The Black Armory season added a game mode that shooting glowing mobs, picking up orbs and dunking them into a receptacle in the center of the arena generally referred to as “The Forge”. There are two characteristics about this game mode, the first being you have a very short timer in order to complete it and each time you dunk a new orb you gain more points on the clock. Second it is set up on an endless play list where you will keep re-queuing for the forge over and over allowing you to farm it for drops. These two characteristics have lead to a few interesting circumstances in the past, setting up AFK farms.
With the Season of Arrivals, Bungie added in a chance for the new Umbral Engrams to drop from the end of any activity, including unsuccessful forge ignitions. This set up a scenario where players across the game have been AFKing their way to glory since June 9th when the season became active. Players knew about this in part because previously they could farm planetary materials this way. I tried it for a little bit yesterday afternoon and while afking in the background I racked up something around twenty engrams in total. This was patched yesterday evening after being active for six days and allowing folks to essentially grind up to maximum light in the process.
How did this work you might ask, because in theory your engrams should decode at your current light level. Essentially there appears to be another glitch currently active that allows armor-focused umbral engrams to occasionally decode as powerful gear, meaning it will be few light levels over your current level essentially forever ignoring the soft cap. The seems to only work if you purchase armor-focused Umbral engrams one at a time, but through this slow process of working up your armor folks have been able to max out their light at 1060 for the season. If I got roughly 20 engrams over the course of an afternoon, you can multiply that out over the length of six days of 24/7 AFKing with only a short trip now and then to clean out their mailbox.
This method of AFKing the forge largely worked because the AFK time out in Destiny is much longer than the fail condition of the forge. You are effectively matched with players of your own light level, and as a result afkers would artificially lower their light level to sub 700 with even New Light players starting at 750. The idea being that you would only match with players who were also afking, and as such every 50 seconds the match would complete on its own as a failure and then start a 10 second timer kicking folks back to orbit. So essentially once a minute roughly you had a shot of an engram dropping.
With yesterdays patch Bungie made a simple tweak that stops the Forge from queuing up players again, essentially making folks manually queue each time. The funny thing is… folks are still afking the forge even though they are having to queue back up every minute. If you are just wanting to farm Umbral Engrams, the fastest method I have found so far is one particular Nightmare Hunt, namely Dominus Ghaul. It doesn’t involve an awful lot of trash, Ghaul himself is pretty easy to take down, and in my experience you get an engram almost every time you complete the hunt. Better yet you are actually gaining experience which helps move your seasonal journey path forward.
It is my hope that with the breaking of this farm, that folks will actually start doing the planetary events again because in truth I find them pretty fun. However it was impossible to do pretty much anything that involved other players so long as the loot farm was active. I would have been fine legitimately farming forges as well, because it is one of my more favorite activities. However it is real hard to solo a forge when the other two players are perma AFK. I did one last night and even with two players it was a bit of a challenge to hit the timer, but we did it. This is not a grand start to a season, but I do seem to have the inkling to play once more knowing that come September a bunch of activities will be gone from the game. I think my play is more a farewell to the old world more than anything else at this point.
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Yesterday was the big reveal stream for where Bungie is going in the near future laying out a long term road map. As the countdown ticked to the show beginning, the screen showed a sequence of all of the places we visited starting with Destiny 1 all the way through Shadowkeep. All of this to hype us up for the big reveal, and then as the countdown ticked to zero we were presented with this screen. We sat in 8 minutes of 46 seconds of silence as a sequence of slides played out in front of us ending with a number of links to organizations that need our help in the Black Lives Matter movement.
I have to give Bungie huge credit for the way this played out. By hyping us to a fever pitch with the “best hits” reel playing out in the moments as the countdown ticked down, this came across with maximum effect. Those 8 minutes and 46 seconds that the Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck felt like an eternity. I guess I must be following the right crowd because I saw nothing but respect for the display. I still throw some serious side eye that it is to corporations we turn for solace in this time of global need… but it only makes me think more than we are sliding into a shadowrun esc corporate hellscape. That doubt aside however, I still greatly respect Bungie for their actions in not only donating to causes but also in taking time out of their big moment to make sure we remember.
Over the last week we have been getting fragments of a video showing two characters heading towards what we can only assume is Europa. Eris Morn and the Drifter have been characters that are all too willing to blur the lines between the Light and the Dark, so it is befitting that they represent what is ultimately the envoy in dealing with the Darkness. Over the last season the ships were a present threat looming on the Horizon, but now they have arrived and are interacting with the various planets in our solar system in what appears to be a similar manner to how the traveler was described.
The big reveal however is that we are adding a third to this rogues gallery. The Stranger is a character that we have heard nothing from since Destiny 1. She is the infamous source of the line “I don’t even have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain”. She is also the one who called our Ghost “Little Light” and represented a character that knew far more about our circumstances and predicament than our then fledgling guardian first stepping foot into the Ishtar Sink on Venus. Now she has returned at the same time the darkness has returned and appears to be the individual ushering us into the new expansion.
I said earlier that Bungie laid out a roadmap, and in doing so they have announced the next two expansions and with that dispelling any rumors that a Destiny 3 was waiting in the wings. This in theory begins a regular release cadence of a new expansion coming out every September with the first being Beyond Light in 2020, The Witch Queen in 2021 and Lightfall in 2022. Additionally we have an established structure of four seasons per year, which in theory means every three months an infusion of new content. The feature addition for 2020 is that console generations will be able to play together without purchasing the game again as we transition between the PS4/Xbox One to the PS5/Series X. They also hinted that a feature on the longer term roadmap was unifying the players so that there was a single Destiny platform.
I played through the first mission, but that is pretty much as far as I made it last night. I’ve had this fraught relationship with Destiny since the introduction of the seasonal model. Especially with the season pass unlocking a number of items, but only if you manage to make it to level 100 each time. Instead of prompting me to engage and grind away, this has prompted me to check out since I know I won’t actually manage to achieve that goal unless I swap to ONLY playing Destiny. One of my frustrations has been that the seasons set up content that only lasts while that season is currently happening, and in theory content will be sticking around for several seasons afterwards solving one big problem I had.
They also however presented a new problem. They talked about the introduction of the Content Vault, and shelving old content that isn’t seeing much play time. This means that they are going to be removing a number of destinations and activities connected to them including the Leviathan with the release of Beyond Light in September. They said however that they were going to dig into the Destiny 1 vault and pull back out some content from there like the Cosmodrome. Pending they cycle content in and out of the vault on a pretty good schedule, then it might not be a bad thing. I am just not entirely certain how I will feel about losing what is currently my favorite grinding Destination… Titan.
In truth I am not really sure how I feel about the entire model going forward. Like I said, last night I only played long enough to make it through the first mission and even then only because the game didn’t give me a choice. As I loaded into the game the mission started without me having any ability to stop it. After playing through, I went to the Tower, did a bit of maintenance and then logged out to play PSO2. I am not nearly as the friends who are deeply engaged with this franchise. Yesterday for them seemed to be a re-ignition of a spark, and I am pretty jealous of.
It would be a lie if I said I would not be there playing Beyond Light in September. I like the concept of wielding the darkness and growing the abilities we have access to. However due to the stance of rolling out new content and removing old content, I am wondering what exactly we will sacrifice in the process. My preference will always be with constantly expanding the world, making it a more exciting and vibrant place to play. However it seems Bungie feels like they need to shrink it down a bit to keep from having to restart once again with a new game to keep the scope manageable. I understand that desire, and I absolutely do not want Destiny 3 to cause the same big reset that Destiny 2 did. For now I mostly just have to mull over these thoughts and determine at what point I will engage with this franchise again.
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The Medals show Titans by a Massive Lead
First off I think we need to get it out of the way that I am in fact a Titan main in Destiny 2, always have been, and likely always will be. It is the class that I enjoy the most and I don’t see anything changing that. However I have not been actively playing the game because I am more or less checked out on this season. However yesterday I heard about a controversy that is happening over there which lead me to log in and check it out for myself. So for those who are unaware the Guardian Games are going on right now and in theory they are an Olympics themed event where all three classes compete to collect Gold Medals by doing activities, getting laurels by getting ability finishing blows and by completing bounties.
Going into the games however Bungie had a problem that they would have to deal with. Hunters are simply the most popular class in the game period. As I understand it there are more than enough Hunters to account for the population of Titans and Warlocks combined. So going into the games they decided to weight the contribution from each of the classes in an attempt to even things out a bit. To the best of my knowledge there is no real information in how this “leveling of the field” has worked, and I would not be surprised if in an attempt to quell the rumors we see something posted in the TWAB (this week at bungie for the uninitiated). However in the state of things currently there are so many tinfoil hat theories going on about what is happening, and how the hunters who are apparently super vocal are being robbed of what should have been otherwise a certain victory.
If you look at the image above you can see the total progress for each of the classes and Titans are leading by what appears to be a massive margin. So clearly they are cheating right, or at least that is what the rumors are focused on. However last night I decided to hop into the game and check out the games for myself. I queued up for some activities and in each case I was grouped with at least one other Titan, which is highly unusual. I’ve played most activities for years as being the only Titan in a group. However it appears when class pride is on the line, the Titans are showing up in droves. It also helps that Titans have a lot of builds that center around constant regeneration of grenades or melee attacks.
For example last night I was running around with middle tree Sunbreaker and the Hallowfire heart chest piece. Middle tree alone allows me to throw my hammer at targets and pending I pick the hammer back up in time, regenerate my melee instantly so I can throw it again. Hallowfire Heart chest massively increases the recharge rate of your solar abilities while you are holding onto an unused super charge. So this combined with the Grenadier affix that was currently in play meant I had nearly instant recharge on my thermite grenades which do a phenomenal job of wave clear. I was generating so many laurels that it was hard to keep track of them all and make sure that I pick them up. I wish that they would have changed this mechanic so that your and your team mates just automagically gathered them.
So ultimately, are hunters probably getting screwed by math? Absolutely. I have a feeling that Hunters probably account for a lot of the player base who has logged in, created a character and then wandered away from the game. Titans on the other hands are probably played by far more loyalists because they have never been the flashy or popular class. What I also think is happening is a snowball effect and once Titans got the lead, it is bringing wayward Titans like myself out of the woodwork to try and make sure they keep it. I have a feeling that Hunters have just given up, because while I got matched with Warlocks, I didn’t see a single Hunter last night. Titans for days, the occasional Warlock but nothing from my triple jumping friends. Admittedly this is just anecdotal evidence and Bungie might be doing something to try and match make you with the same class. However I also saw a ton of my Titan brethren in the Tower.
Lastly we are going to close this mornings post out with a bit of elation. As I have talked about before, we have a number of neighborhood cats that come to visit… namely to try and find food. “Big boy” as we call him is the most common and the only one friendly enough to actually pet. However the one we try our best to keep tabs on is the three legged female calico that we refer to as “tripod”. We can go months and months without seeing her, and when she finally does show up it is an occasional for cheering. Last night we managed to catch her on the front porch security camera and she looks alive and well. We are always concerned when we don’t see her for any extended period of time, because I get afraid that something “got” her.
Big boy had gobbled up the food that was out there, and after she did a bowl check I fed again. Unfortunately she did not show up on the feed over night, but a new cat that we have never seen before did. We’ve also not really seen much of the cat we refer to as “three”, because are are super creative in our naming of animals. We didn’t want to give any of these a proper name since they are not exactly “ours” but instead just passing by. The camera had been malfunctioning for an unknown amount of time, and I recently had to replace it. So here is hoping we have better luck catching our visitors in the coming weeks. I think all that is wrong with the old camera is the batteries, so I am researching what it would take to swap those out since they are soldered in place. I never expected to get so much joy out of catching glimpses of the random animals that visit.
A “Shootycow” in World of Warcraft
This is probably going to end up being an odd post because I am essentially going down a rabbit hole that was inspired by a comment I received from yesterday’s blog post. In it long time reader and regular commenter Mailvaltar noticed something about my post.
I can’t help but notice that you used the word ‘grind’ an awful lot in this post. In contrast, there’s only one instance where you speak of enjoyment, and that’s the last paragraph where you talk about the fact that the boost kinda ruins said enjoyment (of leveling characters).
I don’t know…maybe just let it all go and play something else entirely…?Mailvaltar
This has lead me to think about it probably more than was intended, but I guess at the end of the day I find grinding to be enjoyable. Sure I didn’t specifically talk about the enjoyment I was having, because for me at least grinding can be relaxing and enjoyable. Like I said at the beginning of this recent string of posts about World of Warcraft, I started playing it again because I needed a game I could more or less shut my brain off while playing it. Living in the time of pandemic has been an extremely stressful thing for me on a personal level. Not only have we not left the house much in the last six weeks, but we have had to figure out how to both be fully functional working adults without stepping on each others toes all the while trying to juggle a completely new skill. I’ve had to learn how to manage a team of sixteen people efficiently without actually having any face to face interaction with them, and my wife has had to figure out how to teach a classroom to a group of students that may or may not have stable internet connections.
Diablo 3 Seasonal Nonsense
The stress has made it to the point where I just really need something soothing to play at night, and in many ways a familiar grind offers an awful lot of solace. You have to realize I am also the guy who gleefully starts a brand new seasonal character in Diablo 3 effectively every three months to grind from scratch and ultimately throw that character away later when I “rebirth” it in another season. There are certain kinds of grinds that just set my mind in order, because I am effectively working entirely on muscle memory. There are kinds of grinds however that I do not find enjoyable, and probably part of the confusion is that I rarely give much effort to explaining what makes one fun and another not so fun.
I think the mindset I have at the time ultimately is what changes things for me. If I feel like I am forced to do something that I don’t really enjoy… see PVP requirements in games like Destiny 2 gating some weapon that I want or grinding for faction in a zone I hate like Nazjatar or even the relatively frustrating methods of leveling alternate jobs in Final Fantasy XIV. Those are grinds that can wear me down and make me want to walk away from a game for an indefinite period of time. Leveling a brand new character through questing and roaming around the world doing bite sized world quests for faction… those are both the sort of grind that sets my mind at ease and allows me to just go with the flow of the game ultimately relaxing me.
My favorite zone in Destiny 2 for mindless grinding
My favorite activity in Destiny is doing public events and patrol missions, because it is the sort of bite sized repeatable entertainment that allows me to just zone out and enjoy myself. Similarly I think the main reason why I have never gotten into Warframe is that there isn’t really any equivalent to that sort of self directed engagement. Everything in the game is mission focused with an objective, and I seem to always avoid doing things that put me on someone else’s schedule. I hate anything that happens on a timer, or anything that involves leading or following another NPC away, because it forces me into a rhythm of game play that is not my own. Those kind of grinds are ones that I am forced into and not one that I choose on my own.
The problem for me at least is that I find it extremely hard to predict ahead of time if a grind is going to be one that I find personally fulfilling. On some level there needs to be some goal that I am working towards to keep me engaged. The goal needs to feel reachable, so like 2000 kills instead of 20,000 kills, but there also needs to be a chance of me having something interesting happen in the process. There needs to be enough friction to keep me interested, but not so much that it knocks me out of a flow state while grinding. Like I said before it needs to be an activity that I am participating in mostly from muscle memory and not really requiring much in higher order thinking. Finally and most importantly I need to find the moment to moment game play mechanically enjoyable. It needs to feel good for example when I charge into a new pack of mobs and drop my first few attacks on them. Charging in as a Warrior and dropping a Thunderclap just feels good, and is probably never going to reach a point where it feels stale.
The games that filled this niche for me growing up were the various JRPGs that I obsessed about, probably none more than Final Fantasy VI. This is not my screenshot because I played on the Super Nintendo and don’t have any images from 1994. However I spent countless hours roaming around aimlessly killing whatever monsters I happened to encounter. I spent weeks trying various things in the Colosseum in the World of Ruin, or trying to steal stuff with the Genji Glove. It allows me to play for a very short amount of time or hours at a time. I think I put off beating the game for as long as I possibly could, because I have always hated when something I am super into ends. I am not sure if I have ever beaten any RPG, without grossly over-leveling and out-gearing the content. I guess you have to understand that I am never chasing “challenge” but instead a mindless state of blissful escape where I turn off my brain for awhile and just become one with the experience. This is what the grind is for me.
