The curious case of the misconception of the word "EARNED"
I have also added a TL;DR at the bottom. BUT I hope you read it :)
Misconception- a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on [u][b]faulty thinking[/b] [/u]or understanding.
Earn- To [i]acquire or deserve[/i] as a [u]result [/u]of [b]effort[/b] or [b]action:[/b]
The main words you should focus on are effort OR action.
I, like many of you, have been on the forums and have seen the word earned "loosely" thrown around. At the end of this post, you will see how people get their perception of "earn".And also how....they are right.
Let's dig deep. Let's find the origin and evolution of the word "Earned" in Destiny.
There was a time, oh yes, when "technically" loot was earned, which was all perception. Regardless, Those days are OVER. Very rare occasions will be considered now ( such as the new hard mode for Crota) But we will get to that in a second, And so it begins.......
Like many of you, I have put more time in this game than the next person.
Xur was a tough choice in the beginning weeks. At this point in the game now I could buy every item Xur is selling and still have coins. STILL have coins. There is more stuff to do now. More stuff to earn coins from.. There has been time to make more characters to earn more coins per week.
But, In the beginning, you had to choose. For me, I DID get the red death. I, like many other players, saw that the Gjallahorn was week 2. And we passed on it. Straight up passed on it. This was because the coins were not as plentiful as they are now. I chose to NOT get the Gjallahorn ( and many did as well) because it was a heavy. It did not warrant the coins because you can only use it in certain situations and not all the time. And the coins were also put into Exotic gear, not just weapons. It was an actual choice.
Coins were an issue. The next week he sold the Suros. I was moving across the country and could not be on. I was 3 coins short for the Suros.
Week 3 of Xur, him selling the Suros, is the first known ( historic if you will) occasion in which the "Earn" war was started. A few lucky guardians had got the Suros through nightfalls. At this point in the game the Suros was the crucible king. ( the one and only). The nightfall SUROS users did not feel special anymore. Their special gun just got unleashed to the masses. This is an important date,. Many occurrences happened since then. " Last Word will break Crucible" "Patients and Time will break the game" and so on.....to now...." I earned Icebreaker, you bought it!"
For the Suros, I actually gave my friend my information, he got on my account and grinded to get the remaining coins. Yes, the times were different. I would not be able to live with myself if I did not get it after the Gjallahorn debacle.
There was a time when nightfalls were HARD. When it first dropped, it was level 28. The average guardian was light level 25-27. The first nightfall ever I believe was Sepiks Prime. THAT was hard. I remember it taking hours, i mean HOURS to do.. Snipers would one shot you, well, anything would one shot you. It took more than half of your ammo to down a captain. MOST IMPORTANTLY, there were really no icebreakers, Suros, Thorns, thunderlords etc. Guns like that were unicorns. When you did see them, it was XUR WEEK for ( insert gun) !
Very few had seen the majestic beasts with their own eyes. We were stuck using crap guns. I mean CRAP guns lol.
So let's walk through it. At the end of the nightfall, let's say you got the Suros Regime. Which was a big deal and ultra rare in the crucible, then you had a feeling of accomplishment. You felt that you EARNED that weapon, but actually, you got lucky. Back then, there was very little content. That nightfall was your endgame. There was even less to do than there is now.
Exotic weapons came even weirder than they do now. Mostly from crucible and legendary engrams aside from that one shot at the nightfall. Legendary engrams were not uncommon. I can remember getting 3-5 a night with the loot cave. BUT they turned into Blues......always.....moving on.
Then VoG dropped, then a huge overhaul when the dark below dropped.
Any player that was here since launch knows that this game we are playing now , is completely different than the one we had at launch.
There is more content. You can buy everything in Xurs inventory now if you wanted to.....plus 35 Heavy Ammo Synthesis.
Most players have 3 characters. If you have only one, then there is still a great amount of content to get an exotic.
Nightfalls, couple chances in the VoG, couple chances in Crotas end. If you have 3 charatcers, with those alone, that is at least 15 shots at an exotic per week. Per WEEK. Compared to the 1-3 chances you got when the game came out. When the next expansion comes out, you will get more than that. The number of chances are getting greater and greater. All the while, those chances you get are getting cheesier and cheesier to get them .
Nightfalls now and even raids are no where near has hard as they once were due to light level.
That is why we play, for loot, and it is at no surprise that the player base has found ways to make those chances a cakewalk through cheese.
Oh yeah. Xur is here also.
The world of Destiny has evolved and is evolving. The chances you get to obtain an exotic makes the task MUCH MUCH easier. So easy, you can now buy one on Fridays. I am on the side that I want to try EVERY gun in this game and I want others to try as many as they can as well.
Even DeeJ throws it around " ( referring to a shader) Finally, there’s also a Hard Mode Exclusive color palette for your gear. It’s called Glowhoo.[u] The first of you to [b]earn it[/b] gets to show it off.[/u]"
And I add the Deej comment because I have already seen people say..." Yeah, cheese crota for that shader" " You REALLY EARNED THAT ONE"
Bungie is learning. We are learning. The game will continue to evolve. They have made a very ambitious game. A great game.
The term " EARNED" is more Grey, than black or white, but this holds true: ( Which is also the TL;DR version)
In the infant stage of destiny and in now, very rare, circumstances such as hard mode. You could say you earned your weapons. That is where you get this:
Earn- [b]To acquire [/b]or deserve [b]as a result of [/b]effort or [b]action[/b]
Now, with the many chances you get. The countless hours you have grinded to get that ONE weapon you want, but just have not been lucky enough to obtain. Wow Xur just brought the Icebreaker!! That is where you get this:
Earn: [b]To[/b] acquire or [b]deserve as a result of effort [/b]or action:
*drops mic*
English
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So true
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Necrobreaker
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No one cares if you think they earned something they have their gun they're happy. You're bitching on the forums. Guess whose coming out to the good here.
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so old, but still holds true !
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I "EARNED" my coins= EARNED my icebreaker
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Just perfect
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The game is over saturated with exotics as is. It's getting good legendaries to fill the remaining spots that's hard. That's the reason why VoG primaries still reign supreme. That said I'm glad Xur sold something useful for once. I "deserved" it after getting NLB :) from him. People are angry because they ain't 'pecial anymore. I felt the same when Xur sold PaT, 2 day after I found one. You'll get over it. For me it means I'm more capable, so is every other Joe I get to run strikes and raids with. That's good in my book.
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Eat a$$
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When I find an exotic before Xûr sells it, or I get the exotic, and then Xûr sells it, I think of it as I got the weapon for free, and in advance. I honestly don't mind if Xûr sells exotics I have.
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Have you heard the term 'early adopter' before? That is what you did with this gun. You got it at the full (sweat and blood) price and before many others did. You were in with the cool kids and it was a nice advantage over other players but now you are upset that it is on sale and anyone can get it. So when a better gun comes out (newer models always do) ask yourself if you want to jump through all the hoops again to get that early benefit and buzz or wait for it to be discounted later. Either way you know how this works now so if you do this again please don't cry about your decision.
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Toooo mannyyyyyy woorrrrdsssss
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Nope.
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Surely you indirectly earn anything you buy from Xur seeing as you earn the currency with which to buy items? Plus I dropped in to Atheon Hard VOG the other day, spawned in to the stepping stones, fell off, the party completed without me, I got a Vex M. I literally did nothing for it (it's my 3rd VM so don't hate) On the other hand I'm approaching 1000 hours without a G-horn drop. No one can *earn* in this game
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Edited by ghoSTDRAghoN: 1/19/2015 12:59:08 AMYep. It's all random like "earning" your win on the pokies (aka slots).
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You. I like you.
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*picks mic back up* All exotic weapons flat out need a weapon bounty equal to or harder than thorn. I LOOOOOVE seeing people that say they can't do it. I solo'd it back when 30 was the cap and I used everything I had in my arsenal to get it. I'll be damned if everyone can just run level 22 strikes and get even better items. I know you want to be the hero of the scrubs, but that's just not the way it should work. Xur needs a complete rework because he is just a disaster, just like the attempt of taking apart the definition of earned. Rewarded is more like it.
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I am behind this even... xur should sell bounties if they want to use him for that... he should just be like I heard about this thing with the stuff...
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Did not read anything but the first line; did I earn my comment you scrubs?
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Flap flap flap flap
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Dude wtf never pick up the mic agauin
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Holy crap this is a book