^ well said.
It's disappointing, because this game had so much potential, and still has a lot going for it. But they're just not onto it. The bosses for most of the game have no interesting mechanics - they all amount to massive ammo sponges with no real variation (even the few with non-head weak points are still the same story of "shoot their weak points until the adds, then kill the adds and resume shooting weak point....repeat until dead (probably taking longer than is strictly fun) and they all have predictable movement and attack patterns, even if some of them are more mobile, not that it makes a difference).
Where's the fun in those fights? Where are the multiple shield bars which require different attack types to take down? Where are the changing attack/movement patterns and ability sets of the bosses as they get weakened? Different weak points or mechanics to exploit?
Why is the sole engagement with the things you are meant to enjoy fighting basically just spewing ammo at them for ten minutes? That's not fun.
Even Tartarus in Halo frigging 2 had a process to taking him down, and varied his behavior. It was simplistic, and relied on beam rifle ammo, but it worked.
And why do all the bosses have an AoE stomp ability which renders shotguns useless against them, leaving the only viable means of attack snipers and rockets? What sort of game design renders an entire class of weapon almost useless against their toughest enemies? (I know you can use them, but it's functionally pointless and has mostly risk with no reward.)
That's just the Strike bosses, but I've heard little about the Raid that makes it much different, except the need to have one team go do something before the damage can really be laid down.
But should the bare minimum of mechanics be restricted to the end game content, that you basically need to be max level to even try, rather than that being the pinnacle of many other interesting encounters?
And while we're on the subject of tokens, why is it that you have so many earn caps in this game - most notably the one you can only get around by 1) getting lucky or 2) fielding multiple characters? Yes, Strange Coins, I'm looking at you.
If they wanted to prevent people earning into the stratosphere, they should have had in-game money sinks to reduce the build-up. Let's reduce or remove ammo drops, make those synths useful. Let's find items or services the player base wants/needs to use that cost money of all types to reduce their funds, rather than using very low hard caps. Which determined players will still get around.
Never mind that most of the currencies in this game become useless at higher levels. Because you just can't buy the best gear, and that's all you need at high levels.
I suspect Bungie thought it would take people longer to get where they are in this game.
I suspect Bungie had to push the game out faster than intended. Potentially stripped back, too. There is a lot in this game that just doesn't line up with the reveals. A lot of missed opportunities to make team play rewarding and necessary, to build in-game communities, to make public events truly large, challenging, and engaging. The maps surely were meant to be larger and actually accommodate more players.
As much as Deej keeps saying "we're doing this together" etc, etc, I just think that's code for "we have shipped something with more problems and less mechanics than we planned, please stick with us".
Help
Briar King, on 24 October 2014 - 05:14 PM, said:
