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[PA Comic] Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - Negative Valor
Dog
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
[PA Comic] Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - Negative Valor
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On one hand, from a gameplay perspective, it was beautifully polished. The guns felt good, the combat was good, the RPG leveling system worked well (for the most part), the environments and art and music were all done well.
But everything was so empty, and there was virtually zero story outside of the Grimoire cards (which I made a point of going through). And what story did exist, as parodied by an earlier PA strip, looked like it was made up by an "edgy" middle schooler.
I played it until I finished each of the missions at least once, did a couple strikes, and never touched it again. There was just nothing left to keep my interest after that.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
Shit, I remember pixies wrecking my face once the Wall of Flesh was defeated.
The strip illustrates a problem with some players, but not really of the game progression possibilities. There is a clear path to level 31 without raiding (vendor gear bought with marks), but some people don't follow that and try the harder endgame content too early. Unless they find higher level players willing to sherpa them through, they get continually wrecked.
Or you end up getting carried...
... which is the worst. This comic illustrates that very very well and it's a feeling I've had. "I'm incapable of offering anything, here. I'm only able to do nothing and receive my free gifts or fuck up and still get gear but feel shitty about it. Either way I feel like someone's time is being wasted..."
No one likes to be the "little brother that the teenagers had to take to the arcade because mom said".
Like to raid, there's normal mode Vault of Glass and Crota.
Like to PvE, there's Vanguard marks.
Like to PvP, there's Crucible marks and Iron Banner.
All paths will get you to at least 31. Then you can do hard mode raids (or Iron Banner) to get to 32.
How do you think Jerry felt about his increased forehead size as he got older? It's a performance art piece, finely tuned to make you feel Jerry's loss.
This is kinda why I really wish there were co-op RPG kinda deals that weren't based around loot or level progression.
Like, I enjoy just chilling and running through dungeons, then I remember that I need to constantly play to keep up with friends or I'm basically useless and it just kills the appeal.
Heh heh. Sure!
Still better than what I took away from running hard-mode Vault of Glass, which is that raids generally give worse loot than what I have already.
At times it feels like a extremely polished early access title ("we are not fully done yet, more is coming"). My guess is that Bungie couldn't finish their vision of the game in time, so the publisher stepped on some toes - everything finished or nearly finished was wrapped up and released in the current form, the rest was gutted or will trickle in as DLC.
If I really want to be snarky about it, its basically 4x Battle Field 4 sizes maps, which are recycled for missions and strikes and a handful of small PVP areas and 2x raids.
But the basic gameplay is really fun. The weapons feel fantastic - the developers nailed that part.
I used to raid regularly in Destiny - 3 randoms, 3 friends. First we were only two and it was a real chore to fill up the remaining spots. Searching for people usually took longer than the raid itself.
Why there isn't a match making system for raids in a game which favors multiplayer is beyond me. If correctly implemented, someone searching could set up filters for the empty spots (level requirements etc.) - if there is concern that people would use it for freeloading. But seeing as the fans took over this issue themself with various looking for group sites, this will never be in the current game. God, multiplayer playlists exist for nearly 2 decades now.
I nearly maxed out my characters but it quickly become a chore - farm for coins, farm for various items to upgrade the armor, farm for XP to unlock the skills, farm the PVP special events to get new gear, farm the raids hoping to win the loot lottery, farm the "epic" quests for exotic weapons, do all the chores during the quest for the exotic weapons, do daily quests - all this while running mostly forgettable missions and strikes.
At least it is done in such a way that most activities complement each other. I think that progression system isn't so at fault there, the content and mission design are to monotonous.
While the enemy design is good it basically boils down to these types for all enemy factions wich don't spot much difference.
Strong melee
Weak melee
Floaty turret
Gun wielder which takes a few more hits than the weak melee
And you will be shooting the same guys with level 1 - 11 as you do with max level.