Defiance is a console MMO that released last year. Not only did it have a game, but the company ambitiously also gave it a TV show that aired weekly and as things happened in the show, things would change in the game. Unfortunately for this ambitious project, the game itself was not very good and currently holds a Metacritic ranking in the 60's by both users and critics. Aside from issues such as connections, vehicles being stopped dead by tiny rocks, repetitive quests, and lazy voice acting, the biggest problem I feel was with their character progression. In Defiance you don't have a class, but after a short tutorial you get a skill point and can put it in one of a few powers. From this point, the skill tree is more like a skill web- you can put points in any skill adjacent to one you already have a point in- allowing a huge range of possibilities. It's like the 'Path of Exile' system if any of you have played that, but without the 'lines' between skills telling you what direction you can go in. Despite how overwhelming this system is at first, it is actually very enjoyable. There's a sense that each person is unique and that you can do whatever you want with your character... and I don't believe it was ever costly to reset your points and try again. They did that part fine. The actual issue, however, was instead with how weapons were handled. And this is why I put this in the Destiny Forum. In Defiance, you start with mediocre weapons that are fine for the situation. The problem is... as you progress through the game, you don't get better weapons- just different ones. There's rarely a gun that is 'objectively' better than one you get a few hours into the game from a random enemy. You could go on and join a party to take on bosses even if you only just played the tutorial. The skill web isn't exactly a game changer in that regard- it just provides smaller bonuses like getting 5% of your shield back after killing an enemy, or doing just a few percent higher damage at the center of the web. Nothing [i]too[/i] drastic. The issue is that this leaves people with a lack of enthusiasm for progressing. Why play if you can't get better- can't improve- in a game with 'RPG' as its center? You're appealing to that crowd without giving them the thing that makes the game appeal to them. If everybody is on an equal level with small exceptions, then there is no real progression or point in getting better loot. The thing that scares me is Destiny multiplayer. We know special and heavy weapons will have ammo as a scarcity, but that's not the issue. If this is supposed to be a game where you can just play for short intervals and be alright, how will Bungie make it so you can keep up with the dedicated gamers? And how will the dedicated gamers be rewarded for that time- surely a person that has played for 100 hours doesn't want to be at the same level as someone that has played for five! Exotic weapon powers aside, will higher level weapons do more damage? If they do more damage, how will kill times be affected as we level? Will we be separated by 'gear numbers' sort of like WoW and Bungie will count on higher level shields countering higher damage levels? Or will a 5 hour player be able to step into the game with their friends and take down an end-game raid boss effectively? In multiplayer, surely they won't limit the gear we can choose since it's all about building our own guardian, yet Bungie has also talked about how facing someone that has an exotic with an awesome ability won't automatically spell death for you- but if that same exotic doesn't give you an advantage, why acquire it? Honestly I just worry how MM is going to work in Destiny. And at its core, I pray that Bungie won't go the path of Defiance with weapons. Sure we have skill trees in weapons, but will those make a significant difference (since we have never really seen comparisons of weapon damage and the likes based on levels, rarities, and weapon ascension)? And if they do make a difference, how will that be balanced? Don't take away meaningful progression. Different weapons are not better weapons inherently, and not all non-exotic weapons should be bundled together as nearly the same such as Defiance has. So yes. Basically, I think Destiny needs meaningful weapon progression in addition to building specific foci for our guardians or people won't have any enthusiasm for staying in the world. I like collecting awesome or interesting items in games- so I hope weapons will have unique things about them... aside from exotic weapon powers.