Tomorrow (2.13.23) 5,300 Words: Lightfall and the Year Ahead (Destiny)
by cheapLEY , Sunday, February 12, 2023, 10:36 (662 days ago)
— Joe Blackburn (@joegoroth) February 12, 2023
For those too lazy to click through. It's a picture tweeted by Joe Blackburn with a post it on a wall. It says:
Tomorrow (2/13)
5300 words
Lightfall and the year ahead
I'll post the actual thing when it's posted tomorrow.
*Cracks Knuckles*
by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Sunday, February 12, 2023, 19:25 (662 days ago) @ cheapLEY
- No text -
lol
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Monday, February 13, 2023, 02:53 (662 days ago) @ INSANEdrive
- No text -
Enjoy
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, February 13, 2023, 09:48 (662 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Today (2.13.23) 5,300 Words: Lightfall and the Year Ahead
by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, February 13, 2023, 11:30 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/article/lightfall-year-ahead
And here are some of the things which jumped out for me. This is not a summary.
----
So, with the issues laid out in front of us, we created four big goals for Destiny 2 leading up to >The Final Shape:
- Expand players’ imaginations
- Bring challenge back to Destiny
- Enrich our content
- Connect our Guardians
These points are the core ideas of the Devs as we go about the year.
In short, to spend more time playing and less time trying to understand what they are supposed to do.
Sounds good, but this context is about gameplay, not inventory so... anyway...
To create independent chases for both crafted and non-crafted weapons starting with Lightfall, fewer of our total weapons will be craftable and more of our weapons with long term sources will get value from random perk rolls.
NO! NO NO NO!
Weapon Crafting is, whole cloth and with out question, one of the BIGGEST & BEST gameplay choices ever put into this game. I'm not going to spend time right now to write out fully why. I get y'all are having to parse out demands from the idiots like me who want to play not grind, and idiots who like the glittering bullshittery that is the RNG Slot Machine — but, not to discount what is also mentioned but not quoted here (such has a plan to "enhance" certain RNG rolls), this is not the way.
Weapon Crafting has, single-handedly, allowed my Vault to still exist and myself to still play - because now if I need a gun with a set of perks for a Build (which is where some of the fun still lives for me) it doesn't necessarily NEED to be in my vault, simply be available for my access. That's IT! That's what this is ultimately all about... access. And while it's not as easy as simply pulling a weapon out of my Vault, I feel the tradeoff is a fair compromise.
From words alone, I do NOT like this change. I do NOT like that fewer of our total weapons will be craftable, and please note this as my protest.
We’ve also noticed that enemy combatants just aren’t hitting as hard as we want them to, especially against max resilience Guardians, so we’re adjusting the amount of damage resistance granted by resilience and increasing the energy cost of resilience mods from 1 to 2 for minor mods and 3 to 4 for major mods.
Well, welcome to my world Titans. (I'm a Warlock Main.)
But I promised a two-sided approach to challenge, so let’s talk about how things will be shaking up with enemy difficulty. Recently, we’ve been happy with the level of challenge present in the base Heist Battlegrounds playlist. To achieve this, we used a difficulty knob that enforces just how over-leveled we will let players be compared to the enemies they are fighting. This knob has always been present across our activities, and it’s adjusted based on how evergreen we want the challenge to be in those missions.
We were pretty aggressive with this adjustment in Season of the Seraph and it produced great results, so the base Battlegrounds playlist in Season of Defiance will use the same settings. Carrying this approach over, we are also going to be adjusting this same difficulty tweak on the Vanguard Ops playlist. We aren’t going to set this playlist knob to a level quite as intense as the Battlegrounds playlist, but we do want to use this setting to make Vanguard Ops a lot more engaging to the average Guardian starting in Lightfall. This approach to Power and difficulty is also going to be present when players are roaming around Neomuna, and while we don’t want the entire game to feel like it's turned up to 11, we think these changes will help the enemy forces patrolling Neomuna feel dangerous and worth your attention.
!... so... D1 Beta Skill bad guys? Am I reading this right? Will Patrol have parts of the map that are a "hard mode"?
You may have noticed that we have been experimenting a lot with our Power settings over the last few seasons, and we are planning on taking on even more experiments this year. We think that there are some major issues with Power in Destiny 2 and how it prevents players from seeing some of our best content, so we’d like to make a big change to the system in The Final Shape. However, to understand more about how our changes could be improved, we want to keep tweaking our Power settings over the year of Lightfall.
Some of these tweaks might be found in our back end with little transparency to the average Guardian, while others will be front and center. For example, when Lightfall launches, we will have a Power climb that is very similar to that in The Witch Queen, but later in Season of the Deep, we don’t plan to raise the Power or pinnacle cap at all.
IN-nnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. I think... I mean we still have a light system, but if there is no movement of a cap, than it's like its not there yea? I dig it. It'll do for now.
As we get further away from Lightfall in our seasonal schedule, we are going to make some targeted changes to ritual content based on what we’ve observed about why players engage in this content. While we don’t expect these changes to make it in for Season of Defiance, over time we want to start pushing both more rewards to ritual content and more options to engage with our ritual content. This will include changes such as moving the initial source of obtaining Exotic armor away from Lost Sectors and back into the core rituals, no longer asking players to earn all three of the ritual pursuit ornaments in seasonal challenges, and allowing players to earn more new rewards and complete more of their weekly challenges by playing content of their choice, not just in the newest seasonal activity playlist.
:(
Man. So then... what's the point to Lost Sectors then? It was a GOOD change, and fun. And it's so rare to have a proper LONE WOLF Challenge that actually had an objective at the end of it worth going for. Worse part about it was the RNG, but this doesn't address that so... ugh. Mannn. :/
Connect Our Guardians
A lot of what we have planned for this year is right around the corner, including big features like Commendations and Guardian Ranks with the launch of Lightfall. The Commendations system is the first step in creating stronger connections between Guardians this year.
It can be hard to reach out to someone you don’t know. Commendations are an icebreaker – a simple way of saying thanks to players that you appreciated playing with. Over time, players will accumulate a ton of different commendations that help build a story for how others in Destiny 2 perceive you.
Certain commendations like “Pacesetter” and “Saint’s Favorite” are only available to be given in Trials of Osiris, while others like “Perceptive” and “Knowledgeable” are given out in raid and dungeon content. Eventually, the commendations you earn will become a history for where you’ve been and what you’ve done.
With the Commendations system, those at the highest levels of Guardian Ranks will have proven to be folks that are consistently appreciated by others in the community. Sometimes it will be because they are the kinds of people willing to do the heavy lifting when organizing a large group of players. Sometimes it will be because, even if they aren’t the kinds of people comfortable speaking up, they are always doing what needs to be done to help the group overcome the obstacle in front of them.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been playing a bunch of Heist Battlegrounds, and every so often I’ll get matched with a pair of folks that I have a lot of synergy with, and we will end up absolutely crushing the Hive infestation. This joy has come with this tiny sense of regret that I’m not living just a few weeks in the future and able to pass along a couple of commendations to show my thanks. I can’t wait for Lightfall to be in everyone’s hands so we can all have the opportunity to show gratitude to our fellow Guardians.
I really feel this last paragraph. It's a shame this didn't come about sooner, as I was helping so many folks... but now? My schedule is totally different and now I'm just another blueberry. Eh. Ah well.
...and then there is some chatter about, well, In-Game Chatter... but I need to just post what I have here and go about life stuff so, here's what I've got for now! :D
Today (2.13.23) 5,300 Words: Lightfall and the Year Ahead
by cheapLEY , Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:32 (661 days ago) @ INSANEdrive
NO! NO NO NO!
Weapon Crafting is, whole cloth and with out question, one of the BIGGEST & BEST gameplay choices ever put into this game. I'm not going to spend time right now to write out fully why. I get y'all are having to parse out demands from the idiots like me who want to play not grind, and idiots who like the glittering bullshittery that is the RNG Slot Machine — but, not to discount what is also mentioned but not quoted here (such has a plan to "enhance" certain RNG rolls), this is not the way.
This is a tough one. I really enjoy weapon crafting for allowing me to just make the gun I want instead of relying on RNG. However, it does feel a little bad. I have obtained a few nearly perfect guns, but they still feel completely useless, because I know within a week or two I'll have the pattern and and will be able to craft the exact same gun with better versions of the perks and maybe fix a masterwork stat. It's not exciting to get a good gun if there's a pattern available.
We’ve also noticed that enemy combatants just aren’t hitting as hard as we want them to, especially against max resilience Guardians, so we’re adjusting the amount of damage resistance granted by resilience and increasing the energy cost of resilience mods from 1 to 2 for minor mods and 3 to 4 for major mods.
!... so... D1 Beta Skill bad guys? Am I reading this right? Will Patrol have parts of the map that are a "hard mode"?
This is the best change. Bringing Vanguard Ops and Patrol close the Battleground Heists as a baseline difficulty is exactly what this game needs. Both activities are fun on paper, but have become so brain dead that all sense of enjoyment has been long gone for me. Making that content actually engaging is what I've been asking for for a long time now. I still wish they'd go further with Patrols (I still want a Division 2 style modifiers and dynamic difficulty, but that is asking a lot, I know).
IN-nnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. I think... I mean we still have a light system, but if there is no movement of a cap, than it's like its not there yea? I dig it. It'll do for now.
Yeah, we're of the same mind here. Sounds like they might actually be working towards eliminating power level, but, if not, I can handle one power climb every year with the big expansion and then not having to think about it for the rest of the year.
Man. So then... what's the point to Lost Sectors then? It was a GOOD change, and fun. And it's so rare to have a proper LONE WOLF Challenge that actually had an objective at the end of it worth going for. Worse part about it was the RNG, but this doesn't address that so... ugh. Mannn. :/
I'm with you here, too. The Lost Sector method of getting new exotics was great. The drop rate simply isn't good enough for chasing better rolls on already owned exotics. I played for hours trying to get a better Starfire Protocol and didn't get a single one. I then got three the next evening doing a GM Nightfall. I hope they're working on Lost Sectors as a method for actually targeting better stat rolls in some way, otherwise I'll just never do another one again.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been playing a bunch of Heist Battlegrounds, and every so often I’ll get matched with a pair of folks that I have a lot of synergy with, and we will end up absolutely crushing the Hive infestation. This joy has come with this tiny sense of regret that I’m not living just a few weeks in the future and able to pass along a couple of commendations to show my thanks. I can’t wait for Lightfall to be in everyone’s hands so we can all have the opportunity to show gratitude to our fellow Guardians.
I really feel this last paragraph. It's a shame this didn't come about sooner, as I was helping so many folks... but now? My schedule is totally different and now I'm just another blueberry. Eh. Ah well.
Heh, I've never had that experience, I and I was doing a lot of those earlier in the season. If anything, it made me rethink how viable increasing the base difficulty of Destiny is. It's not like Heist Battlegrounds were all that difficult, and I still feel like most of the time my random teammates spent more time either dead or just contributing nothing than anything else. I spent a lot of time feeling like I was doing all the work instead of working with competent teammates.
Also, man, that Mars Heist as a GM Nightfall is gonna be something.
Today (2.13.23) 5,300 Words: Lightfall and the Year Ahead
by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, February 13, 2023, 15:16 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
NO! NO NO NO!
Weapon Crafting is, whole cloth and with out question, one of the BIGGEST & BEST gameplay choices ever put into this game. I'm not going to spend time right now to write out fully why. I get y'all are having to parse out demands from the idiots like me who want to play not grind, and idiots who like the glittering bullshittery that is the RNG Slot Machine — but, not to discount what is also mentioned but not quoted here (such has a plan to "enhance" certain RNG rolls), this is not the way.
This is a tough one. I really enjoy weapon crafting for allowing me to just make the gun I want instead of relying on RNG. However, it does feel a little bad. I have obtained a few nearly perfect guns, but they still feel completely useless, because I know within a week or two I'll have the pattern and and will be able to craft the exact same gun with better versions of the perks and maybe fix a masterwork stat. It's not exciting to get a good gun if there's a pattern available.
Perhaps this is expected, but I disagree. Nothing could be more exciting than getting a cool roll, and saying "I don't need this" and getting rid of it. I can do this because I'm not going to lose ANYTHING in my gameplay by doing so. If that weapon is craftable, and I have the pattern, it's in lock. I don't have to think about it, I have it, and I can pull it from my this "craftable" collections whenever I want. OH YES! YES! YES! I'll have what collections once had, and that's AWESOME.
By the way you know what I use those RNG craftable weapons for, should they be interesting enough? A preview.
How many times have you seen a roll that looked really cool, but once you had it in your hands - na, not for me. Or the synergy just didn't work right or... whatever it may be. It would have been really nice if you could try before you buy right? Put all that "effort" into the grind or whatever it may be, and find it just doesn't work out. Well, with the RNG craftable weapons drops, now I can try before I craft! It saves a lot time for me, and it's quite helpful.
Again, I find myself mentioning about time savings so I can go an actually play and stuff. WHAT A CONCEPT!
You gotta remember, this shit ain't Pokémon. We're not (nor do we have the space to) try and "get them all". Ask yourself, what is the point of getting all this "stuff", this "loot"? Why is "everyone" goin' after their a so called "Godroll"? It's FOR THE PLAY that weapon, with it's perks and effectiveness, can provide. But! The thing is that this "META" can change on the whim of an update — SO WHAT'S THE FUCKING POINT! *LOL*... it's, ridiculous. And I've got too much real shit to care about to "grind" like I used to, and you know what - THANK FREEK'n goodness (oddly enough). I am SO over the "chase". Give me Story, give me some cool way to make explosions, give me a way to make the approximate fun I want to play around with on that day, and that's basically it. "How can I blow things up in a cool way today" or "How can I be an effective player for the team" or... whatever else. Not "I have to grind 12 hours for this gun roll", ugh. Wasteful.
I mean, look, I get it. Been playing this game long enough that I totally understand the sweet hit of that surprise, the bump of glee when you appraise a weapons perks and find it interesting. Shit, I've been meaning to post this so why not here? With this last Iron Banner, I got a God Roll Slug Shotty. Look at it. It's a thing of Beauty.
It feels SO good to use. Snappy and responsive to boot, and even has the ability to give me wall hacks and tell me when someone is in range... which, I mean, it doesn't need to since I have ALL the range basically but... yeah. But, it would be better if I could craft it, because then if I needed to, I could change it. Note, the play here isn't in getting the gun, it's PLAYING with it. Anything that helps get to that play with out this outdated bulk that Destiny needed at one point to "fill the gaps" is a win in my book.
Also, man, that Mars Heist as a GM Nightfall is gonna be something.
Bungie: "Ok, you asked for it."
Us: Ok, let's test out that new LFG... awwwww. :( ...:P (Dev time is a magical thing.)
Video recap for the lazy:
by cheapLEY , Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:21 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Video recap for the lazy:
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:22 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
It takes less effort to read 11 pages than to watch 32 minutes of a video. Bonus is that Bungie's post has no sponsored segments and ads!
Video recap for the lazy:
by cheapLEY , Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:34 (661 days ago) @ Cody Miller
It takes YOU less effort. I don't disagree, but lots of folks like watching videos instead of reading. Why does everything have to be a fight?
Video recap for the lazy:
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, February 13, 2023, 14:34 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
It takes YOU less effort. I don't disagree, but lots of folks like watching videos instead of reading. Why does everything have to be a fight?
You're right. Let's have them both co-exist.
TL;DR for those who read the wordy thingys
by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, February 13, 2023, 15:23 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
(I would post it here with credit, but the formatting buttons are still broke and I'm just not up for formatting all of this by hand right now.)
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:38 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
RIP Gambit, too.
It’s somewhat disappointing how half-baked almost every single one of their overhauls are going to be when launched. Sure, they’re assuring us that they’ll improve on them down the road, but man, it’s going to be an awkward year until season 23 rolls around just in time for the Final Shape.
If it weren’t for how awesome next season’s armor looks, this would have been my Cody moment announcing my retirement “Forever”.
I’m just happy I won’t have to stare at another Three Row upgrade path for the foreseeable future.
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by cheapLEY , Monday, February 13, 2023, 12:42 (661 days ago) @ Korny
RIP Gambit, too.
That entire thing not mentioning Gambit even once is low key the best thing about all of it. Fuck Gambit. All my homies hate Gambit.
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by ManKitten, The Stugotz is strong in me., Monday, February 13, 2023, 13:36 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
RIP Gambit, too.
That entire thing not mentioning Gambit even once is low key the best thing about all of it. Fuck Gambit. All my homies hate Gambit.
'Member when Bungie invited all the streamers and such to their office to play "this new gametype" and everyone was like "we can't talk about it yet, but trust us...it will be the only thing you play."
And it was!
And then it wasn't.
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, February 13, 2023, 14:38 (661 days ago) @ ManKitten
'Member when Bungie invited all the streamers and such to their office to play "this new gametype" and everyone was like "we can't talk about it yet, but trust us...it will be the only thing you play."
And it was!
And then it wasn't.
Can you break down why? Gambit seemed pretty cool when I left. I'm just curious what changed.
Nothing!*
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Tuesday, February 14, 2023, 03:54 (661 days ago) @ Cody Miller
They merged Prime and regular and switched up the blockers a few times. Most recently, they changed the pacing a bit. Most egregiously, they removed some maps.
Map diversity makes a lot of difference, but it's still a really fun gametype. I'd say it's in its best state yet, even.
There is pretty much zero incentive to play it, though. And more often than not your blueberry matchmade team is completely clueless about how to play effectively (nevermind efficiently). With Light 3.0 and the inevitable power creep, an organized team can still wipe out the Primeval before the other team banks half of the necessary motes to call theirs. This leads to a very frustrating experience overall.
*the things that did change don't make it bad, but the meta around it has been spiraling off for a long time now
Nothing!*
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, February 14, 2023, 09:06 (661 days ago) @ ZackDark
There is pretty much zero incentive to play it, though. And more often than not your blueberry matchmade team is completely clueless about how to play effectively (nevermind efficiently). With Light 3.0 and the inevitable power creep, an organized team can still wipe out the Primeval before the other team banks half of the necessary motes to call theirs. This leads to a very frustrating experience overall.
Perhaps the Destiny version of the Blue Shell / Lightning Bolt is in order.
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Monday, February 13, 2023, 14:09 (661 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Why does everything have to be a fight?
He says, picking a big one with me!
(It's very sad how hated Gambit is... I absolutely adore it)
tl;dr Sorry, 90% of our hyped features won’t launch with LF.
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, February 13, 2023, 14:37 (661 days ago) @ Korny
If it weren’t for how awesome next season’s armor looks, this would have been my Cody moment announcing my retirement “Forever”.
If I hold out till December I get a 5 year chip!