• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Destiny receives a new Leveling System with The Taken King release. Step aside RNG.

Zocano

Member
But really, though, the light level was just a transparent gear check. I don't see how obfuscating it makes the game "better". Unless the loot system itself drastically changes, you'll still be grinding for loot to be able to do harder content to grind for better loot. The light level just made this loop more obvious and it frustrated people to realize that this is all the loot hunt cycle was?
 
My question is, will the xp leveling retroactively take into account the exiting amount of xp earned?

I'm a 34, but would probably safely say I have enough overall xp to be a level 40 (unless it's a crazy amount of xp between levels).
 

Falchion

Member
Glad to see even more changes coming, the loot one in particular was frustrating when you had to play the same checkpoint 3 times a week for months to get 1 item and you would see it drop for fireteam members who had already gotten in multiple times.
 
Oh God yes please. Stopped playing as I didn't want to pour days into things I didn't want to do and what I enjoyed doing got me nowhere post-25ish. Very excited for this now, I love Destiny but RNG as a hard necessity for progress broke it for me. If they pull this off I'm back in hard.
 
It's idiotic why this wasn't the case from the very beginning. If it was, I might still be into Destiny. I absolutely hated how progression was tied to RNG. Unfortunately, for me, it's too little too late in this case, though.
 

Xeroblade

Member
So this update comes out when The Taken King releases? It is finally time to jump back in. I hated you Destiny please keep me this time.
 
“The conflation of gear and character level led to this place where your identity was determined by things outside of your control,” says creative director Luke Smith. “We don’t want to do that.”

Translation: We're changing things so there are more opportunities to pay for stuff suckas!
 

Rocketz

Member
Well good thing I'm on a break now. No sense in playing the game until the expansion comes out but I like the news.
 

border

Member
It's still bizarre to me that people were so insanely hung up on the Light system, or that this change is the thing that makes them want to come back.

The best details about the expansion are actually buried in the Game Informer print article:

-- gain weapon upgrade materials by dismantling old weapons (sounds like an enchanting/jewel-slotting type system, or maybe just the replacement of Ascendent Energy)
--No more class based armor materials (Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating, etc). There will be one armor material that can be used by all classes
--Special vendor that lets you pick up any shader or emblem you have already acquired on your account (no more wasting vault space on shaders). Further vault/storage solutions on the way
--Green/white weapons will be more powerful than your current legendaries
--Details about Exotic Weapons -- auto rifle that shoots chain lightning, sniper rifle that blinds enemies on a headshot, pulse rifle that reloads magazine when you land precision shots, fusion rifle that counts as a heavy weapon and acts as a portable rail gun
--Exotic items now have their "defining perk" immediately unlocked (eg You can do a blinding bubble as soon as you acquire Helm of Saint 14, no need to level it up)
--Crucible will have questlines that introduce you to Shaxx and the various faction leaders
 

EloquentM

aka Mannny
While I am happy about this I'm wondering it it'll be a positive to the level grinding. I think the only positive I see is that rerunning the same missions actually mean something to your level gain now.
 

Afrocious

Member
It's still bizarre to me that people were so insanely hung up on the Light system, or that this change is the thing that makes them want to come back.

The best details about the expansion are actually buried in the Game Informer print article:

-- gain weapon upgrade materials by dismantling old weapons (sounds like an enchanting/jewel-slotting type system, or maybe just the replacement of Ascendent Energy)
--No more class based armor materials (Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating, etc). There will be one armor material that can be used by all classes
--Special vendor that lets you pick up any shader or emblem you have already acquired on your account (no more wasting vault space on shaders). Further vault/storage solutions on the way
--Green/white weapons will be more powerful than your current legendaries
--Details about Exotic Weapons -- auto rifle that shoots chain lightning, sniper rifle that blinds enemies on a headshot, pulse rifle that reloads magazine when you land precision shots, fusion rifle that counts as a heavy weapon and acts as a portable rail gun
--Exotic items now have their "defining perk" immediately unlocked (eg You can do a blinding bubble as soon as you acquire Helm of Saint 14, no need to level it up)
--Crucible will have questlines that introduce you to Shaxx and the various faction leaders

Damn son.

This is good. Quite.
 

kiguel182

Member
It's still bizarre to me that people were so insanely hung up on the Light system, or that this change is the thing that makes them want to come back.

The best details about the expansion are actually buried in the Game Informer print article:

-- gain weapon upgrade materials by dismantling old weapons (sounds like an enchanting/jewel-slotting type system, or maybe just the replacement of Ascendent Energy)
--No more class based armor materials (Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating, etc). There will be one armor material that can be used by all classes
--Special vendor that lets you pick up any shader or emblem you have already acquired on your account (no more wasting vault space on shaders). Further vault/storage solutions on the way
--Green/white weapons will be more powerful than your current legendaries
--Details about Exotic Weapons -- auto rifle that shoots chain lightning, sniper rifle that blinds enemies on a headshot, pulse rifle that reloads magazine when you land precision shots, fusion rifle that counts as a heavy weapon and acts as a portable rail gun
--Exotic items now have their "defining perk" immediately unlocked (eg You can do a blinding bubble as soon as you acquire Helm of Saint 14, no need to level it up)
--Crucible will have questlines that introduce you to Shaxx and the various faction leaders

Whites more powerful than legendaries? Wow.

Quests with factions too? My god. TTK just keeps delivering.
 
I don't see how this really changes all that much. The RNG still very much exists, the game will still give you loot completely randomly, so the grind to get the items you really want will still be there (with just the slight assistance that you will be less likely to get a dozen universal remotes along the way). The only difference here is that it won't effect your base level anymore, an issue that stopped being an issue for everyone that still plays long ago when they completed their first set of legendarys.
 

kiguel182

Member
While I am happy about this I'm wondering it it'll be a positive to the level grinding. I think the only positive I see is that rerunning the same missions actually mean something to your level gain now.

One good thing is that you can use whatever armour you want without worry about light level.
 

kiguel182

Member
At this point the only thing I wish is matchmaking for everything but Raids. That's the one thing left.

Optional matchmaking obviously.
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
Do you even Destiny community thread, bro? ;)

Kidding aside, though- the problems are many. Some improvements were made to the engram/cryptarch system, but raid drops are still a horrible joke. Same with exotics.

There are still way too many people putting entirely too much grind time in trying to get a lucky roll on a loot drop so they can have that one precious thing they've been hoping for since...you know...whenever. Just saw someone earlier in this thread hoping that the changes mean they can finally get a Ballerhorn. He/she's not alone.

I probably have over 1000 hours into Destiny, so I probably know the community a bit :) That's why I think there's a difference between an actual problem versus just stuff people complain about. I don't see any problem with exotics w/r/t RNG, so I guess I'm not sure what people complain about there other than "No hawkmoon yet!" or "No ballerhorn yet!". But I don't see that as a problem. Exotics should truly be RNG - either you get lucky or you don't, and besides, Xur mitigates this somewhat. The bigger problem is when some exotics are so much better than other exotics, it exacerbates RNG issues with exotics. That's the problem with ballerhorn (or other exotics sucking so much), not necessarily an RNG problem.

And you are definitely right that some folks put way too much into getting a particular weapon.
 

TomShoe

Banned
Anyone think selling my base copy of Destiny will be worth at least $10? I was just gonna buy the Legendary Edition to get all the DLC on the cheap. It would cost me $75 otherwise.
 

Hollow

Member
This is how it should have been from the start.

Too little too late for me. Already sold my copy and I'm not rebuying just for the DLC.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
•progression has been reworked entirely since the game launched. Leveling from 1 to 40 is now based entirely on your own actions.

•A new behind-the-scenes reward system pays attention to the gear and weapons you already have, and not only attempts to avoid giving the same reward multiple times, but targets you for new loot that will be valuable for progression.

•You can carry more bounties at any one time, and turn them in without returning to the bounty giver.

•the Cryptarch more reliably provides rewards that match the engrams you give him.

•Quests provide meaningful story progression, and clearly trackable paths through all the game's content, thereby lessening the grind.

•The Crucible has improved matchmaking, and a mercy rule ends matches early when any given contest is dramatically misbalanced.

•Crucible heavy and special ammo drops and economies have been reworked to be more understandable and useable.

• Weapons have been balanced across the board, with the aim to eliminate the dominance of just a few weapons, and make every weapon type a compelling choice.

• Whether your gauge is number of Crucible maps, exotic weapons, or playable mission, Destiny now has more than twice as much content as the original release. While Taken King introduces the first fully explorable new gameplay area, the new story mission zones, raids, and arena add substantial real estate to uncover.


Player UI/UX
Intelligence, Discipline, and Strength abilities now have numbered tiers to strive toward. Tiers are digital thresholds that you cross to reduce the cool down on your core three powers. Instead of a percentage, we want to tell you the time in secnds that your ability is going to come back in.

Music
Newly composed music was made for the early story missions.

Gear (Ghost Shell Hype!)
Weapons, armor, class items, and even your Ghost shell all offer perk customization as well as increased power and light for your hero.

Gunsmith and Armsday
•The Gunsmith has his own reputation meter.

•You can test weapons by borrowing them.

• Hit a certain reputation level and he will open Armsday purchase. You can pay glimmer once a week to order a new legendary weapon. W/ random sets of perks.

In case anyone missed this from the other thread. Every character and system got overhauled, for the better from what we're seeing.
 

kiguel182

Member
I'm definitely on the hype train.

Until TTK I guess I'll just bring level my Defender and the Suros I got from Xur. No point in grinding for weapons that much.

I still mostly play Destiny while listening to podcasts so I guess I'll continue with that. Still no better game to relax and shoot things.

And this time I'll be ready for raids with everyone at the start so that should be fun.

EDIT: The only thing I don't like about TTK is how it doesn't give you the two DLCs if you have the base game. It should be 40 and have everything. No point in forcing you to buy the base game again.
 
I probably have over 1000 hours into Destiny, so I probably know the community a bit :) That's why I think there's a difference between an actual problem versus just stuff people complain about. I don't see any problem with exotics w/r/t RNG, so I guess I'm not sure what people complain about there other than "No hawkmoon yet!" or "No ballerhorn yet!". But I don't see that as a problem.

Yeah, I get that. I'd even say your reasoning is strong and points are well made. But our conversation started after you said that RNG wasn't among the community's top complaints. That's not the case at all.
 
In case anyone missed this from the other thread. Every character and system got overhauled, for the better from what we're seeing.

Man what an over hall. Bungie is putting in some serious effort to address this issues for this game, and Year 2 is looking mighty damn promissing
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
My biggest complaint about Destiny is how much of a grindfest it is, so this is awesome news. I wish they'd get rid of some of the rare yet still vital currencies, too. It all feels so pointless. Just let me upgrade my armor and weapons without all the tedious busy work.
 
These are the changes that Destiny needs for me to feel more fulfilled with it, but I also have a feeling that those people who were content with chasing around RNG for as long as it takes will end up dropping the game quicker than they normally would because they'd achieve their goals at a rate that I'd assume would be quicker. Well hopefully it pays off for Bungie.
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
Yeah, I get that. I'd even say your reasoning is strong and points are well made. But our conversation started after you said that RNG wasn't among the community's top complaints. That's not the case at all.

Well that's true. But they complain about everything! :)

I already have my TTK preordered so I am in regardless. I just get frustrated when I see fixes to these kinds of things and not the bigger issues, but I realize that, for some, this might be a big issue (though I would be surprised if the smart loot extended to cover exotics).
 
F4qKX87.png
 
Top Bottom