny has an event. That audience misses the event and bam - they feel disenfranchised.

So what can be done? Well, I think Bungie could do a better job of letting us know the calendar for events, especially events which were once, but no longer are, "surprise content" events. Let people know in advance when the next time Black Spindle is available, or the Sleeper Simulant, or No Time to Explain. Don't warn of us new things - let those be fun and surprising discoveries for the community - but please warn us of returning limited time events, just as you warn us of when Iron Banner or Trials are coming.

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In general, I worry about video games which want all of my playtime. I think it's a bad model for that game and for the gaming industry in general. If I spend all of my time playing Destiny, then I'm not buying any other video games, period. That's hundreds of dollars of lost revenue, and I'm just one guy. This is a longer conversation, but I've felt for a long time like video games should be designed with natural rests in their gameflow to encourage players to pick up and try other games. Anyway, just some thoughts.

First off, great commentary on your thoughts and the state of the game. I really understand where you are coming from, how Destiny can be a consuming game, and how having the best stuff can affect your experience.

My personal experience is that no weapon or armor has ever really changed the way I experience Destiny or has felt required to be competitive in either PvE or PvP. Having said that, I'm not in the top 1% of players in skill where these small differences matter most. I would also think that 1%ers play enough to get those items in most cases and play frequently enough to access those activities that lead to those rewards. I'm not everyone, and I can see how a person would feel left out and behind because they didn't stay in the loop.

I don't believe it will be detrimental to the Destiny player base in the long run though. The same things that may run someone away, may also bring others in or cause some to play more. This weeks Festival of the Lost is a great example. Its really just for fun while being time limited. Folks who were going to abandon Destiny for Halo were probably brought back in at least for a bit to check out the cool experience. I personally have enjoyed this as much as anything in Destiny so far. The ambiance in the Tower is amazing right now. The candles, the howling and screaming. The silly masks and candy. How better to relax a player base who's getting stressed about Hard Mode Raids and upcoming Trials than with some goofy masks and silly quests.

To boil it down, power creep will really only affect the most Hardcore of players IMO. Hardcore casuals like me, nah.