#a story which could be wildly different from another player who chose the same background

[ineed-to-sleep]

I wanted to say, bc I saw someone mention Geralt as an example of a predetermined character in an rpg that works, that yeah, I fully agree it can work! But in Geralt's case, for example, he's a well established character who's fully written before you start the game. He has his own traits, his flaws and shortcomings, history, relationships, etc. He's just as well written as any other character in the story, and the only things you have power over are his choices and a bit of his fighting style(sometimes his hair as well), but everything is made to fit with who this character is as established before the game even starts. Think of the origin characters in Baldur's Gate 3, it's the same thing- they're not customizable, they're established before you even start, and the only control you have is over their journey. None of these are ever meant to be a blank slate, and they're written as such.

With this Phyre character it's like they're trying so so hard to tread the line between "this is a character that stands on their own" and "this is a blank slate you can fully customize". What you end up with is a very "meh" sort of character, who's not one or the other, without enough wiggle room to make your own story however you want and not enough to get attached to them as they are. We get attached to Geralt bc he's a fully written character in the game, you just control his actions. The problem with Phyre is that they're neither a fully written character nor fully yours to write.

[brothermouzongaming]

Destiny 2: my thoughts, hopes, and fears

When I joined Destiny 1 I was very very excited to see what the house that built Halo would do now that they had moved on. Admittedly I was unprepared for the very different experience Destiny offered. It interested me, the idea of a simultaneous world the gamers would live, cooperate, and compete in. During the opening months, I was pretty into it, running through the gaunt story to really head out into the world and get a taste of that endgame loot I had seen on guardians in the tower. I was, however, bored by December. Not skilled enough to take on the raids or even hang in PvP reliably (”Git Gud” rings out in the background). My boredom wasn’t eased but amplified by releases like Shadow of Mordor, 2k, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Far Cry 4. Not to mention Bloodborne, which I still haven’t beat yet.  So I look up, a year and change passes and I forget all about Destiny. My adventures in the worlds mentioned above really dragged me away from the quick and frantic bullet hell that is Destiny. As more and more games came I never got around to my Warlock and before I knew it Destiny 2 was on shelves. I had missed out last time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Fuck me right?

Thots

So I played the story, as meaningless as it seemed, it was definitely better than the D1 campaign experience. On I went me and my friends through strikes, crucible matches, lost sectors, public events. We did it all seldom the Leviathan, at that point, I lacked the finer survival skills needed to survive (I’ve completed it 3 times since :D ). The experience felt thin, but this wasn’t new to me because D1 at launch was thin. It did worry me however that this was our second go around; shouldn’t a sequel feel a bit bigger? I’m not talking scale, but the endgame options in games like this, in particular, are critical to success in the eyes of the gamer. Ignoring that voice in my head telling me to put my controller down, I continued. The loot was disappointing but not just disappointing, but clearly, it was a shallow pool, to begin with. I could’ve made an Arthur meme from how many times I got the same gauntlets over and over and over and over again. Even today they’ll come by and say what’s up, mocking me. 

As the weeks went on, something else wasn’t sitting right. These worlds, they were nice, but they lacked reasons for me to come back and explore...wait....where are the collectibles? I had completely forgotten that we used to have little treats of lore and other info waiting for us in hiding. Along with some simple things like jobs, I was wondering what in the hell would cause such a drastic step back. We were officially regressing. I didn’t give in to the voice although it was screaming in falsetto at this point. Curse of Osiris drops and holy shit was I mad. A world space you can barely turn around in it’s so small, a sad excuse for a story expansion, the same loot issues to the point where it was almost unnoticeable, mind-numbingly grindy missions for Vex weapons, ONE FUCKING PUBLIC EVENT, ONE Lost Sector (it’s also by far the smallest in the whole game). 

On top of it all, Bungie had been beating their dicks about as fervently as they possibly could, making sure to hype that DLC at every turn. Destiny 2′s problems really become amplified when you look back and remember just how “excited” the team was and how they genuinely thought players would like the changes they made and the pathetic efforts they attempted at making it better in the form of the CoO dlc. A dlc now requiring another round of “making it better” from Bungie after several debacles. I honestly don’t think they bit off more then they could chew. Does anyone remember the fact that Destiny 1 was supposed to be a 10 year experience that would allow us to carry our character through it? Sure the franchise may have a ten year lifetime but even Mass Effect let you bring over your character. Instead, they literally start all over, new character, none of the old raid/strike/challenge specific loot (and yet old loot in the form of exotics and an arsenal of reskins), Remember when Destiny 2 was going to have “too much content”? I piss my pants laughing every time I think about it. There is quantifiably less content from weapons to their stats, the gear pool is ankle shallow, there are fewer reasons to grind and look for gear/weapons you want. 

I see people on the Bungie forums go back and forth and both sides have a lot of good arguments. Destiny 2 does offer more worlds that are (overall) larger, and definitely more visually impressive. Where it falls flat is what kept players through the first lull in Destiny 1: the solid shooting mechanics, deep intriguing world, the lore and how it was distributed to the player (which could’ve used work imo), and the rpg aspects shown in random stat rolls for gear. This kept the players going beyond the level cap and outside of multiplayer; after they had done the strikes so many times it was almost scary, gotten bored of non-milestone related events, finished the assigned job and whatever the game offered. The hunt for the perfect gun is a hunt the players deemed worthy time and time again. Those are the things they chose to cut, either cause they hate their fanbase (obviously not), or they wanted to appeal to a larger audience. This was the only outcome Bungie should’ve seen coming and for some reason, they seem to be caught out time and time again. 

Slather on that sweet micro-transaction paste and you got yourself a shit cake. As if gutting the deeper gaming mechanics, stopping all grimoire cards and other major means of lore distribution, reskinning a large amount of the arsenal both from Destiny 1 and within itself, and debuffing the player wasn’t enough. A lot of what could’ve been left in the world as far as loot is concerned was locked away behind the cold dead face of Tess, the Eververse employee who handles the in-game purchases both with bright dust and silver (their premium currency players pay to obtain). Eververse would hold some of the best items in the game as far as ghosts, ships, emotes, and sparrows are concerned. Not only that but event-specific items were even locked away with statistically no chance of any player getting most of the items from the said event. Pushing players to spend their money where they can try their hand, not even an honest shot, via the slow machine-eque loot box mechanic. Ah, look, an instance where cosmetic loot boxes can really fuck up a game and what it could be. 

Hoeps

Destiny at its core is good. The universe is wildly enthralling with a mystique that draws you in, it makes you want to find out what the hell is going on. The shooting is sharp and responsive, you feel the grip of the gun in your hand and the kick when the trigger is pulled in a very natural way that emulates the experience well. The guns are intriguing, alien weaponry and future tech are hard to conceptualize but a lot of guns in Destiny will make you go “hmm” with intrigue as you wonder exactly how much ass this gun is going to rip when you get it out on the battlefield. Rat King, Wardcliff Coil, Legend of Acrius, Crimson, Vigilance Wing to name a few. I hope Bungie can find the spark that drove Halo, a franchise that wasn’t perfect but shined because of the painstaking effort put into it. I’m not asking for Halo 2.0 but I am damn sure demanding better of this bring a developer like Bungie.  

Fiirs

I fear Bungie have completely lost their way. These aren’t the people that made Halo, someone came in the night and took what heart they had and locked it away somewhere no one can seem to find it. For a project as ambitious as Destiny is, there is no passion, no drive to actually make the next big franchise. They seem perfectly content to merely talk about it. Halo was nothing but a fps that amazed because of the world and the mechanics. Yes, the multiplayer was a hit but if you ask me that is exactly why it was. I would’ve thought that in the face of what might actually be one of the greatest franchises in Halo, Bungie would be hungrier than ever to prove that it was no fluke. More and more I’m convinced it was just that. Normally I’d blame the publisher especially with Activision’s stink all over this, but some reports insinuate that all this was Bungie’s doing because making game content was “too hard”. A mountain of an achievement they volunteered themselves to climb up. So what do they do to make up for it? Decide to fuck the people that help make them... yeah if you aren’t worried about Bungie I’d love to hear your thoughts because I need some hope.