originally posted in:Dads of Destiny
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Maybe its just a product of being older or not a so called "hardcore" gamer (even though I do have 130+ hours into Destiny), but I don't understand all of the hate for Destiny and the DLC. I watched the Dark Below review on IGN, 6 out of 10, and a majority of the comments from the reviewers as well as the readers was just spewing hate for Bungie and Destiny.
It seemed like there were four reoccurring complaints, first was the thin story, which I can sort of understand. Bungie and the media hyped this crazy in depth story and well, the verbal narrative from the game is lacking. Its there if you want to take the time to read the Grimoire but I'd venture to say that most people don't. Is the story mode short, sure, but many of us play for the community and ability to play with like minded individuals. I don't know anyone who actually plays COD for the story mode. I know many people don't ever even venture to that mode they jump right into PvP and never go back. Other just play for the story mode achievements/trophies. So to me that just seems like an odd thing to complain about if you are playing to play with friends, but can be a legitimate complaint for solo players.
The second was the rinse and repeat nature of the game as well as the grinding factor. Destiny is as I see it a blend of a classic FPS and RPG, not MMO like many people say. I say RPG over MMO because while there are other players on the maps and servers while you are playing, you don't see the massive amount of players like you would in WoW or the like. There are thousands of players on but they are spread across vast amounts of servers and game areas. RPG fits the bill better in my mind because of the loot system and upgrade trees for weapons, armor, and abilities but there just happens to be many other people playing concurrently with you. Either way you look at it, FPS or RPG, both have a very rinse and repeat nature and typical RPG's (i.e. Diablo 3) have a heavy emphasis on grinding for loot and upgrade materials. That is exactly what Bungie has presented us with. The rinse and repeat nature of both genre's and the grinding of an RPG with other players happening to be in the same game session.
The third is how Bungie "screwed over" or some other similar phrase the high level players with the best equipment. They say that Bungie destroyed their hard work and it's "not fair" that they no longer have the best gear and have to re-earn or re-level said items. Apparently they have never played a true MMO such as WoW where once DLC is released the best players no longer have the best gear. From my personal experience that is how DLC is supposed to work in those types of games, though I don't believe Destiny to truly be an MMO but it does utilize that element. I would venture to say that a week and a few days since the launch of the first DLC many of those players have already obtained much of their perceived self imposed glory back.
Lastly was the lack of matchmaking for the raids. Ask me a few months ago if I thought matchmaking for the raids was a good idea and I would have wholly agreed but after some experience with the raid I can see why they would not have implemented that functionality. The raid does require too much teamwork to be just thrown into a random team like you would a strike. I could see maybe having an option to enter matchmaking for the raid if you're comfortable with a random team who may or may not know what they are doing or how to work together. I know I wouldn't be utilizing this function, much like the open chat channels they offer, just because I know how the vocal minority are. They are rude, racist, sexist, ageist, and just plain old make the game not fun (i.e. see COD multiplayer chat).
It seems like many of the people who are complaining about the game are fans of COD or other popular games where the whole game, single and multiplayer, are just rinse and repeat; go here kill this person or group then the next map same thing for 10 to 20 hours. Multiplayer well same thing kill everyone or capture said objective from other team, do the same thing on a different map endlessly. Many people seem to say they are playing Far Cry 4, AC, Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, or GTA over Destiny. All those games are rinse and repeat, not saying they are bad games but that is the nature of video games. very few if any games have a unique story and levels that have you doing something totally different each time. To those players who have moved on have fun, but if you supposedly no longer care about Destiny, why continue to complain? Move on and leave our game alone. In my opinion if you haven't voted you don't have the right to complain about the way the city, state, or country is ran, so if you don't play Destiny you don't have the right to complain how much you think it stinks. If you have constructive criticism and a logical and real way to fix the problem as you see it please share in a polite and professional manner. Heck maybe even submit a resume with it and get a job to help fix the issues.
Maybe I'm jaded because we have such a good community of individuals here who enjoy Destiny for what it is, but I just don't get the hate. Sure Destiny has its flaws but I don't think I have ever played a perfect game without flaws. There is nothing that I have encountered in Destiny that has made me think that I should start investing the majority of my game time elsewhere. Am I the only one who doesn't get the hate or is it just another case of the vocal minority and those who complain because its the "cool" thing to do? I'm no game designer so I couldn't say how to fix the RNG for drops or weapon damage and armor protection. Nor am I a writer who can eloquently add to the story that would appease everyone. I am a consumer. I consume the product I've chosen to purchase and take it for what it is, warts and all. So I hope Bungie doesn't listen to the vocal minority and continues to fix what they see is broken (whether we like it or not) and continue to add to the game in various different ways to keep us interested.
**EDIT 12/19/14***
After some more reflection and reading come comments I do understand the complaints, but I do not agree with them wholly. Some are fairly legitimate like the RNG or the lack of told story. While others are totally subjective opinions, everyone is entitled to their opinions and free speech but it doesn't mean they are correct, quantifiable, or verifiable. Are there things to be fix, of course, is there things that could be added to add consumer enjoyment, defiantly but I think it comes down to expectations of the consumer. There is a segment of individuals in gaming that I don't think understand the consumer creator dynamic. We as gamers are consumers and we choose to or not choose to consume the games that are offered to us. We are not developers, we do not have a large say in how a game is made or what content is or is not in the game. We can make suggestions or constructive criticism of things that are broke or not what we want but we cannot dictate what is in the game or what it should be. If someone wants to tell someone how to make a game then they should be a developer and create a game for the consumers. They will then see that you cannot please everyone. Your idea for a great game is probably not someone else's idea of one. We as consumers vote with our wallet on what we want to play and not play. If you are unsure if you will like a game wait a little while and see how people you game with like the game or rent it. Don't blindly purchase a game or if you do temper your expectations when doing so. Once you are done with a game, don't like the game, or have never played the game but have seen others play I don't think you should continue to criticize a game because it is what everyone else is doing or its the cool thing to do. If you are done please move on and play what you enjoy. Instant gratification is now for better or worse a staple of our society. A segment of individuals want instant and permanent gratification from their game. When the new DLC hit these individuals were enraged that they had to purchase upgrades or re-earn gear and levels. They were no longer the highest possible everything and they didn't understand why they weren't automatically leveled up. Leveling means you have earned something in a game through time and effort. To continue to level it requires that you input that time and effort again. If Bungie did not raise the level cap and introduce new armor and weapons then those same individuals would have been enraged that they didn't have anywhere else to go so why play or something along those lines. They will never be satisfied no matter what. Destiny is not a game for everyone, no game is. Everyone like something slightly different so if you like COD type games then play COD, BF, or what ever new run and gun game there is. If you like story games play FF or some other story heavy game. I think developers like to hear comments good and bad but to just complain and bash a game you no longer play or care about then I think it hurts those who are still playing and enjoy the game. The developers I'd assume are able to filter through much of the noise but the more noise there is the harder it is for them to hear the constructive criticism that can actually contribute to fixing what is broke or improving upon what is good.
Those are just some of my thoughts. I enjoy reading most of the comments that have been left. Thank you for the input and opinions.
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I think I understand the various major complaints even though I disagree with them and feel that it comes from a clear misunderstanding of what to expect. [b]Story[/b] Bungie made a major mistake expecting most people to read Grimoire cards in the app or in their browser. These are the same people behind Halo so I forgive any player for expecting a different style of presentation. [i]Not worth the enormous hate though[/i] [b]Grind/Rinse and repeat/Obsolete gear[/b] There are 3 main camps that were attracted to Destiny because of the unique game Bungie has created: MMO players (WoW experience especially), FPS players (especially Halo PvP players) and RPG players (especially Diablo players). I think by far Halo PvP players form the core of the community because we trusted the name Bungie and would buy anything they make to try it. No WoW or other MMO player would complain about grinding, repeating or old hear being obsolete. They knew that's how it works. RPG players don't complain about the grind but so complain about the limited amount of content to grind through. I definitely would love twice as many strikes and 3 more planets from day one too...but I haven't grown bored of the present content. Halo players aren't used to playing campaign missions so many times and ranking up in Halo PvP was always permanent while in Destiny they feel that one minute they are 30 and then get new gear, equip it and drop to 28 because they need to level it up. Of course, if they paid attention to the MMO and RPG aspects and how those games work then they would have expected the grind and repetition. [u]Gear becoming obsolete is not a valid complaint[/u] I don't even need to point out RPGs and MMOs to show why containing about obsolete gear and "wasted time" is invalid. Early on in Destiny you progress from Common to Rare gear and can upgrade attributes and defense ratings. Same for your weapons. At level 10 you have certain gear you. spend glimmer, weapon parts and other things on to be stronger and continue playing through the story. At level 14 you qualify for newer gear that makes my old gear obsolete and you can't really bring level 10 gear to fight Phogoth in the Summoning Pits so you level the new stuff. Almost each time you open a new planet and strike you end up having to level new guns and gear so the game taught you all the way to level 20 that you will constantly need to spend time upgrading new stuff to be able to handle new content long before DLC is in the picture. Who missed that lesson? Let's also admit that there is now a culture of instant gratification and so people want everything as quickly as possible. Too many prefer to watch a video on how to beat a new raid the first week, beat it and then complain there's not enough content. It wasn't designed with that in mind. If you took your time to play and figure out what to do like in the past then you would have more playtime and enjoy it more (and probably feel a greater sense of accomplishment). [b]Matchmaking[/b] Those of us who have done the raid know matchmaking would be the worst experience but for someone who has never done the raid it's hard to explain. That's like explaining being a father to someone who has no children. This weekend I played the Summoning Pits strike with a friend and a level 30 was paired with us. Besides running way ahead constantly, the player also shot Phogoth to release his chains [i]BEFORE[/i] clearing out the lower level enemies on the ground and the platforms. My friend and I were very annoyed because that's just the dumb way to approach it and increase the risk of us not getting the bounty to complete a strike without dying. I can't imagine what happens with 5 other people deciding who holds the relic, which oracles to shoot or even whether to jump in the middle and shoot Atheon. But if I was Bungie I [u]would[/u] enable matchmaking just to prove my point. Those of us who know better and can find 5 others would never touch it. The others would get to see inside VoG for the first time and then put more effort into finding a fire team (if working dads with 2 kids can do it then there really are limited excuses). This does run the risk of some people having a bad first VoG experience but you asked for match making and complained like hell. Now you know why. Those are my thoughts.