[b]12/19 - Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/85687452/0/0/1]Added replies to a few of the comments below[/url]. [/b]If you’re not interested in the discussion, please save us both time and ignore them. I’ve loved this game. I put [url=http://destinystatus.com/xbl/wyattness]500 hours[/url] into building three characters to 30/30/29 before The Dark Below and even started [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/637970/0/1/0]a group to find undiscovered raid chests[/url]. I could level all three classes to 31.5 but I’ve decided not to. Seeing the direction the game has taken in the last few weeks, I’ve decided it’s time to move on. The [url=http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/15/7393695/destiny-dark-below-punishing-hardcore]Polygon[/url] and [url=http://kotaku.com/destinys-biggest-flaw-1671385299]Kotaku[/url] articles capture a lot of what I’ve been feeling but there’s more to why I’m leaving and seeing friends do the same: [b]1. The more dedicated you are, the more you get screwed [/b] The Polygon article’s money quote is spot on: “The system actually [i]punishes players proportionately to their dedication to the game[/i], and it's the stupidest thing I've ever seen a major game developer do to its community.” If you ran the raid 20+ times like I did and finally got level 30 gear, you saw it immediately obsoleted by level 31 vendor gear that required no skill to get. You could grind simple bounties or lose dozens of Crucible matches to buy better gear than you earn by mastering the Vault. A slap in the face. If you grinded to max five exotic weapons, you saw that work erased by the new upgrade system. (And yes, if you wanted your exotics to matter, upgrading again was necessary.) People who say obsoleted gear is a feature of MMOs like WoW are mistaken. When WoW releases new content – in large expansions on 12-18 month cycles – they make the previous top-tier gear important for getting the new top-tier gear. [b]Good MMOs have progression[/b]. You’re earning the ability to beat the next adventure. What Destiny is doing is [b]repeatedly creating a blank slate[/b]. You don’t need any of the level 30 armor or weapons to reach 31 – they’re actually a detriment because you could have saved your upgrade materials for 31 gear. Casuals get a nearly free ticket and dedicated players see their work washed away within weeks. DeeJ wrote, “Your feedback is clear: The time you have invested in your stuff should be respected.” I no longer trust Bungie will do that. [b]2. There’s too little payoff [/b] When I finally, finally hit 30 on my warlock, here’s what happened: my light number ticked from 29 to 30. No dramatic visuals, no cutscenes, no public announcement or rewards. I danced with myself in the Tower for 20 seconds and that was that. It was a microcosm of a larger problem. Because your hard-earned gear and weapons are quickly obsoleted, there’s no meaningful period to enjoy your work. There’s little time to feel like a rockstar or to help lower-level guardians who can level nearly as fast solo. Destiny wants you to be a legend but I think it makes you feel ordinary. Raid exploits made this worse. Have a Vex Mythoclast? You’re either a Vault of Glass badass or [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2k45jq/just_one_of_many_reasons_why_we_should_all_be/]a Joey who watched some warlock cheese Atheon off a ledge[/url]. There’s no way to distinguish. We’re seeing the same with Crota’s End. In a raid intended for top-level six-man teams, you can solo the maze and easily cheese both the bridge and Crota. You get no rewards for killing a level 32 deathsinger boss but can get an exotic within ten seconds of starting the raid after killing zero adds. What? [b]3. Just too much repetition [/b] Any prolonged challenge requires some degree of repetition, whether it’s practice or grinding. I’m up for that. But there’s a line where repetition becomes tedium. For me, Destiny has crossed that line. The DLC was a chance to introduce meaningful new missions, new enemies, new game mechanics, new storylines. The raid was fun the first times through but Omnigul is just another high-level wizard. The might/hand/eyes/gums of Crota are all enemies we’ve killed hundreds of times over. There’s no personality to them, no backstory. They’re not the Elusive Man or Flood or GLaDOS. They’re just angry pixels. When the community complained about the farming of materials for hours on end, Bungie let materials be bought at a loose rate… and introduced four new scarce currencies and made glimmer much more expensive. It feels like a shell game. A repetitive game that obsoletes your repetitive efforts within weeks is a recipe for disillusionment. Look at Reddit and these forums. One week after seeing their raid gear become useless and seeing weeks of the same cycle ahead, more players than usual are saying enough is enough. Among those staying, more than a few say they love and hate the game simultaneously. It’s what drug addicts say. Part of me is intrigued about the House of Wolves I already paid for (mostly for the raid), but I’m probably going to pass. I played a sport in college and a teammate said you get out what you put in but some things pay off more than others. Destiny’s effort-to-reward ratio has become too low for me – under 1.0 – and I don’t want to get sucked in again by its slot machine mechanics. I’m bummed about it. I’m an entrepreneur and respect any team like Bungie’s that tries to create something people love. I’ve met some fun people through the game who I probably won’t hear from again. If I hear about newly discovered raid chests, I’ll probably facepalm for not finding them first. I’ll miss the intensity of PvP and pulling out a last-second win. I do think Destiny has revealed a huge gaming desire. Look at how many people have said that they want the game Bungie teased. A shared-world sci-fi shooter with a great story that requires teamwork? World of Warcraft meets Mass Effect? Shut up and take my money. But unfortunately, I don’t think Destiny is the game we were looking for. Thanks to Bungie and all the players I met* for the good times. On some level, I'll miss you. * Except the guy who kept taking the heavy ammo without his teammates around. Screw that guy. P.S. Small edits to wording. I'm not trying to spoil anyone's fun, really. If you're still enjoying the grind, cool. I'm just venting my frustration and speaking to Bungie and the people who feel like I do.