Are Destiny's "lows" what make it so great? (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Saturday, November 07, 2015, 19:59 (3399 days ago)

Something has been brewing in my brain for a couple of weeks now. We talked a bunch about Halo 5 when it launched, as well as an article from Polygon called "I haven't touched Halo 5 and Destiny is to blame". I found myself relating to many of the thoughts expressed in the article; I played and loved Halo 5, but very quickly tired of it and went straight back to Destiny. There are some obvious things about Destiny that I prefer; the controls are slightly tighter, the movement and weapon handling feels a little better, I think it looks a bit nicer... but there's more to it than just that. As much as I love it, Halo 5 feels somehow "superficial" to me compared to Destiny.

A few days after all of our Halo 5 talk, I was listening to an episode of the Planet Destiny podcast with Luke Smith. Something Luke said jumped out at me. He was talking about the idea of "failure" in Destiny, and why it is so important. I don't have any direct quotes in front of me, but he mentioned a few examples (including not getting the raid drops you were hoping for or failing to complete the Black Spindle mission after hours of trying). The point he seemed to be making is that failure in Destiny and the mix of emotions that come with it is every bit as important as success. Speaking specifically about the Black Spindle, Luke said something along the lines of "there are people who will never get it. They will always look back at their time with Destiny and think 'man, I wish I'd been able to finish that mission and get that gun'. And that's as much a part of the game as anything else." This struck a chord with me, and I've spent the past few days trying to unravel exactly what I think about it.

Last night, it hit me. Cody, Thee Chaos and I had a rough time in Trials of Osiris. After struggling for a little over an hour, we finally hit our groove and went 8-0 with our Mercy buff still intact, only to lose our final 2 matches in a pair of heartbreaking 5-4 defeats. I'm sure anyone who has played Trials has been there; that feeling of deflation that comes from losing after getting so close to your goal. Yet when I woke up this morning, my first Destiny-related thought was "I can't wait to get back into Trials and kick some ass".

Cut back to Halo 5. After completing the campaign on Heroic, I went back and started a playthrough on Legendary. I got as far as the first battle against the Warden. After banging my head against that encounter for an hour or so, I put the game down and haven't gone back. That was 10 days ago, and I've had absolutely no interest or desire to pick it back up and try again.

Why? Why does failure in Destiny spur me to come back and try again, while failure in Halo 5 leaves me feeling completely disinterested?

At first, I thought it might have something to do with loot. Going to the Lighthouse in Destiny gives me actual in-game rewards. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't actually care about any of the new Trials gear. There's nothing I want. Yet I really want to go back to the lighthouse.

Then it hit me. The difference is Chaos and Cody. We experienced a moment of defeat together. We've spent months playing this game with each other, so when we go into Trials as a team we carry all of that weight with us. Of course, you can play Halo 5 with friends, too. You can play multiplayer with the same people for months at a time, experiencing exciting victories and painful defeat. But in a way, a game like Halo will always be static. Each match takes place in its own little bubble, with little affect on the one before or the one after. This is where Destiny's loot, or more specifically Destiny's persistent world, does matter. We each have a personal history within the world of Destiny. Different things we have worked towards over time, different goals we have succeeded or failed to achieve. Last night was not the first time we have failed to get to the Lighthouse together, but it was not the same as our other defeats. Because in many ways, Destiny is not the same game for me this week as it was last week or last month or last year. So a moment of heartbreak in Destiny becomes yet another part of my history with the game, while a similar situation in Halo 5 makes me think "this isn't really fun I think I'll stop playing".

Does this make any sense? What do you all think about this?