Also, I find it interesting that my character won't display on B.net in IE, but apparently it will in Firefox or Chrome.

Yea... the Grimoire should be in game. Not only is it inconvenient as it is now, but the format is miserably, miserably bad.

I actually love the Grimoire cards and how they are implemented. IMHO, the problem with the Grimoire cards is not with the Grimoire cards, it's with the lack of narrative in the game that make us hunger for the information that is only in the Grimoire cards.

I'm pretty unhappy that the stats visible on some grimoire cards are not viewable on a computer (OSX, Chrome/Safari/Firefox). I CAN see them on a mobile device, however.

It's unclear to me how this passed QA - I have ZERO control over how these are displayed. (They're not affected by window size, or font size, or anything else I can modify on the client side.) They're broken across the board on all mac browsers I've tried. (I havne't tried PC browsers.)

If you're going to put a chunk of the game somewhere other than the game, you should spend extra effort making sure it works.

Yea... the Grimoire should be in game. Not only is it inconvenient as it is now, but the format is miserably, miserably bad.

I actually love the Grimoire cards and how they are implemented. IMHO, the problem with the Grimoire cards is not with the Grimoire cards, it's with the lack of narrative in the game that make us hunger for the information that is only in the Grimoire cards.

That's not that I wouldn't think a library in the tower would be cool, if we had one, but it wouldn't be conducive to playing with friends, and everything in Destiny seemed designed to push you in that direction.

It's a very simple-to-understand dynamic between two different, and arbitrary, styles of game. And it's being obfuscated with wordy analogies.

It's as if you have a physicist trying to explain quantum mechanics to a truck driver. So the physicist comes up with a tenuous analogy using the works of Shakespeare. In order to communicate a concept he knows everything about to someone who knows nothing about it, he ends up using some subject that neither of them know anything about.

I fully expect you to disagree in some nitpick-y way, but here's the easy two:

1. Having to read previous books to read a new book doesn't make sense as you didn't have to play previous games to play Destiny.

You are the one who is nit picking. It is not possible to read parts of the Deathly Hallows book before you are allowed to read it so, of course, I have to give tasks that use the previous books. DUH!

I don't understand. Why is it ok for you to make up a secnario that is completely unlike reality? Nobody was prevented from playing Destiny. Your analogy would work better if you let them buy the book but said they couldn't read the end until they did things.

2. Having to read certain parts over and over doesn't make sense because one could play each Story Mission and Strike exactly once, in their proper order, and still reach the required level to play all of Destiny by earning experience in the Crucible.

You get all the ascendant shards, coins, motes? In what time interval?

It'll take longer, probably. But, a big part of your analogy was about rereading parts and reading parts out of order, which you do not have to do in the Destiny equivalent of Missions and Strikes. That you're falling back to "In what time interval" is very telling. Certainly, your analogy had more problems than leaving me nothing to respond to. :)

Should I change the analogy to say: read all the previous books once then read your favorite book 200 times?

Nah, doesn't quite work. A crucible match isn't long enough to really equal a whole book. Favorite chapter maybe?

The reason people use those "vague, blanket accusations" isn't because they CAN'T name names. It's because it's considered rude to do so.

I suppose I find it rude for someone to be ambiguous. I'd much rather have directness and clarity.

I fully expect you to disagree in some nitpick-y way, but here's the easy two:

1. Having to read previous books to read a new book doesn't make sense as you didn't have to play previous games to play Destiny.

You are the one who is nit picking. It is not possible to read parts of the Deathly Hallows book before you are allowed to read it so, of course, I have to give tasks that use the previous books. DUH!

The point, that you are trying so hard to miss, is that you are given arbitrary tasks that are related to what a HP fan would do anyway but in a fashion that is contrived.

But if you prefer to nit pick instead then go ahead.

2. Having read certain parts over and over doesn't make sense because one could play each Story Mission and Strike exactly once, in their proper order, and still reach the required level to play all of Destiny by earning experience in the Crucible.

You get all the ascendant shards, coins, motes? In what time interval?

Should I change the analogy to say: read all the previous books once then read your favorite book 200 times?

Destiny isn't perfect, but damn, your analogy was terrible. Now you have me a bit angry because we both know what you wrote isn't worth defending, yet you still tried. :/

Well I am dealing with someone who is being deliberately obtuse. No analogy would be acceptable to someone with that frame of mind.

1. Having to read previous books to read a new book doesn't make sense as you didn't have to play previous games to play Destiny.
2. Having read certain parts over and over doesn't make sense because one could play each Story Mission and Strike exactly once, in their proper order, and still reach the required level to play all of Destiny by earning experience in the Crucible.

Destiny isn't perfect, but damn, your analogy was terrible. Now you have me a bit angry because we both know what you wrote isn't worth defending, yet you still tried. :/

• freeze his butt off in a freezer 100 times
  
• shoot 100 sheep, 200 squirrels, and 500 mice
  
• eat 500 steaks of venison
  
• buy and dismantle 20 rifles

all before he would be granted a license to shoot a deer. ;-)

Arbitrary restriction: check
Doing things that a reader of HP books would do but not naturally (pieces of the natural experience but in arbitrary combinations): check

Don't just say it isn't a good fit because you leave nothing to respond to.

No it's not!

Yes it is!

I think the difference in opinion here boils down to people who have no problem with the hunt (i.e. grind) and people who like instant gratification.

So, essentially, they have a character flaw.

I can go and freeze my butt off sitting in a tree stand for hours (the grind) for the chance that a deer comes my way and I get to grill some delicious backstrap (the loot). Alternately, I can drive over to a steakhouse and have a nice steak in 20 minutes. Which is better and more enjoyable? There's some people who would never sit in the stand, and others who enjoy their time there. Would it be nice if that deer showed up as soon as you sat down and stood still right in front of you? Sure, but then you're missing out on the thrill and anticipation. Same thing if you just go get the steak, but for some people the steak is all they want. You seem to be a steak guy. That's cool, but some folks (oddly to your viewpoint) enjoy that time in the stand.

That is a bad analogy because it doesn't reflect what is happening in the game.

An analogy that better fits what's happening in Destiny is...

A big Harry Potter fan is told that Deathly Hallows is out. Goes to the shop and asks for a copy, is told, "Can't have one, got to level up first, read first 6 chapters of each book twenty times and read thirty unique paragraphs where Hermione is upset about Harry or Ron. Also find and read every sentence with the word Slytherin in it twelve times. Anyone who just reads the previous books twenty times is cheating and measures will be put in place to prevent cheating.

Should fan say, "WTF? Can't I just buy and read it?" other fans accuse fan of character flaw.

I think the difference in opinion here boils down to people who have no problem with the hunt (i.e. grind) and people who like instant gratification.

I can go and freeze my butt off sitting in a tree stand for hours (the grind) for the chance that a deer comes my way and I get to grill some delicious backstrap (the loot). Alternately, I can drive over to a steakhouse and have a nice steak in 20 minutes. Which is better and more enjoyable? There's some people who would never sit in the stand, and others who enjoy their time there. Would it be nice if that deer showed up as soon as you sat down and stood still right in front of you? Sure, but then you're missing out on the thrill and anticipation. Same thing if you just go get the steak, but for some people the steak is all they want. You seem to be a steak guy. That's cool, but some folks (oddly to your viewpoint) enjoy that time in the stand.

One problem with this for me: the steak is its own reward. Loot in any game is only useful for playing the game. You a get a better gun in Destiny so that you can shoot enemies more efficiently for the purpose of getting an even better gun for the same purpose. Is there an endpoint?

If you're enjoying the grind itself, then perhaps it's not a grind. But if it is, there is no point in playing. Whereas the hunter freezing his butt off in a tree will have something to show for it when his grind is over.

You forgot the parts in The Library where you fight off waves of enemies while your floating robot ball unlocks the door.

Remember how everyone hated The Library?......

I agree with the earlier post about boiling things down, but seriously, there is a LOT of door defense in Destiny. I don't really understand why, most of it is not very relevant. At least in Reach, they were pushing Firefight, so it made more sense to throw it into the story.

And that's the major sin of player investment systems. People like being rewarded. It is scientifically based methods on how to make people 'addicted' to things.

What gamers instead take this manipulation as is having 'fun'. They don't realize that what they're having fun doing is 'getting things handed to them', and that ends up being the main motivator to play more, because they want to get more rewards. If you stripped Destiny of all player rewards, no one would play anything. The game is too bare otherwise to be enjoyable.

And that's why I stopped playing a few weeks ago. An awareness of whether I'm playing the game because it's enjoyable, or because I'm simply being drawn in by progression and rewards systems. I must've played Assault On the Control Room hundreds of times, and Halo never needed to reward me to make me want to. In fact, if it had tried to keep me playing after I no longer enjoyed it, I may have come to dislike the game. Years ago, I sunk more hours into Unreal Tournament than a decent human ever should. There was no loot, no achievements, and no locked content. It was just fun.

I might play Destiny again if the urge strikes me, but not for gear. That high level weapon looks cool, and might be fun to play with, but there are also 20 other games in my library that will be fun right now, and not in a week or two. I'd rather focus on those.

The reason people use those "vague, blanket accusations" isn't because they CAN'T name names. It's because it's considered rude to do so. I, for one, can think of two very specific people off the top of my head who, whenever they see Cody has posted something, seem to immediately try to post something countering it without actually processing what he's saying at all.

TBH, while I do think Cody's sometimes (often, even) too unequivocal with his phrasing, I actually am much more annoyed lately by the knee-jerk reactions to his posts, most of which basically equate to "you have a different opinion than me, so please stop saying your opinion." I think if one were to read Cody's posts carefully, they'd notice that while he's often very set on his opinion and argues for it as far and as long as possible, he rarely if ever suggests that his opponent should just shut up.

Another point is that even though he may be riding the same hobby horse, he's an interesting and articulate writer, who can dress it up and make it seem as if today he is riding a camel. I'm more bothered by boring rote repetition. Add in some boorishness, and I'm really annoyed.

TBH, while I do think Cody's sometimes (often, even) too unequivocal with his phrasing, I actually am much more annoyed lately by the knee-jerk reactions to his posts, most of which basically equate to "you have a different opinion than me, so please stop saying your opinion." I think if one were to read Cody's posts carefully, they'd notice that while he's often very set on his opinion and argues for it as far and as long as possible, he rarely if ever suggests that his opponent should just shut up.

Also, Ico really is as beautiful as everyone says it is.

Minus five points.