TL;DR at bottom
From what I saw of people playing this section, there were three major sources of frustration. The turbine arms were one of them, and as they were the ones that regularly killed you people blamed the arms. However, these were the puzzle themselves, and by "amputating" the arms, they've removed any bit of challenge (and unfortunately I know the room will not look as cool without multiple technicolor arms).
The real issue was the other two parts of the puzzle: the alternate pathways and the objective notification.
Alternate Pathways: Most people did not seem to understand that though the outside portion of the room would damage them, it did not instantly kill and could be used to get around the chamber. They also tended not to notice that there was a small ledge in the centre of the chamber between the two turbine arms they could use to face the hole directly. Put lights around the inner ledge and give the outer coils a pulsing glow. This will clear up confusion about the area, allow players to notice the alternate routes without being straight up told, and even warn them that the outer coils will damage but not kill because of the pulse.
Objective Markers: The diamonds that pointed out where the next piece to shoot was located were grey. They did not show up well, and they did not track well, as they would switch between which piece to target next depending on proximity. That made it very confusing as people didn't know what they were targeting until they were already in a hole, and then didn't know how to get to another hole until it was too late. Instead, these markers should white and black diamonds like they were in Destiny 1 as that is easier to see and still not distracting. And to make it clear to players, bring all three up when ghost finishes outlining the objective verbally. That way it's clear what guardians are attempting.
And if you REALLY think it's too hard after that, just slow down the turbines a bit. Goodness, the turbines are really not that bad. People just hate the second arm because they're frustrated and it's the only source they can see on which to take out their anger. That room was one of the COOLEST things I saw in the whole beta. It was creative and different, and clearly signaled a connection with the energy we use for light. Removing part of that visual effect will make it a LOT less majestic, and we NEED those creative centerpieces to bring some life to the game.
TL;DR Put the arms back, give environmental clues to the alternate pathways, and make the objective markers CLEAR from the start so guardians know what they're trying to accomplish. That will make dealing with the turbines simpler and more direct. And without the arms, I know the room will look WAY less awesome.
-
1 ReplyI played the mission twice. Once as a titan, the second as a warlock. I never played as a titan in D1. So I have no basis for comparison on movement. but anyway, going thru as a titan, I didn't even bother to try to jump to the middle. I assumed it would prevent you from landing there, so I didn't bother. I went to the left to the first drop zone, no problem. the problem I had was getting out of the drop zone and running to the next. I had to double jump to get out , but then I floated back down really slowly getting killed 2 or 3 times. I finally timed it perfect to get thru the whole thing. Nothing wrong with it in design. But I think for lessor skilled players the top turbine could have been slowed down just a tad as that was what i was getting killed by. but it doesn't matter they have changed it. A good developer would have had 1 blade on normal difficulty, 2 blades on heroic difficulty, and faster blades on legendary difficulty. But Bungie is cheap and lazy and none of that will happen .