Eurogamer Article from 8/21/14

[Scottypalooza]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-21-bungie-on-the-destiny-level-cap-raids-and-game-size

 

I found this article to be a nice read. Although there is nothing particularly new I wanted to be able to share this with everyone and I did not see any other forums for news articles. I hope you all enjoy the read!

[Hitmanv8]

Good Article! Although I hate how many whining kids there are out there about no match making for the raids. They are so used to getting everything dumbed down and spoon fed to them that they forget that some things require effort on their end. Also the " I do not have 5 other friends  to play with" is not an excuse. God forbid you have to look up from your phone and be social for a change and actually interact with someone new. Gosh I am only 32 but all this technology and social media has made the kids these days lazy, and lacking real social skills.

[Jaccub]

So I was one of those "whining kids", "lazy and lacking real social skills" who campaigned for matchmaking for raids :P. My view was that Bungie is limiting, what they describe as a fundamental component of their game, to dedicated gamers at the expense of more casual players. Their raid designer as well as DeeJ recently publicly announced that they recognize such decision will take away the raid experience from many players, which they describe as a trade-off. Fine. As long as they recognize this and feel their decision is of more benefit than harm, then I can understand. 

I guess raids arn't for everyone. The example DeeJ gave is that people couldn't even stay in for 12 minute PvP match, how are they suppose to stay for many many many hours for raids?

My second reason for encouraging Bungie to support making is that Destiny seriously lacks a solid framework for social interactions and meeting new people. Unless your in a clan, it's very difficult for new players to find people they enjoy playing with. It's pretty difficult to mime your thoughts with wave, sit and dance. So much so, that I called one of my friends and ended up bringing my 27" monitor to his apartment to play beta side by side for 2 days. So I'm hoping Bungie will fix this and make their "social game" live up to its standards by introducing solid communications infrastructure.

[MetalGeist]

I respect their decisions and also appreciate it.  I fully believe match making does indeed dumb down the raiding experience and I also happen to agree that their "social" game is heavily lacking in social infrastructure to a point that it's inhibiting to the average player.  The reason I respect and appreciate these decisions is that Bungie is now in the position to watch and learn and listen to feedback in order to educate themselves on why and how they would need to implement these functions without damaging the raid structure they've created thus far.

They now have a choice to add those functions if they deem fit to, where as if they had added those things from the start, they would never be able to remove them without killing their game all together.  I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some kind of implementation down the road.

[Jaccub]

Perhaps after their casual player base, whom I believe to be the majority, starts tapering off and not buying their expansion packs. Then the companies bottom line becomes priority and they'll do whatever to keep the sales high. Personally, I'm going to buy all their expansions (have already bought the first two). But it'll be interesting to see what happens to those that would like to raid but don't make the effort to find a clan.

[Dustranamus]

Not to sound like an elitist, but I am very supportive of no Raid Match Making.

It may sound as if it will create social friends, it won't I have seen this in all the new wave of MMO's and WoW implementing it.  It basically slams together a bunch of people who rarely talk and if they do talk it's to belittle a newer raider for not knowing how to do "easy mode raids".  

Typically people leave when they get loot, the boss they wanted loot from doesn't drop any, a few wipes etc.

I have always been supportive of tough raiding, FF14, (current raids, not the old stuff after a patch) (EQ2) etc.  It is fun to have  a challenge in both your problem solving skills, communication skills, patience and ability to come together with strangers to work hard at something and genuinely become friends. EQ2 was my first MMO I still talk to a large majority of my friends  made there via Facebook, some games now and then, and consider them friends even though we have never met, and it's been 11 years now.

This is your rewards for no matchmaking, if Bungie wants it to mean something to raid, and say bravo to those like (LOOT), rather than saying everyone who will have the patience to wait 30 minutes after leaving a bad team to re-queue can get everything, that those who make a real effort to form friendships, and learn the game together can.

However, I do really think they should add more social features, I think the only thing preventing them from adding a chat, like say Trade Chat, or looking for Raid channel is that it will lose it's PG13 rating, and parents will say oh no! They need to figure something out to let strangers connect rather than making them go to the forums.

[Fendya]

My biggest concern with Matchmaking is it would be too easy to become a lone wolf and never interact with the community. I say this because people usually take the path of least resistance.

If I know I can do the best content using MM and not have to put the energy into meeting others and investing myself into new relationships, I might just take the easy way out and skip joining a clan all together. And while there's nothing wrong with that play style, I definitely feel I'd be losing out on a deeper gaming experience. 

 

 

[MetalGeist]

Maybe they should introduce a bar where proximity chat is enabled.  (only in that area)  You can hang out to dance, socialize, plan your next move while looking through your inventory, look for group and make fireteams with people you enjoyed chatting with.  *shrug*

[Hitmanv8]

I agree with everything Dust said, I remember from even doing WOW Heroics to gear up for Raids that most MM groups members would leave if their item did not drop for a specific boss or we had two back to back wipes or that poor guy who it was his first time doing the Heroic and did not know where to stand or do would get us wiped they would /ragequit.

Not to mention the fact that no one talked or communicated in anyway, it was almost understood that you would get no help and you better know what you are doing or good luck and go back to the queue.

I also agree that there has to be some type of chat in Destiny, preferably some designated spot in the Tower, I believe it would alleviate a lot of the concerns, the challenge lies in trying to filter everything that is said, from Racism to Chuck Norris jokes.