Destiny 2
Bungie
For some time now, it’s felt like occasions in Destiny 2 have been a bit damaged. There have been good ones up to now, periodically, however greater than ever, they appear much less artistic and contemporary. More than ever, they appear to be about purely pushing microtransactions.
Solstice might be the one greatest instance of the decline of Destiny occasions, the place when the sport first began, we had redesigned, difficult marketing campaign missions and armor units we needed to visually improve by way of loads of gameplay.
Now, we’re on our fifth 12 months of the EAZ zone. Our second 12 months of Bonfire Bash, which is much less attention-grabbing than the primary three years of rooftop-hopping. Even if rewards usually are not good (and so they aren’t, however I’ll get to that in a minute), a approach to interact gamers is by having the exercise itself be new and enjoyable. But occasions now in Destiny 2 are virtually purely copy and paste from earlier years, and in the event that they “change,” it’s for one thing just like the Haunted Forest being transformed into Haunted Lost Sectors with completely different sorts of spawns. Or just like the transfer to Bonfire Bash. They’re simply getting…worse.
Here are the issues I see utilizing this 12 months’s Solstice as most likely the clearest instance of all this up to now:
- It’s the fifth 12 months within the EAZ, and the “new” additions are a pair of buffs which might be nothing near the previous Solstice years after we had particular elemental-based buffs that have been genuinely loads of enjoyable.
- Bonfire Bash doesn’t even make the most of all the level of the EAZ, which was verticality, making it a lesser model of the occasion that was there beforehand.
- You are introduced with a full set of armor up entrance which you’re requested to make use of in actions regardless of rubbish stats (you actually solely want to make use of the category merchandise, more often than not, FYI). This is not less than a step up from different occasions the place there is no such thing as a new armor set to be earned in any respect, solely purchased, nonetheless…
- You can “skip” the occasion by both paying for the higher, finalized, elemental-glowing model of the armor set with silver, or dumping your saved Bright Dust for it. The “earned” white glows this 12 months are barely noticeable, and the color-changing elemental ones, which can’t be earned by way of occasion play, are often the higher ones anyway.
- One draw of the occasion is to be a (fairly convoluted) excessive stat armor farm for gamers, which once more attracts a distinction between free and paid gamers, as this free occasion makes it a chore, however paying seasonal gamers can immediately target-focus any engram within the HELM into high-stat armor, making this occasion fairly pointless for them.
Destiny 2
Bungie
- It feels to me like most seasonal weapons are purposefully hamstrung to be underwhelming. While there are a pair exceptions right here and there, this season specifically, the brand new rocket launcher with perhaps a single good roll that’s dramatically outclassed by a half dozen different rockets is nothing value farming for.
- Finally, the opposite in-game rewards are virtually non-existent. There’s a single ship you may earn. One shader is bought for vibrant mud (the primary of all the season!!) and the second is locked contained in the deeply irritating “event card” for $10, which makes this the fourth shader this season behind a $10 paywall that can not be purchased with Bright Dust and is bundled with different stuff you most likely don’t need. As evidenced by the Iron Banner chainmail shader, even a single beauty reward like that may encourage loads of grinding. There’s nothing like that supplied right here.
Simply put, it’s important to give gamers a motive to play. First and foremost that will be a brand new play expertise, a brand new map or mode, however with out that, you want worthwhile rewards to pursue, which…are additionally lacking on this occasion. If you don’t interact gamers in any respect nobody will even be logging in to have a look at all the beautiful Eververse retailer objects within the first place.
Next up is Festival of the Lost, and we’ll see if we’re nonetheless digging round in Haunted Lost Sectors with a cool shader locked within the occasion cross…
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