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  • What did I play last night? Destiny, of course…

    This is an example of how far my Destiny mental illness/addiction has progressed:

    Last night when I got home from work, I had a few minutes to kill before dinner. I sat down at the PS4 and thought “I’d like to play Elder Scrolls Online, but I’m concerned I don’t have enough time to clear a dungeon, so I’ll just play Destiny.” And I did play Destiny for 10 or so minutes.

    But then later in the evening, I sat back at the PS4, launched Destiny, played for a couple hours, got the Sleeper Simulant by doing the strike with some friends. Then, as I was going to bed, I realized: I didn’t even consider playing a different game like I did before dinner. Launching Destiny was an automatic action, an impulse even.

    Wow, those guys at Bungie know how to make stuff addictive. When I play LOTRO, the combat is so boring compared to Destiny that I feel the urge to go back to Destiny (yet the lore is so much better that I suppress the urge, at least for a while). I did manage to break free of Destiny for a month before The Taken King came out, so I’ll need to make myself do that again. I’ve got too many good games that are actually rewarding to be stuck in Destiny, which is more like a slot machine for the rewards.

  • Left Behind in Destiny

    I’ve been playing a lot of Destiny. Really, too much Destiny. But I’ve become left out of end-game content, because of (presumably) unintended consequences of choices made by Bungie’s designers. They’ve had to deal with unintended consequences before: they made a couple of neat hand cannons, The Last Word and Thorn. They were so good that they were all that people used in the Crucible. Heck, even I was able to get kills with Thorn sometimes. So they nerfed them in particular and hand cannons in general, and now hand cannons just aren’t much fun.

    The problem now is the light level system and the new hard mode King’s Fall raid. In order to be successful at the raid, we need to have light level 311 or better, but there isn’t a way to get gear higher than Light 310 except in the hard mode raid. So the die hard raiders that struggled through the hard mode raid and are now 315 or more don’t want to deal with us 303 light players. 303 isn’t enough to be effective the hard mode raid, so there’s no point in trying.

    The way to get closer to 310, so we can be effective in the hard mode raid, is to do the normal mode raid. But since the hard raid gives all the loot from the normal raid, the group I hang out with has no need or desire to go through the normal raid with lowbies like me so I can get better gear. So I’m in a Catch-22: I can’t do the hard mode raid because my gear is too lousy, and I can’t get better gear because everyone only does the hard mode raid.

    This problem is different from the last two raids. In the Vault of Glass and Crota’s End, even in normal mode, we still got top-level raid gear, so we could equip ourselves with good stuff that would be capable in the hard mode. Sure, a few special items were only available in hard mode, but at least we could prepare for hard mode. This new way has essentially put up a road block between light 300 and 310 that will be very challenging to overcome. I doubt that’s what the designers intended, so that’s why I think it is an unintended consequence.

    So what would I do to fix it? I’d suggest the following:

    1. Make an incentive for people to run the normal raid in addition to the hard raid. Perhaps make some gear only drop in normal, or add legendary marks or some other reason for people to play normal mode so we lowbies can join them and get better gear.
    2. Speaking of gear, the normal raid should drop light 315 or 320 gear, just as the normal raids in the past dropped full-strength gear. That way we have a hope of being able to participate in the hard raid.
    3. Make PvE loot drops have higher light limits. Now, rare and legendary engrams are limited to 299 (I think), so let them roll to 310 so we can get gear that could be helpful in hard mode even from normal PvE activities.

    I’m disappointed, yet not particularly upset about not being able to participate in the raid. I did the raid in normal mode on my Titan, so he can be 303 light, and I got my Touch of Malice to use in future raids, yet the likelihood that it will get used is low.

    So what will I do? Probably get bored with Destiny soon and get back to Elder Scrolls Online. I also have Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid V ready to be played. And there’s always LOTRO and Star Trek Online. I will keep myself amused even if it isn’t with Destiny.

  • I Played Destiny’s Iron Banner and All I Got Was a Lousy Wolf Cloak

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    Note: See below for an update!

    I’m not a great Crucible player, but when I saw the promotional pictures Bungie put out of the Hunter Wolf Cloak, I decided to play Iron Banner so I could get it. Well, I got it, and it is pretty awful. I think it looks lousy in game, but in the App, where the picture above came from, it just looks odd, particularly with the second wolf head.

    So, yeah, I regret the time I spent in Iron Banner and the Legendary Marks I spent to get the hideous thing. Oh well…

    In other Destiny news, my Titan finally got through the King’s Fall Raid, but got an underwhelming loot haul from it, including 2 butt-capes from the same drop. Why did I need 2? I didn’t. I got the raid hand cannon, which is kinda nifty, but takes forever to reload. Very odd design, Bungie.

    Update: The cloak is more cool than I first thought. The rendering from the app hints at it with the two heads. When I am in the tower and have chosen to show my Hunter’s head, it uses the back wolf head to show that the cloak is off my had and it can show my face. Of course, that’s the way I kept seeing it, so I assumed it was that way in combat too, which was not what the promo material showed. Well, in combat, it uses the upper wolf head, which now covers my helmet and does look like it should. So Bungie was, in fact, very clever, and a rendering error in the app is the only problem.

  • Destiny Iron Banner – Mediocrity Perseveres

    I had more PvP success in Destiny last night, this time playing in the Iron Banner tournament. Between this video and the last one I posted, it may seem that I’m trying to say I’m good at the Crucible. I’m not. I’m very often nearly the worst on the team, but sometimes things come together and I can do well and help the team to victory. Here, I had a nice shotgun that made a difference.

    I’m doing the Iron Banner with my Hunter because I need that fancy Hunter cloak with the Wolf head! It’s amazing how much fancy fashion-forward gear is for the Hunters. I already have Taniks’ cloak (which is great, because it doesn’t have a hood), and I think the Flayer capes look pretty cool too! I don’t know of anything quite as fancy for my Warlock or Titan.

    I’m also posting this video because I like the map. They’ve made an abandoned town in Europe a battleground, so it is familiar and looks good. I thought it used to say that it was in the “European Exclusion Zone” or something like that in the intro screen rather than just putting “Widow’s Court” twice at different font sizes. In any case, here’s a video of me not playing particularly well, yet coming out on top in a very close match.

  • Destiny Crucible Success

    I finally did well in the Crucible Rift mode, which I tend not to like. I also finished the crucible kills required towards my Exotic Sword questline. Because I was so happy with my results, I’m posting my first ever Destiny video.

  • Yes, Damn It, Destiny: The Taken King is Good!

    Destiny’s The Taken King expansion has revitalized the game and addicted me again, hence the “damn it” in the title. I was doing so well at enjoying other games and going days or even a week without launching Destiny. But now that The Taken King has come out, it’s an obsession just like Destiny was at launch. That isn’t to say that TTK is perfect – far from it. There are annoyances and a few glitches, flaws, and problems, but the smoothness of the game play and the fun missions (mostly) overcome them.

    The first thing about TTK is that it is even more MMO-like than before. As Yahtzee said about World of Warcraft when he reviewed it, “It’s all about the numbers!” In TTK, the level cap was increased, but the level is pretty meaningless. I went from level 35 to 40 in seconds by turning in some bounties with one of the Red Bull XP boosts active. No, the only thing that matters is the light level of your gear, much like in other MMOs. The goal of this was to render obsolete all of our year 1 gear, so Ice Breaker, Thorn, Vex Mythoclast, and Gjallarhorn. There are year 2 variants of some of the old Exotics, but not the favorites I listed above. Bungie’s goal, I think, was to get more diversity in loadouts. Even the Exotics now have different perks and stat rolls when you get them, so if you and I both have Helm of Saint-14, they will be different, either slightly or significantly, though the primary perk will stay the same (and, generally, yours will be better, because RNGesus hates me). So now everyone will be dressed differently and have different gear. Until we get raid gear, that is. Since raid gear is the only way to get the highest light level stuff (310), everyone who has raid gear will wear it. Now, it is possible to sacrifice your raid gear by using it to infuse other stuff, thus raising the other gear’s light level, but it will be a while before many people have enough raid gear to use it like that. I have no raid gear, having not done the raid (because my light level is too low and I’m not that good). Oh yeah, and we can have swords now, and they are awesome!

    There are lots and lots more missions in TTK, and even some of the old ones have been updated. I’ve killed Oryx on all my characters, yet I haven’t finished all the missions available. They weren’t kidding when they said TTK added more content than the original game. So there’s lots more to do and most of it is fun. And there are hidden side-quests and goodies that are a delightful addition to the game.

    There are a few missions that are just crazy hard, and some of the Heroic Strikes are just stupid hard. I’ve had other players bail at the start of some strikes and at the nearly unkillable boss after wiping a few times on others. That isn’t much fun. That’s probably the thing that will break my addiction and get me back to playing other games. On Friday night, for example, I ran into a mission I couldn’t solo (nor could others who are better than I am), then found a strike where the other guys bailed at the end. I was ready to give up at that point and shut down the PS4, but instead I found a couple of friends who helped me with both and it rebounded into a good evening rather than a depressing one.

    So, yes, The Taken King is good, damn it, and I can’t wait to play more.

  • Had fun in Destiny’s Iron Banner

    Despite my attempts to avoid Destiny, I played a bit of Iron Banner over the weekend. My goal was to get to get the Felwinter’s Lie shotgun, which meant I needed to get to Rank 4. I got to Rank 3 easily enough on Sunday, but decided to wait until Monday night to get the next rank, because I needed the bounties to boost my XP. After playing for perhaps an hour and a half on Monday night, I hit rank 4, bought the Hunter cape and shotgun, and immediately stopped playing.

    I was very pleased and surprised that I was the top player in a couple of the matches that we won. I was also the worst player in a match or two. So the rankings are more an indication of whether I had a good game or not rather than my innate ability (or lack thereof).

    I still have a bit of Destiny to play before the new expansion hits (I suppose I ought to order that, too). I need to play some Prison Of Elders so I can activate the Elder Scroll bounty I picked up in the Skolas level 35 success (where I was totally carried, and I admit it). Now my biggest problem is that I have way too many unlevelled guns and not enough weapon parts. Very annoying!

  • Still gaming, just not writing enough

    I’ve been too silent on here for too long. I’ve been playing lots of games, but I haven’t been writing my impressions of them, and oh boy do I have impressions to share. So I’ll try to write more frequently about some of the games I mention here.

    I’ve finally broken Destiny’s hold on me, so I am playing other games. I still check in on Destiny a few times a week, but no longer have the compulsion to play it to the exclusion of all else. I’ve even done some good things, including killing Skolas in the level 35 Prison of Elders (I was helped greatly by two players that were very good and knew what they were doing). I also helped a friend’s husband conquer Hard Mode of both the Crota raid and the Vault of Glass (well, I participated and killed things). So those were good accomplishments.

    My newest addiction is Elder Scrolls Online. I got it on sale for PS4 and I really like it. It isn’t so epic as Lord of the Rings Online, but the combat is great, and the crafting is pretty good, and the story is fine so far. Every chance I get, I pop online and work on one of my three characters.

    Speaking of LOTRO, I still play it a couple hours per week. The story is great, so I want to finish exploring the end game areas. I must admit, however, that I have little hope of getting all 8 of my characters through the end game and level 100. Too much repetition…

    I also bought the Borderlands Handsome Jack collection for PS4. I’d already played Borderlands 2 on PC, so I started with the Pre-Sequel, which I’m enjoying. However, I started a Borderlands 2 character, since some friends are playing that, and I realized that Borderlands 2 is a much better game. The Pre-Sequel seems to be puny in comparison, and I’m near the endgame of it.

    I’ve also been playing a tiny bit of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The problem is, I’m just about to start the end game, and I don’t want the game to end. I’m invested in the story and the characters, and I don’t want to be done with it, just to be able to play a few bolt-on DLCs later. So I’m taking it slower than I probably should.

    Finally, I’ve actually started up Star Trek Online a few times recently, mostly because of the giveaways to build excitement for the new season. I realized that there are game mechanics that are new and I need to learn them. So when I get done with Borderlands or Dragon Age, I’ll take some time and get back into STO. I have a lifetime subscription, so I don’t feel too guilt about stepping away for a year, but it is getting to be time that I should come back.

  • Gave Destiny another try. Why, oh why did I try?

    Because one of my friends wanted to help me try to get Fatebringer, a great handcannon only available from the Templar in the Venus raid, I gave Destiny another shot. I recruited another friend who has yet to get a Gjallarhorn rocket launcher, so she hoped to get it from the Gorgon maze chest. As usual, it was a night of disappointment for all.

    We succeeded in beating the Templar three times after quite a while of herding cats to get a team together. While the actual Templar battle was fine, it wasn’t actually fun. More of a chore, really. And, nobody got a Fatebringer, especially not me. And nobody got an Exotic, so my friend didn’t get her Gjallarhorn.

    Now I know that the random, gambling-style loot system of Destiny doesn’t give out fancy gear like water (except when it does), but I’ve been through the Venus Raid many times (not as many as some, though) and have never been graced with a Fatebringer or a Praetorian Foil (not that I need one of those). I did manage to get one Vex Mythoclast, but only once.

    My point is that some of these tedious Raid parts are the only places to get certain stuff, though the drop rate is low, and it isn’t that much fun. And yet, once you get something, you’ll get lots more. Once I got a Gjallarhorn, I promptly got 2 more. I get and discard Dragon’s Breath and No Land Beyond way more often than makes sense. I even got a second Hawkmoon last week, though I’ve yet to get a Monte Carlo or the Ram helmet for my Warlock. So RNGesus is fickle and Destiny seems to be punishing with its reward scheme.

    I gave Destiny another try, and learned why I’d been avoiding it all over again.

  • Loving Dragon Age: Inquisition, trying Borderlands on PS4, avoiding Destiny

    So last week, when Bungie announced that they were going to adjust weapons yet again (read “nerf” for the good ones), I sent a snarky tweet that I would have more time to play other games. Well, I mean it. I’ve avoided Destiny since then and will not play much. I’m not specifically upset about the nerfing of a particular one of my favorite guns (except Ice Breaker – c’mon, ammo already regenerates slowly – don’t make it even slower!), but it’s the constant messing around to get us to play the game “the way they intended.” First of all, making any guns less powerful is worse than making others better. And if you want to fix Thorn in Crucible, give Guardians a little more poison resistance rather than reduce the poison effects on PvE enemies. But enough of that. I’m just sick of them messing with things. Every time I get comfortable with something, they mess it up. And yet they don’t fix the actual problems with the game, like inventory and lag in the Crucible. Well to heck with Destiny.

    Dragon Age: Inquisition, on the other hand, is amazing. Is it possible for a game to have too much plot? Dragon Age comes close. There is so much to do, and most of it is great fun! Sure, there are some annoying bits, like: why am I, the powerful Inquisitor, responsible for collecting all the herbs, and rocks, and other crafting materials. Obviously they’re just trying to draw the game out, but there’s no reason to do so – the game is already long and full of content. So Dragon Age: Inquisition remains great fun and I’m playing it a lot!

    I picked up the Borderlands Handsome Jack Collection when it was on sale for my PS4. I loved the original Borderlands (except the lame ending), and Borderlands 2 on my PC, so I decided to try on my PS4. Well, it looks great, but I’m not as good at aiming with the controller as I am with a mouse, so everything is harder. I’m currently stuck at the first boss fight in the Pre-Sequel having obviously chosen poor strategies to take him down. I will go back to it next time I feel like playing a shooter.

    For fun, I also bought Goat Simulator for my iPad, since it was on sale for a dollar. Very cute game, and while the controls aren’t as responsive as I’d like, it’s a fun diversion. And I got the Michael Bay achievement for headbutting a gas pump and blowing up a gas station, so humor for the win!