It's an addiction, and it's maintained intentionally. (Destiny)

by car15, Friday, October 30, 2015, 17:44 (3407 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY
edited by car15, Friday, October 30, 2015, 17:52

"I can't see myself getting too deep into Halo 5's multiplayer, because if I'm gonna play an online shooter, it's gonna be the one where I get candy."

That's the saddest thing I've ever read about Destiny.

Shouldn't a game be built around fun? Shouldn't you want to play other games because they look fun too? I will never understand this stupid obsession with "loot". Collecting loot is not fun. It's not. It's a chore, it's boring, and it even feels like working a second job when it's something you require to participate in a certain activity.

For me, it takes away from the pure unadulterated fun of simply playing the game. It's all just cherries on a slot machine. Carrots on the end of a stick. An artificial incentive for you to keep playing and keep diving into the slogging grind.

If that is really the thing that puts Destiny above other games, then you're probably addicted to it. Destiny actually has strong gameplay too, but that's not the point of the game. The point of the game is to get loot. To me, that's hollow, and it's why I don't like Destiny. It was never necessary for Jason Jones to find new ways to keep me coming back. I was already coming back based on the strength of the gameplay.

This goes back to something I mentioned a long time ago (and was roundly criticized for), which is that Destiny is critically, fundamentally flawed. The decision to focus on loot was a mistake that affects everything about the game - how it plays, how it's designed, etc... It makes the game revolve around the meta-game of getting "candy" and pushing your stupid light number up, little by little, painfully slowly, rather than the actual fucking gameplay. It's such a shame because Destiny's gameplay is actually fun, but it's hard to enjoy on its own because it's tied down to such a huge boner-killer.

I'm getting really cynical about Bungie now. IMO, they know exactly what they're doing. They know most people don't see this at first. I sure didn't. I remember raving about the progression system in my review of the beta because it felt like I was being rewarded for my time with the game, but that was before I had a chance to appreciate how random the loot system is and how central grinding is to this game. Before you know it, they've got you hooked and they've gotta keep you hooked. It's a slot machine. It's crack cocaine. I'm so glad I bailed out before it got me too, because I'm no better than anyone else and would have gotten hooked too.

WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

Seriously, though, I know there are people who enjoy Destiny for what it is, and that's fine, but it's really sad to me to read about people who won't even give other games a chance because they're addicted to a goddamn virtual casino.