(08-28-2015, 11:36 AM)Warren Castille Wrote:(08-28-2015, 11:34 AM)Telluride Wrote: There's also a bit of a danger in suggesting that the only way one can be part of "the community" is to have "war stories" about content.
I don't recall seeing this brought up.
These are the words I'm reacting to (emphases mine):
"I'm having trouble articulating what I mean exactly, but removing the obstacles to reaching X point feels like it removes part of the bond between players. Everyone from 2.0 launch has war stories from Titan HM. Most folks who care about the story came away from 2.55 with powerful emotions regarding the climax. Removing those things from the prerequisites satisfies in the short-term, in my opinion. It means the strangers I'm playing with might truly be strangers, and there would be fewer things that we experienced together-yet-separately to try and draw common ground."
and...
"This community can be stand-offish enough without there being less we all have in common. Then again, maybe I come at this with my own biases. I never understood the "I don't want to play the game" mentality. I didn't have a problem with Ishgard being locked behind content. I don't have a problem with lore cementing jobs in specific places. It just gives me something to strive towards, which to me is the entire point of gear-treadmill games."
The point of discussion, if I understand you, is that you feel we lose something from The Community if we've not all gone through certain content, and have shared skills/achievements/solutions from going through all the same stuff.
It strikes me as kind of like comparing driving with a stick shift to driving with an automatic transmission, maybe. One is harder than the other, and actually can build and require more skills and practice, but such aren't a requirement to enjoy a drive, and in the end, we're all on the same road.
I know that some hate the idea of a player base having too much control/influence over a game's development My own bias, to be fair, is that while I can see this point, I also see the inevitable "Get Gud, Nub, or Get Out" responses to other player issues/wants. While yes, a good game SHOULD have a clarity of vision and its own demands, and there is a point where certain players just might find a better time elsewhere, relying too much on this idea that player complaints and wanting a few shortcuts here and there over time are inherently bad things is just as much a recipe for disaster. C.F: Wildstar.
I am not trying to be terribly confrontational about the subject, but I also hold as a truism that a decision isn't a good one JUST because a dev makes it, nor that getting inured and used to to certain things in a game is the same as ENJOYING them.
Even the best works can benefit from a bit of tweaking over time, and not every challenge is good JUST because it is a challenge.
"But in the laugh there was another voice. A clearer laugh, an ironic laugh. A laugh which laughs because it chooses not to weep."
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