In D1, you start with nothing. You light/power level is 1 or 5, so next to nothing. You are weak, slow, near powerless. As you play, you can feel the power creep and those early enemies aren’t dangerous, it takes them loads more to kill you and you can wreck them. It felt satisfying to finally be able to go down into the cave where invincible enemies appeared and finally be able to kill them. Maybe that isn’t the optimal way of handling things, but it was a fantastic base to work from. In D2, we now start at an artificial number and outside of things that are specifically power leveled, everything always feels the same with input/output because it scales with you. Obviously different guns do different amounts of damage, but my power level doesn’t feel like it matters. 1050 is just 750. So at 1260, outside of being capable of doing activities with requirements, the number doesn’t really mean anything. I don’t suddenly feel more badass. Considering I am not even without my powers now, I’ve never felt at a disadvantage starting a new character. The experience is static and that removes part of the power creep/power fantasy big kids want and smart moms need. The haunted forest is a good example of power creep in reverse. You start out mopping the floor with everyone and as you go deeper, as modifiers are added and enemy levels grow, you feel the danger growing in real time. I know it’s all illusion, but the journey was what I liked about Destiny. Working your way from the bottom to absolutely manhandle enemies. Yeah, they could still become a danger if you did something stupid, but it was great to have to be more cautious starting out and then just walk towards an enemy and just punch them in the face. I don’t feel intimidating anymore. I don’t feel the field of play tilting.