mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 18, 2015 9:54:26 GMT -5
I think you are misunderstanding.
What he's saying is the patch and the different Xur thing aren't necessarily related. The patch was a big back end patch. They patched lots of the back end systems to give themselves more visibility and control over things. The fact that they also brought out the special Xur the same week may or may not be related. Dunno...
As to what, if any, permanent changes were made to Xur... Dunno...
As far as it goes I think Megaman is the most prominent of the data miners.
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 18, 2015 10:12:53 GMT -5
what? I guess planned randomness is still planned... and random. *shrug* Not really. The way I see it. No one has ANY clue as to how Bungie's original drop list was made. People on this board (and other places) just "assume" that the list of drops was randomly generated. They do so, because that's what Bungie told them. Bungie also said they were goign to give us a plot, how did that work out? People assume. People bought into Bungie's story about how the mythical Xur just shows up each week, and randomly gives people stuff. It's random!!! blah, blah, blah. So did Bungie originally use a RNG system to devise the Xur list? Maybe? I'm sure it's a possibility. But they very well could have done this. Got together at a staff meeting pre-release, and simply planned it all out. Coded it in. Put together a Xur 52 week drop list and be done with it. IF THEY DID THIS ROUTE...does anyone in their right mind think they would tell you that's how it happened? Hell fvckign no. You would never hear it, because it goes against the story of the game. Regardless of what method was used above...the REALITY is that there is an actual drop list that has been in operation since day one. A list that shows the entire order of what Xur will be selling. That is reality. It's been shown and proven a number of times. And when someone puts down a list detailing their every move over the next 26 weeks(or longer)....that by definition is a PLAN. There's nothing 'random' about this when people are predicting it to the letter weeks in advance, and it's correct. A plan. And seeing how Bungie has even now even been caught twice going in and tinkering with things, to prop up/protect their silly fantasy story about "Xur" (that was their motivation) and his mythical random drops...it's even more pronounced now. They control this. Meddle in this. From day one. Just because YOU don't understand why the order of drops was made...does not necessarily make it random. I understand people want to believe it's all random, and go with the Bungie story. Yes. I get that, it's more fun to believe that, immerse oneself into the game that way. But let's not get carried away.
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 18, 2015 11:41:16 GMT -5
There is the difference. You assume Bungie is lying with or without evidence of it. I assume they are not lying unless proven otherwise. They said it was determined randomly, but fully acknowledged that it was done well in advance. The plot and it's failings are completely irrelevant to this discussion. You point to that as one point that Bungie is universally discredited and their every statement should thus apparently be assumed to be false. That's a completely other discussion than we have been having here and I don't buy into it. I think Bungie has made some mistakes, but if you want to discuss Bungie's honesty or lack of it we should probably start another thread for that. As of right now I'm still going to consider statements by Bungie to be likely to be true until proven false with evidence.
A list does not in and of it-self become a plan. Here's a little list I just made randomly. (I used a rand() function to pick items from a list.) "hot dog, banana, hot dog, chocolate, pickle, hot dog, pickle" That's a list. Is it a plan? Did I plan those items? If I popped on here once a week to drop one into this thread the list is still random. It's not a plan unless Bungie planned it consciously, it's just a list.
Just because YOU don't understand why the order of drops was made...does not necessarily make it NOT random, either.
Is it more fun to believe it's random? Why? I'd almost prefer Bungie was deciding it, giving us interesting items at certain times. In fact I originally ASSUMED it was not random. I just thought Bungie had a bone to pick with Warlocks... heh But since they have said it was random I rethought that and it not only seemed possible, but plausible. Given a random list is plausible and Bungie has said it is a random list I would have to see direct evidence to the contrary or a very strong statistical correlation to reverse that opinion.
Your argument of it's a list so it's not random because it's a list and it doesn't matter how the list was made... is invalid. Nobody is saying it isn't a list or that this is some pure random system of mystery and godliness. That seems to have been your fantasy, not mine. Bungie said it was a list, but that the list was random. Prove that wrong. I'm not getting into a philosophical debate over the supposed immersion and mystery of some hypothetically pure random system that couldn't really exist anyway. We have a statement from Bungie. We have evidence from data miners. We have the history of items actually sold. That's about it.
tl;dr I don't know if it is random or not, but so far there is very little EVIDENCE that it is not, except for the two occasions where we have the special Xur, then it seems likely those cases were not random.
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 18, 2015 12:08:33 GMT -5
There is the difference. You assume Bungie is lying with or without evidence of it. I assume they are not lying unless proven otherwise. They said it was determined randomly, but fully acknowledged that it was done well in advance. The plot and it's failings are completely irrelevant to this discussion. Why? They openly advertised the game as having a deep plot. The game came out, and it turns out, the plot was cut out and a jumbled mess. So that's a perfect example of them telling you one thing, and the reality being something different. My example is valid. Sometimes companies openly state one thing pre-release, and then reality catches up. Don't have to, someone did it for me. And Bungie only disclosed it was a pre-made list, AFTER they had someone pull the files. So again, there's another example.
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 18, 2015 12:17:22 GMT -5
Well for one none of the trailers I saw said anything about the plot. There were probably interviews early on that I didn't follow where they said all sorts of things while the game was still in development. Also they were neck deep in the game and probably drinking their own koolaid. Lots of companies have thought their games were deeper than they were. That doesn't necessarily constitute a lie. Also... marketing hype is hype. You take that shit with a huge grain of salt. An open statement in a blog is a bit different. Still PR, but not quite the same thing.
Nobody has proven that the list was not randomly determined. Where is that proof? Even you said we don't know. We don't know sounds like the opposite of proof to me. So Bungie didn't say anything about how it worked until data miners were looking at it... so what? You act like Bungie owes us full disclosure on all the inner workings of Destiny... they don't. It's a game, we play it. "I crack the whip, you play the game!" to quote MC Frontalot.
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 18, 2015 13:22:03 GMT -5
Well for one none of the trailers I saw said anything about the plot. There were probably interviews early on that I didn't follow where they said all sorts of things while the game was still in development. Also they were neck deep in the game and probably drinking their own koolaid. Lots of companies have thought their games were deeper than they were. That doesn't necessarily constitute a lie. Right, and if you look at what i said, I never used 'lie' I said, "People on this board (and other places) just "assume" that the list of drops was randomly generated. They do so, because that's what Bungie told them. Bungie also said they were goign to give us a plot, how did that work out" People mentally fill in the blanks, if you give them enough leeway. It's Bungie. The creators of Halo. Possibly one of THE great single player campaigns ever made, with a story so rich, it has spawns books and other cross platforms themes. Bungie used this background to great effect, and let people fill in the blanks. Think what they wanted to think about this new game. I'm not calling Bungie 'liars', but they most certainly did advertise and promote Destiny as a new world experience on par with Halo, giving people that impression. Let people run wild with those thoughts. They certainly didn't actively discourage anyone from thinking that. So in regards to this Xur list. As far as I know, they haven't ever really come out and given great details on how this all works. We've learned 100x the information now from that hacker, than we ever did before, ...which was mostly subtle innuendos, jokes about 'Xur' and other small bits. Again, letting people fill in the blanks, with what they wanted to think. Doesn't make Bungie 'bad people' either.
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Post by GodMars on Mar 18, 2015 14:23:59 GMT -5
Just curious why it matters whether Xur is fully random, pre-generated random, or fully controlled by Bungie? "Because they said XYZ" isn't a reason.
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Post by TheHawkNY on Mar 18, 2015 14:33:08 GMT -5
Just curious why it matters whether Xur is fully random, pre-generated random, or fully controlled by Bungie? "Because they said XYZ" isn't a reason. It doesn't.
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markopolo
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Post by markopolo on Mar 18, 2015 14:40:46 GMT -5
Just curious why it matters whether Xur is fully random, pre-generated random, or fully controlled by Bungie? "Because they said XYZ" isn't a reason. Because it makes people sleep better at night, knowing that after playing day 44589347598734598734598743598 of Destiny, and still not getting a Gjallie or a Hawkmoon... that it isn't random chance and that someone out there is purposely screwing them over. Because since Bungie controls Xur, they must control all the drops for everything and it's not dumb luck that keeps people from geting the Uber gunz, but rather "The Man is holding me down... man!" This way, the same logic permeates down to anything bad that happens to them, isn't the gamers fault... it's Bungie's. It just helps people to sleep at night.... that it's not them, it's Bungie
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 18, 2015 14:51:23 GMT -5
Just curious why it matters whether Xur is fully random, pre-generated random, or fully controlled by Bungie? "Because they said XYZ" isn't a reason. It doesn't. Agree. It does make for an interesting topic though. ...and marko, ..disagree. I sleep fine at night. I also think what you said is a bit condescending, as there may be people out there who do want to understand the mechanics. And it may have nothing to do with sleeping better, but just understanding that that is perhaps pointless to try and grind out 'x' bazillion more hours of playing, to try and get something like that weapon. That perhaps their time might be better spent, in trying a more achievable goal. Nothing wrong with that. And the hacker (forgot his name), letting us know that Xur (ie, Bungie) has no more plans of dropping the Gjallorn via Xur...well, maybe that's pertinent information. Sorry...but if it's not the gosh darn golly gee whiz fvcking list (which we were told it's not)...then it's not an issue of luck. Again...It's not a luck issue.
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Post by TheHawkNY on Mar 18, 2015 14:54:22 GMT -5
Agree. It does make for an interesting topic though. Disagree.
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 18, 2015 14:56:16 GMT -5
Agree. It does make for an interesting topic though. Disagree. that's the beauty of message boards. There's always another topic to go look at.
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markopolo
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Post by markopolo on Mar 18, 2015 15:07:06 GMT -5
Agree. It does make for an interesting topic though. ...and marko, ..disagree. I sleep fine at night. I also think what you said is a bit condescending, as there may be people out there who do want to understand the mechanics. And it may have nothing to do with sleeping better, but just understanding that that is perhaps pointless to try and grind out 'x' bazillion more hours of playing, to try and get something like that weapon. That perhaps their time might be better spent, in trying a more achievable goal. Nothing wrong with that. And the hacker (forgot his name), letting us know that Xur (ie, Bungie) has no more plans of dropping the Gjallorn via Xur...well, maybe that's pertinent information. Sorry...but if it's not the gosh darn golly gee whiz fvcking list (which we were told it's not)...then it's not an issue of luck. Again...It's not a luck issue. It was meant to be condescending to the sheeple who do exactly what I just wrote... "Bungie is $hit because I've played for so long and haven't got any Gjallies, yet I pug'd with a guy who just turned level 20 and he killed a dreg in the cosmodrome that dropped an exotic engram and it was a gjallie and Bungie is purposely punishing me because that was meant to be mine!" Not to people who wish to discuss the mecahnics...
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 18, 2015 16:53:57 GMT -5
Agree. It does make for an interesting topic though. Disagree. Agree ;3 I just keep coming back because of conclusions based on shaky evidence. Although I do now find the mechanics interesting, if purely to know what is known about what everybody is talking about instead of just having hearsay and conjecture... (Although most of the evidence we have isn't much better, not that I have any reason to distrust any of the data mining being done. On the other hand the main guy is Japanese and everything he posts has to be translated, so some errors get disseminated and then corrected...)
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 18, 2015 17:27:48 GMT -5
I don't know about the richness of Halo's story, to be honest. It had it's moments but it was still mostly a device to keep pushing MC along through the game. The lore and setting for Halo are pretty impressive, though. Bungie does excel at that. For that matter the lore and setting for Destiny are really good as well. If anything I would say the setting is even more original and interesting. Instead of going out into the Universe the Universe came to us. Unfortunately they left most of the lore out of the game for some stupid reason and provided us even less narrative with the in game story and mostly silent protagonist...
Halo drew you in. It had NPC's to gawk and exclaim "is that a spartan!" when you cam on the scene and enemies that would run away screeming "Demon!". You had NPCs you wanted to help and who would help you. And you had variety. Not just of environment, but objectives. In Destiny the objective is pretty much always the same... each section of a mission is always get from point A to B, then kill thing at B, or stay alive while things at B try to kill you. Rarely you're also asked to collect bear asses. Hell the game seems almost dumbed down in a way. The first mission which plays out like a corridor shooter tutorial introduces you to areas you have to duck to get through and laser trip mine traps to shoot or avoid. Say goodbye to both after the first mission, because that was knowledge you didn't need for the rest of the game.
Anyway... Halo is pretty great, but let's not put it on too high a pedestal. Like I said it had it's moments but there was also a lot of strait up shenanigans in the plot. I won't go into it, because that's a whole other topic, and I'm okay with it anyway. It's not Shakespeare. The plot of an FPS is largely an excuse to shoot things in the face with virtual weapons anyway and for that it was perfect. ;3
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qupie
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Post by qupie on Mar 19, 2015 4:44:52 GMT -5
And the hacker (forgot his name), letting us know that Xur (ie, Bungie) has no more plans of dropping the Gjallorn via Xur...well, maybe that's pertinent information. Just to keep it real, and not introduce false information, this has actually never been said by megaman! All that has been said is that Gjallor was not in the planned list until may 15. (just like mask of 3rd man and red death) And even that is not a given anymore, as we don't know if Bungie will keep using the "manual (random) xur" or the "planned (random) xur" And even IF the "planned (random) xur will be comming back, there is a big chance they (randomly) changed the list like they did in previous patches" Q. Can you make any predictions about future Xur's based on the data you've already gotten? A. Yes. As of the release of 1.1.1.0 I have gotten all of the original Xur's data thru May 15. None of that data changed with 1.1.1.1, so I can predict only the original Xur's goods, thru May 15.
If they only use the manually controlled Xur from now on, then there is the possibility that Thunderlord, Hard Light, MIDA Multi-Tool, Obsidian Mind, and other items will not get sold. On the other hand, that also would mean there is a chance he will sell Gjallarhorn, Mask of the Third Man, Red Death, and other items not in the Original Xur's list. disclaimer: random is between () because we simply don't know whether it is or not in my oppinion.
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wings
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Post by wings on Mar 19, 2015 5:05:30 GMT -5
There might have been misinterpretations concerning what is and what is not in the 'loot table' whether it's because megamanexe4 is Japanese or whatever. Hopefully he'll sell the Gjallahorn and Mask of the Third Man since they should make me more productive in the Crota raid. Would be nice getting sine more elemental primaries to make Nightfalls less tedious.
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 19, 2015 8:06:53 GMT -5
It's my understanding that what he has said is he can see what's on the list for several weeks out, and what isn't on it, but that he has no actual access to the loot table it-self or any of the logic used to derive Xur's loot. Nothing but the list of things to be sold over the next few weeks is visible, and that is now in question as well.
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Post by iw5000 on Mar 19, 2015 8:35:28 GMT -5
It's my understanding that what he has said is he can see what's on the list for several weeks out, and what isn't on it, but that he has no actual access to the loot table it-self or any of the logic used to derive Xur's loot. Nothing but the list of things to be sold over the next few weeks is visible, and that is now in question as well. I thought I read that everyone was visible to read, it's just that it took a great deal of time to access the data, going week by week. So for now, they only did the upcoming couple of weeks.
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markopolo
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Post by markopolo on Mar 19, 2015 9:18:12 GMT -5
I think you are misunderstanding. What he's saying is the patch and the different Xur thing aren't necessarily related. The patch was a big back end patch. They patched lots of the back end systems to give themselves more visibility and control over things. The fact that they also brought out the special Xur the same week may or may not be related. Dunno... As to what, if any, permanent changes were made to Xur... Dunno... As far as it goes I think Megaman is the most prominent of the data miners. So again... if Bungie can already alter Xur's inventory... why do they need to do a patch that controls more things? why buy milk when you have the cow at home?
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 19, 2015 9:47:27 GMT -5
You'd have to ask Bungie. Looks like they patched several back end things. I don't think it was just Xur. But they may have also wanted to change it so the data miners can't predict things. Don't know. Bungie won't do a patch without a reason, but they aren't generally going to tell us every little detail. Nor does it really matter. We'll see tomorrow if we get special Xur or old Xur.
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Post by TheHawkNY on Mar 19, 2015 16:48:42 GMT -5
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mannon
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Post by mannon on Mar 19, 2015 17:30:42 GMT -5
I'm actually annoyed a bit. They give us volume levels for voice and game but the sound effects and music volume are still tied together. So there's still no way to adjust those independently... Mostly the music doesn't bother me but there are some parts of the game where it just gets super loud to the point that it's distracting, especially if I'm grinding exclusion zone or something. I like the sound track, I'd just like some control over volume levels.
(As a frame of reference on PC where nearly every single game does give you a volume control specifically for music I turn the music down to 50% in nearly every game I play. Now if only game volume affected splash screen volume. Holy crap some of those are deafening. I'm looking at you Titanfall! heh All the more reason to disable them in nearly everything.)
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wings
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Post by wings on Mar 20, 2015 3:31:40 GMT -5
Just curious why it matters whether Xur is fully random, pre-generated random, or fully controlled by Bungie? "Because they said XYZ" isn't a reason. My issue would be whether I can assume to take their word for it on other matters, such as whether or not we will have to reXurbish our exotics yet again with another level cap. I wouldn't be outraged if Bungie did this but this means I will be sharding more exotic gear that I use situationally. I don't think I want to put in all that effort to fully upgrade them again (an additional node would be cool with me with existing XP intact) and it will mean I will be using less gear than when I had optimal setups in Borderlands 2 for UVHM. And I think for a loot based game to only have people using a handful of items is unfortunate.
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qupie
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Post by qupie on Mar 20, 2015 4:10:59 GMT -5
They actually never said you wouldn't need to reXurbish. I am 99% certain you actually will have to. What they said is that you don't have to unlock abilities you already had on the weapons. I think there are three options: 1. Add some damage "circles" on the end of the exotics, after you visited Xur, which you have to level to get to 366ish 2. Move the perks of the weapon to the front of the "cirlces", after you visited Xur, so you have to level all the damage "circles" again 3. Do it like it was last time. Option 3 would be utterly stupid, and would probably result in the hardest drop in player-base since release. Don't think bungie is that stupid though... Option 1 would have my preference, although it would result in even more work if you get a "fresh" exotic weapon, so option 2 is maybe more probable. On the topic of Xur: imgur.com/3AHn6yd(you can see what he is selling in the companion app) edit: for the people who still need hard light, it is in the tower! (just like pulse rifle telemetries for those Red Deaths/Bad Juju's!!)
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wings
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Post by wings on Mar 20, 2015 5:22:00 GMT -5
They actually never said you wouldn't need to reXurbish. I am 99% certain you actually will have to. What they said is that you don't have to unlock abilities you already had on the weapons. I think there are three options: 1. Add some damage "circles" on the end of the exotics, after you visited Xur, which you have to level to get to 366ish 2. Move the perks of the weapon to the front of the "cirlces", after you visited Xur, so you have to level all the damage "circles" again 3. Do it like it was last time. Option 3 would be utterly stupid, and would probably result in the hardest drop in player-base since release. Don't think bungie is that stupid though... Option 1 would have my preference, although it would result in even more work if you get a "fresh" exotic weapon, so option 2 is maybe more probable. On the topic of Xur: imgur.com/3AHn6yd(you can see what he is selling in the companion app) edit: for the people who still need hard light, it is in the tower! (just like pulse rifle telemetries for those Red Deaths/Bad Juju's!!) Well if it is numbers 2 and 3 then I will probably give half my exotics the bullet, especially if they are vey circumstantial and for PvE. Characters are already lacking in variety with each other when compared to other shooters like Borderlands as it is. Even when you spam the Unkempt Heralds, your characters still can mix up 'battle methods' much more than any class in Destiny. Option 2 might be seen as preferable by Bungie because it keeps the grind while still allows PvP players to benefit from the exotic upgrade sooner. That said, it will be an annoyance for Iron Banner relevance. These level cap increases are embarrassing though. If that is the main way to keep people playing then I'm lost for words really. Bought Mask of the Third Man and Apotheosis Veil anyway.
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qupie
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Post by qupie on Mar 20, 2015 5:29:47 GMT -5
Number 2 is not that bad, as long as your weapons start at 335 or something. (like they started at 302 after DLC 1) That means reXurbishing results in a better weapon in every way compared to pre-reXurbishing. (better attack and keep perks)
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wings
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Post by wings on Mar 20, 2015 5:54:45 GMT -5
Yeah it will depends on the starting value of the weapons and armour and how much XP is required to max it out again. i just don't have the time to justify upgrading gear like I used to.
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wings
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Post by wings on Mar 20, 2015 8:15:34 GMT -5
Cool. So I'll be able to mute Lord Shaxx now? "You've gained the lead, you've lost the lead, you've gained the lead, you've lost the lead!" And when I've joined a team of billy no thumbs, "FIGHT BACK!" Is this school or something? Then I'll try and mute that dumb sound when you're being triple capped, the message on the screen is enough. The joys of joining games in progress. Would be nice to have Lord Saladin doing the voice commands for Iron Banner since I think it actually makes sense.
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Post by TheHawkNY on Mar 20, 2015 9:54:52 GMT -5
The Bungie Weekly Update for 3/12, in discussing future updates, had this bullet: Strikes – The numbers tell us that there are some missions that are successfully completed far less than others, inspiring us to look at why people quit. I wanted to know more about this, so to begin I pulled a random sample of strikes from the Roc playlist. All games occurred on Monday, 3/16. For reference, the Nightfall for that week was Winter's Run. Bounties for that day are here: www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2z82ck/guide_daily_bounty_guide_20150316/To begin, I looked at which Strikes were completed less than others: Strike | Count | Players | Strike Completion Rate | Player Completion Rate | Quits/Strike | Cerberus Vae III | 499 | 1,598 | 86% | 75% | 0.8 | Dust Palace | 228 | 726 | 85% | 75% | 0.8 | The Devils' Lair | 502 | 1,556 | 94% | 86% | 0.4 | The Nexus | 488 | 1,487 | 91% | 84% | 0.5 | The Summoning Pits | 461 | 1,398 | 91% | 86% | 0.4 | The Undying Mind | 227 | 736 | 63% | 55% | 1.4 | The Will of Crota | 509 | 1,622 | 85% | 75% | 0.8 | Winter's Run | 527 | 1,642 | 87% | 79% | 0.7 | Grand Total | 3,441 | 10,765 | 87% | 78% | 0.7 |
The results seem generally unsurprising. People love Devils' Lair/Phogoth/Nexus. People really do back out of Undying Mind at a ridiculous rate. The next question, of course, is why people quit. The hypothesis that jumped to my mind first, as I hear it most frequently, is that people quit due to the length of a Strike. To look at this, I graphed how long it took to complete each Strike. The left whisker goes from the minimum value to the first quartile, the red box is from the first quartile to the median, the green box is from the median to the third quartile, and the right whisker goes from the third quartile to the 95th percentile. The blue diamond represents the average. Some interesting items here. I hear the Nexus frequently mentioned as the quickest Strike, and while it was the Strike with the quickest overall completion in the sample, it appears Phogoth is quicker for most players. It is also interesting to see the Dust Palace as third quickest to complete, ahead of the Devils' Lair. Winter's Run has a higher completion rate than you would expect, being the third longest Strike. Next, I looked at kills and deaths. Personally, the more enemies I kill the better; I wanted to see if it could explain quit rate. The following shows the data for players that completed the Strike: Strike | Avg. Kills | Avg. Deaths | No Deaths | No Death Rate | Kills/Min | Cerberus Vae III | 40.2 | 2.2 | 306 | 26% | 2.2 | Dust Palace | 42.5 | 1.5 | 200 | 37% | 2.7 | The Devils' Lair | 66.3 | 1.2 | 646 | 48% | 4.2 | The Nexus | 59.1 | 1.1 | 614 | 49% | 4.4 | The Summoning Pits | 43.9 | 1.2 | 519 | 43% | 3.6 | The Undying Mind | 89.2 | 3.4 | 66 | 16% | 3.7 | The Will of Crota | 116.3 | 2.9 | 249 | 20% | 5.5 | Winter's Run | 63.1 | 1.6 | 495 | 38% | 3.6 | Grand Total | 64.6 | 1.7 | 3095 | 37% | 3.9 |
Well, that explains why I've always hated Valus Ta'aurc. You get to kill the least enemies, and it is the most difficult pre-DLC Strike. They upped the difficulty significantly with the DLC. Not a tremendous amount of correlation with the quit rate, it seems. It seems pretty clear when you look at the quit rates, the completion times, and the daily bounties, that like most things in Destiny, it's all about the rewards. Then the question becomes, how will Bungie make changes to correct this? I see two different routes: 1) Change the Rewards System: They could do things like changing the frequency of bounties or adding additional bounties to incentivize less popular Strikes, grant bonus XP for completion based upon the average duration, or weight the loot drop quality based upon the average duration. While the last seems to make sense intuitively, it is unlikely to actually occur, for a number of reasons: it would be a concession that it really is all about the loot; they don't seem to want to discuss the inner workings of RNGesus with any detail; it is only effective if players are aware (anyone that doesn't know will still quit); and it could end up being counterproductive, if players are not convinced the rewards are properly balanced, or as players discover new strategies that change the amount of time it takes to complete the Strikes. Additionally, in the Undying Mind, the Precursors could drop glimmer (farming that spot could be avoided by having them not drop glimmer after your fireteam wipes). 2) Change the Strike Duration: While it's unlikely they will remove or add new portions to Strikes, they could make simple tweaks to change how long it takes to complete the Strikes. The most obvious solution would be to adjust boss health (and damage they inflict, but that may be more tricky to get right). By increasing the health of Sepiks/Phogoth/Nexus and decreasing the health of Valus/Flayers/Undying Mind/Omnigul, they could tweak the relative time to complete enough to normalize things and remove incentive to quit certain Strikes.
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