I took a break from Sea of Stars just for an hour or so the other day because I noticed another DLC for Destiny 2 was part of our monthly free offerings. In the past I had enjoyed this game a bit because of playing with friends but also was at ends because years ago, after nearly destroying my life with MMORPG addiction I decided to never get involved with a game like this ever again.
For those who do not know, MMORP or MMO stands for "massive multiplayer online role playing game" and it is like any other role playing game outside of one very critical element: The game never actually ends and the idea has become, throughout time, to never make it possible to actually finish the game in the manufacturer's hope that in the search for the best items in the game, that the player will participate in microtransactions that will enable them to acquire the best gear in the game so they can become super-powerful.
src
Even though I know this is the case I do recall having some good times playing certain levels in this game in the past so to pass the time I fired the game up. I was almost immediately realized one of the major reasons that I stopped playing this game not related to my past addiction: The load times are basically unbearable and this is just to get the game started in the first place. It doesn't matter if it was the last game you played or not, it has to connect to the servers, ensure your copy of the game is legit, recognize which things you have paid for or were offered for DLC for free, retrieve all of your data for all of your items and settings, as well as how far you have progressed in the game, all from their servers. This is done as quickly as it can be done but it takes absolute ages.
Then, you have a mess of options for what to do next, many of which are just tooling around on a certain level looking for hidden caves and participating in rotating group events.
src
There was a time in my life where this sort of thing actually appealed to me, but now is not those times and this is mostly because I realize that if there is no one true objective, that this game is designed to frustrate a person into paying money to get past certain objectives rather than go through the slug-fest that is accomplishing them organically through the "free" method.
The people who refuse to pay extra money without micro-transactions are at a severe disadvantage in gameplay because their opportunity to get the gear that other people just paid for is extremely low. Due to I presume legal restrictions, Bungie (the manufacturer) MUST provide a non-paid method of acquiring everything in the game but this would incorporate many hours of grind to accomplish something that can be done immediately for something like $5-$10. Obviously, there is a horde of rich folks out there that will just pay for it so from their perspective, this is actually good business.
Another issue that I had with rejoining this even though I know that I shouldn't do so is that despite the fact that I have already played this game for many hours in the past it was still immensely confusing as to what the hell you are supposed to actually do at any point in time. This video sums it up much better than I can and the owner of the channel has clearly invested a ton of time into the game.
Yet another issue I have always had with this game and others like it is that the game as a whole has clearly been designed for PC players and was ported to consoles. This is evident in nearly any screen where it is easily identifiable that navigation through almost anything was designed with a mouse and keyboard available. Simply navigating the achievements menu is a real chore with a controller.
src
It is so much fun navigating this with a control stick rather than a mouse.
One annoyance that is not just my casual-player-bias that has been noted by hundreds of thousands of players is that the game does an absolutely terrible job of introducing new players to the game. You definitely are going to find yourself stuck very often because it is not at all evident what the hell you are actually supposed to do next. I get it ok? This game is immense and has been around for a very long time and therefore has a ton of options. However, I do think it would be a LOT better if they were to actually limit the number of options that you have available to you until you at least have a grasp on the basics of the game. There are things that are told to you on-screen briefly such as artifacts, which are actually a really important part of progression but you are introduced to the concept of them (don't get me started on strands) before you even have access to them or any sort of concept as to what the hell they are.
Why bother telling me about these things before I can even use them? It a no a make a sense a!
So basically my reason for deleting this from my PS4 after just an hour or so of having Lightfall (one of the latest DLC's) included for free are like this:
- The game constantly and rather aggressively is directing you towards the online store
- There are far too many options and honestly, they should reduce this, at least for new players. It wouldn't be that difficult would it? Like, if you haven't yet finished one particular area at least to a basic degree, why open up a dozen new ones? Players just end up frustrated and quitting.
- You are going to be seriously underpowered in group events and you are not going to have any idea why that is the case
- and finally.... because even if you did understand all of the massive amounts of nuances about this game the fact that it never actually ends is something that convinces me to walk away
So there you have it folks. My disdain for the business model of games like this and other MMO's is something that will always make me leery of participating in anything that is presented at being "free." There's no such thing as a free lunch, or a free game. So I guess it is back to Sea of Stars I go!