Gaming Destiny & Destiny 2

This evening - with the help of some very patient clan mates - I finally (finally!) got Divinity. My brain is frazzled!

 

And this evening, I finally saved up enough Spoils to purchase Anarchy from the kiosk.

 

Nice! I got Iznagi's Burden and Felwinter's Lie that way because I didn't already have them.

 

So, just watched Yong rip apart the new transmog system.

Sounds like an instant dumpster fire mess.

 

I’ve been clean for over a year and couldn’t be happier. I do miss the fix quite a lot at times though. My skills are probably nonexistent if I was to use the Light today.

 

If you ever get your hands on a PS5, it is worth giving it a whirl once for the look and feel.

 

It absolutely is. They're gonna have to walk it back.

 

I’m not sure there are enough currencies involved. Two or three more and it’s be perfect. Seriously though, the complexity needs to go but I’ve no problem with a seasonal cap.

 

The seasonal cap is the real problem yes.

 

The funny thing is if there wasn't a cap the overwhelming majority of people would only do one or two sets anyway and they'd avoid the bad press. It was a massive own goal.

Also, the majority of the armour in D2 isn't even that nice. The only character I'd unlock a lot on would be my Titan as I'm really happy with the look of my Hunter using just the current universal ornaments and Warlock armour is largely terrible. I already know what stuff, more or less, I'm going to unlock and it's not a long list.

If I were to fix it I'd say:
1. increase the seasonal cap or even better remove it.
2. Add synthweave to the season pass. One every 20 ranks or five near the end, whatever. You still get them with in-game effort without having to jump through the ridiculous hoops, which brings me to...
3. Narrow down the steps needed to get the synthweave in-game. Make the final step longer or whatever, but the last thing Destiny 2 needs is more currencies.

I think if they two of those it'd get rid of a lot of the issues players have, but I can't imagine it happening before the start of season 14.

 

Totally agree. I am only gonna transmog a few armor sets, but the seasonal caps and then having to pay silver is still stupid and greedy. Transparently so.

 

New season looks promising. Love the aesthetic:


Glad to be getting more of Mithrax. It's a shame that it seems like Gina Torres isn't voicing Ikora any more though. Hopefully it's just temporary, but something tells me it's unlikely.

 

I think it has to do with the pandemic and her not having recording stuff at home. We'll see. I'm just glad Ikora is doing something.

 

I'm inclined to say unavailability, tho her replacement sounds very much like her. I don't think anyone has 100% confirmed it and I do wonder if the discrepancy may be due to a less than stellar audio setup at her place.

I admit hat the transmog system is hot garbage as it is. But at the same time the freebies I got have tied me over quite well and I wasn't planning to engage much with the system. Bungie should either stop throttling the time gated drop rate of mats or eliminate the cap. Or both. There will always be someone that won't care about the grind and at the same time not care about dropping silver at the cashshop. I'm ambivalent at this point and, as Datto has said, Eververse is non-negotiable as far as Bungo is concerned, regardless how many clickbait spewing jerks like Yong may wish otherwise.

I think the vas majority of the playerbase is beyond fatigued at this point. As intriguing as the story is right now, there's been just too much bs from Bungo and the game over the everyday bs we've had to endure for years now. The burnout is real.

 

I am all for replacing an actor if it means more engagement for the character in the narrative. (Or, alternatively, killing the character off -- I'm still surprised the Faction Leaders survived the Red War when that was a perfect out.)

The only person who is truly irreplaceable at this point, IMO, is Lance... and that's really because his voice is so unique. If Zavala had been, say, Kevin Michael Richardson from the beginning no-one would be saying, "Gee, Bungie sure did mess up by not getting in Lance Reddick!"

I think one of the biggest mistakes Bungie ever made with this IP was getting in screen actors for pretty much every voice role. Totally pointless.

 

Yeah also Lance is a dedicated Destiny player himself so he ain't going anywhere.

 

Oh, I didn't know that.

 

He mains a Warlock

 

And I think he'd voice Zavala for free regardless.

 

Lance Reddick has a huge amount of goodwill in the community for just this alone (language warning):


I've been impressed with the increase over the last couple of seasons of the amount of voice lines we've been getting. In Chosen we had Caital, Saladin, Zavala, Osiris and Crow and with Splicer we've got Mithraks, Ikora, Saint, Osiris, Eido and Lakshmi. There may be more this season, I've not played that much due to Mass Effect but I've liked what I've seen. It's weird, aside from it's gunplay I'd argue that Destiny's story is perhaps it's strongest point at the moment. They've also been doing a good job of improving the available loot with Chosen and Splicer, which was needed following the drought that was Hunt.

The sudden, sharp increase in negativity has surprised me somewhat, considering how well received Season of the Chosen was. A huge part of that is transmog, which is a great system that's been botched by it's execution. The only thing they've got right with it is the UI. You can't have it be time-gated, grindy and something you charge a not-inconsiderable sum for. That's just taking the ****. I'm loathe to criticise Bungie for tying it into the Eververse as I've no idea what their finances are like and at least they seem to be re-investing it into the game, what with the increase in voice acting, development of transmog in general (flawed though it is) and the impending arrival of cross-play. If they just got rid of the time-gating that would be something. If I'm sad enough to grind bounties by killing hordes of Thrall in the Shattered Throne or at Shuro Chi then let me.

PvP also needs a lot of love. Stasis was just about under control and then they threw in a Hunter aspect which made just made it obnoxious again, as well as a sidearm that can freeze you. One step forward, two steps back yet again. Crucible also desperately needs new maps and modes. Beyond Light launching with no maps on Europa is worrying and bizarre and it's got nary a mention in TWAB's aside from Trials (which hardly anyone plays).

This will never not annoy me.

 

The Twitters and Reddits were all #NerfStasis last week because just how unbearable the subclass has made pvp. Some youtubers or streamers were apparently all b*tching and moaning about leaving the game - again until it's good - because of it.

While I agree that a new subclass abilities negatively impacting mobility is bad for a mobility and ability based shooter (and truly, I hate being frozen for a cheap kill, super or not), I'd say to those guys "you wanted Darkness powers, here's your Darkness powers; pray that the new Darkness classes to be released don't make Stasis look like the weakest of all light subclasses". And yet, one also has to wonder what's going on at Bungie. I mean, is it possible there's no one left there from the Halo Reach days that remembers how badly stuff like Armor Lock triggered the player base? Do they even care anymore about pvp?

No new mode or map in more than a year. Especially with the launch of a new expansion. Not even a whisper of a solid anti-cheat yet (if even one is possible at this point). I mean, what in the actual ****. I'm as casual and scrubby as a PVPer it gets, but at least I could spend some time in the Crucible and enjoy myself. So I feel for those guys that are there for that part of the game if nothing else. If Bungo has abandoned pvp, I wish they'd just say so so that those folks move to greener pastures or otherwise have their peace with the franchise.

 

Goodness I just looked at that video for season. Have they seriously not made any new enemies yet? Still fighting the Vex..

 

Yeah that's definitely a pain point. There are new enemy types but not new enemy races.

I agree at this point that Stasis should be disabled in Crucible. I like it in PVE but not there. Just say Shaxx forbids using the Darkness. Lore reason!

 

Lakshmi-2 introducing herself to veteran Guardians:

 

I'm not especially fussed about new enemies, but I think there will be some new ones coming at some point. Having Red Legion Cabal around the system doesn't really make sense any more now that we've got a truce with Caital, Ghaul is dead and Calus is...elsewhere. Same with the Eliksni now that we're getting friendly with Mithraks. The Vex, Hive and Taken won't be going anywhere though. They're too closely linked with both Savathun and the Darkness.