Published , by Bill Lavoy
Published , by Bill Lavoy
Okay, Guardians, we’re back for our second ever edition of 7 Tower Thoughts. If you missed the first edition, you can click the tag at the bottom of this post to see a list of them all. This week is looking a bit lighter, but I’m all for taking it easy every now and then.
I can’t be angry at Bungie for releasing a hotfix that contains nothing, then taunting players about a secret quest. I look back at all the nonsense that folks like Kevin Yanes had to deal with and all I can hope is that he wrote the notes himself. Bungie was being completely serious when they said there was nothing to see here, but they’re also intelligent enough to know that we wouldn’t believe them. To see how every single one of us felt when we read those notes, just watch the first 35 seconds of this Aztecross video.
The Festival of the Lost arrives next week, and the armor is looking fantastic. It’s the first armor I’ve seen in quite awhile that I feel the need to acquire for all three classes. My only hope is that the event itself isn’t a major grind. I’m admittedly burned out on Destiny 2 right now, and I think the same goes for quite a few players. I fear that a grindy event will create more heat in a player base that seems somewhat tired and grumpy. It’s going to be a grind, isn’t it?
It’s time to do away with the Power grind and locking content behind it each season. As I enjoyed my first week of GMs, what stood out the most was how I would love to tackle these challenges with some of the friends that just don’t have the time to grind Pinnacles for Power. They are all veteran Guardians with enough skill to tackle a GM, but they’re excluded because the number next to their name is off by one or two points. When you lock people out of content for silly reasons, you lock them into the casual box. Activity engagement in Destiny 2 shouldn't come from forcing people into a Power grind, but instead by opening up the doors to content that they might find entertaining and rewarding. Do you want to complete your three weekly Gambit matches so you can take a random shot at a +1 Power boost in one of eight slots, or would you rather work on a GM build and spend a night conquering The Glassway?
Bungie announced via this week’s TWAB that they would be phasing out planetary materials, citing a need to reduce the currencies players must be mindful of. It’s a welcome change and a good sign that the studio realizes the game has become too convoluted in its economy. I have 4,000 hours in Destiny overall and I could open my inventory any day of the week and find a currency that I couldn’t explain the use for without combing through the Shacknews Destiny 2 guide archives. I’m more than ready to lose more of the nonsense in Destiny 2 that causes problems with progression and build crafting.
After being terrorized in PvP content by Lord of Wolves and Omnioculus, Bungie continues to rework the weapon. You love to see it, but it also makes me nervous. Lord of Wolves has taken on an almost Telesto-like vibe for me. I’m dreading the idea that even after a nerf, something is going to go terribly wrong, and we’ll have at least one week of PvP where Lord of Wolves enjoys a reunion tour. Speaking of which, Telesto hasn’t broken the game recently, has it?
Every week I take a few minutes to grab a quick video for the Shacknews Twitter and Facebook accounts that show the location of Xur. As it stands now, Xur can only spawn in three locations, and is in desperate need of a refresh to make his arrival and time in Destiny 2 more interesting. While I realize this is probably small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, Xur is still one of the more popular vendors in Destiny 2, and every week our analytics show that players want to visit the Agent of the Nine. It’s time that he had his potential spawns multiplied by a factor of five, and his inventory expanded to include more of the Exotic armor and weapons in Destiny 2. I’m not holding my breath on this one.
I’ve had a few Guardians tell me that they found the Season of Plunder story to be a bit slow. A bit underwhelming. I’ve liked the theme well enough myself, and I’m always excited to get cinematic scenes with the major players from Season of Plunder. However, I would agree that we could use something to tie it all off in the coming weeks. I think that if this season passes and we don’t get a “one more thing” moment in the final few weeks, there will be some salty Guardians.
That's it for me this week, Guardians. Enjoy your weekend and don't Destiny too hard. Take some breaks and rest up for Festival of the Lost next week. If you do dig into the game, be sure to let me know what you're working on, or any thoughts you have on the seven topics we touched on today.