Players who want to discover the true genius of Destiny, and experience the social experiment that all massive player simulations represent, need to quit sucking on the developer’s teat and start finding out for themselves what each world in this great game has to offer.
Today Bungie nerfed the “loot cave.” For those of you that missed it, the loot cave was a spawning location for Hive acolytes and thrall, located underneath a Skywatch building populated by Fallen. As part of the ongoing fight between the two races, Hive would rush out of the cave to fight their enemies above and nearby. By standing beyond the broken concrete well across from the cave entrance, players could decimate them before they emerged. After a while, you moved in to collect the loot drops. For a number of reasons, the loot cave was the best thing in Destiny. What the game needs is not less loot caves, it needs more.
Destiny is About Discovery
I love the Halo franchise for the storyline. Seeing the cutscenes, replaying the action, it led me to play the games more than once. After a couple replays, however, I stopped. Why keep tilling the same ground for entertainment when some new story is at the video game store?
Destiny is different. Many have complained that there is little story and few cutscenes. I believe this omission is intentional and people are simply missing the point. You really do create a large part of the Destiny story yourself, because you have a massive world to explore. Destiny is a game of exploration, not storytelling, but Bungie’s terrific history at spinning compelling yarns has everyone expecting the next great science fiction novel in their every pixelated creation.
An example of this experience lies with my adventures in the very first world, Earth’s Cosmodrome. Because of its many buildings and hidden places, I keep going back to find what I’ve missed, something I never did with Halo or even Mass Effect. For example, although this is a starter level, in one small shack is a stairwell and those stairs lead to a gathering of Hive capable of insta-killing the rookie player. At level fifteen, I still wasn’t strong enough to fight them solo. I want to go back there when I’m stronger, to find out — what are they hiding? Where does this underground chamber go? This has nothing to do with a story I’m forced to play to get to the end of the game, this is a story that continues until I am ready to face it — a story I am creating, not the developer. The loot cave worked on the same principle – it was an organic player experience, not a scripted event.
Organic Experiences versus Scripted Events
Loot cave worked day and night, whenever you had a group that could eliminate the Hive before they escaped. Scripted public events also take place around the clock, but they are a function of right place, right time. “Defend the Warsat,” “Defeat the Walker,” yeah, good luck seeing one of those things if you’re on the other side of the map. Loot cave was a public event created not by Bungie, but by the simple mechanics of the profit motive and shared interest. Especially for lower level players, working as a group was essential to “getting the job done.” Etiquette for the cave quickly sprung up, enforced by players. (Take a melee smack a couple of times and if you’re not a troll, you get the idea.) All reaped the rewards. We showed up because we wanted to work together, a public example of cooperation not found in any other event, motivated by simple personal interest.
Better yet, the fun really started when Destiny finally tired of players firing on the poor Hive villains and sent in the cavalry. I only experienced this moment once in the short life of the loot cave, but imagine every doorway in the area suddenly releasing streams of higher level characters out to make you regret farming the cave. Mayhem, cage match and best public event ever all rolled into one! While we were just three working the cave, when the absolute bedlam started, others quickly took note. Guardians started rolling in from everywhere – far more than I’ve ever seen for any scripted event. And we laid waste – together. It was my most exciting experience in Destiny and Bungie “events” had nothing to do with it. The players triggered this happening, simply by farming the loot cave.
Encourage Exploration or Destroy It
Why do we explore? Ultimately, for profit. While some do it simply “because it’s there,” one of my objectives is searching for more loot caves. I wanted to find another place where players could gather to work together without a Bungie storyline telling us what to do. While it may have been crazy for level 20s to farm legendary items from Hive characters in the lowly Cosmodrome, would it be so ridiculous or unfair on Mars or Venus? Will players be open about similar exploits if they fear Bungie shutting it down because of those who whine that it’s “unfair,” “unsporting,” “[insert farming/grinding whine here]”? If so, that shuts down the whole cooperative dynamic that developed around the loot cave. Players will go back to scrounging around by themselves and quickly getting bored of doing the same old levels over and over again. Those who remain will just sit, waiting for the digital tap to release some new thing from Bungie before logging on again.
Teach a Man to Fish
Unless Bungie wants Destiny players eternally dependent on new creative investments, instead of feeding off the massive investment they’ve already made, they need more loot caves, not less! The caves simply need adaptation by altering the quality of the drops. Start leaving nothing but common engrams and players quickly realize that this cave is for newer Guardians. Start dropping uncommons and the medium level gamers will take note. Drop the rares and legendaries and its time for the 20+ guys to move in. Give every planet and every world, and every race on that map, its own loot cave, but adjust the level of enemy and level of drops to match the expected player ability. Start the massive enemy assault to rescue their brethren way sooner and make them appropriately potent to the level of players expected to be farming. This preserves the terrific public gaming and exploration dynamic, while encouraging people to work together, not “go it alone.” As it was, the original loot cave could be accomplished solo with great weapons. For a newbie – no chance, go get a team. Why not give characters at every level the same experience and the equivalent profit reaped from exploration, teamwork and commitment?
To keep Destiny going for ten years, exploration, discovery and truly organic events need to be rewarded, not nerfed, ended and punished. (Plus, they need to add Firefight and Generator Defense to the Crucible, but that’s another article.) Players who want to discover the true genius of Destiny, and experience the social experiment that all massive player simulations represent, need to quit sucking on the developer’s teat and start finding out for themselves what each world in this great game has to offer.