Destiny: one month in…

[wittyscorpion]

I am a fan of Destiny Crucible, CoD, Titanfall and Halo, and master of none. Next month would present the most wonderful dillemma in my gaming life: having a really difficult time picking which game to play

Halo is going to offer the most no-BS MP experience: dedicated server, 60 FPS, over 100 MP maps, and a combat sandbox that is the most relentless on skill gaps. I am going to get pwned hard . Finger crossed on skill based matchmaking putting me against players at my level. I need to play enough of this to warm up towards the Halo 5 beta right after Christmas.

CoD AW is going to feel familiar and weird at the same time. The unforgivingly fast TTK will bring back cheap thrills as well as nightmares, and hopefully all the fancy pants movements can contribute more fun, not more BS. I need to play enough of this game to be at least competent for Clan Wars. Icings on the cake if Beachhead can make the Clan War system more interesting.

With Destiny Crucible, I am expecting kill thrills: most being connecting Sniping headshots. I am also hoping Scout Rifle gets buffed to first tier, because its kills feel more thrilling to me than Autos. Shotty/Fusion CQC can feel cool too, as long as I am not crouch tactical loitering with them. Such thrills could be more rewarding in Halo, but I probably will suck too badly there to have enough shining moments.

Let's also not forget Titanfall, which has become my most favorite FPS MP experience. Although it is already 7 months old, as long as there are enough players in the matchmaking it can still be a lot of fun to play once in a while. My goal there is to complete as many challenges left as possible.

On the back burner are Sunset Overdrive and Far Cry 4. Former offers chotic parkour & fending-off-waves-of-mutants fun (not to mention next gen only), while latter promises a much more engaging open world experience in a magnificent environment. Probably won't be getting them this early though unless they receive off the chart receptions from player community, since a year from now they probably can be bought at the significantly discounted price.

All of the above will be interesting "side" activities around my main goal of getting all 3 of my Destiny characters to level 27+ as well as completing upgrade trees of all subclasses, so I can get ahead of the curve and be at the edge of the new frontier when expansion pack 1 comes out. That's a LOT of playing to fit into a 2 months period

[wittyscorpion]

One thing I hope to not get into, with thread like this, is "which game is better" argument. Almost inevitably, it will get into pages and pages of debates that are mostly boiling down to personal taste. Sometimes the discussions get pretty personal, and views become more and more extreme.

What I am hoping to discuss, is what should be improved to make the game more fun from Destiny fans' point of view, and what the game has done right from the game's critics' point of view.

IMHO such discussions are usually much more productive. Unless the game is perfect, or the game is unbelievablely bad, both sides should have something to say along these lines.

Of course, I have absolutely no right to tell anybody what to argue. So feel free to carry on if that's what you enjoy

[Dumien]

Things I think need fixing...

Crucible needs to be better. Just...better. Not comparing it to anything here. I recently went into a FFA game and had a bit of fun, but the iron banner grind to rank 3 was rarely fun. I need to be able to go into a game for the fun of it without the need to have an incentive (possible loot).

The on disk DLC bit was underhanded sneakiness that I expect from Activision... but not from someone with the positive reputation of Bungie.

Put the people who wrote the grimore cards and the exotic bounties in charge of writing the actual lines/cutscenes. I've palyed well written games where I actually didn't WANT to skip every cutscene. The fact I have to go to menu and switch characters (back to the same character) to skip these cutscenes is annoying.

At level 30 every character has to look the same. (leveled raidgear) Again... This is bad news. Fix this by adding "transmogrification."

Finally something they already intend to do... add more end game content. More raids > more end game diversity > more weapons+more armor> more possible playstyles. I understand they had intended to include more end game content with the main game, but this got turned into DLC... Alright...fine... I got my 60$ worth already. I'll pony up some more cash.

More exotics. Exotics aren't the super rare items we imagined them to be (else you wouldn't be able to just straight up buy two every week). They seem to be intended as "playstyle modifiers." Cool. That's cool. Give us more playstyles!

[qupie]

Oct 13, 2014 12:01:24 GMT -5 iw5000 said:

Oct 13, 2014 11:36:09 GMT -5 wings said:

Killcams kind of hold players' hands a bit too much at times I feel.

I think people are focusing to much on the killcams. At least for me, the 'WTF' is notwhat I am feeling when I die. I'm not blind. I saw the opponent shoot me. What I am referring to is what he got me with.

You die in CoD, you immediately can tell (with or without a killcam) if the gun was a MTAr or a LMG. And if an MTAR, if rapid fire or silencer was on it. If you see it happen a few times, you can adjust your tactics quickly to counter what the other team is doing. Destiny? No real way to do that. Hundreds of guns. 90% of which you don't have. And then no way of knowing if your tactics had you in a bad spot, or if the opponent has some exotic %^&^^% gun that enables him special range/impact/quickdraw,etc...

You can actually see exactly what people are using. Go to the menu, left button or whatever to see your friend etc. Then you can select the player, press y or triangle and you can inspect everything he has! Including class and weapon ungrades. All you have to do is remember his name . It is not as easy to see as in cod killcam, but there is no easy way to show everything a player is using.

[GodMars]

One thing Hawk and I talk a lot about in regards to the PvP is how wildly inconsistent it is. You can run off 4 or 5 games with K/Ds between 1.5 and 2.5, and then hit a 4 game skid when you can't top .6, with little rhyme or reason as to why. But aomething feels really off about it, almost unnatural. And then there's getting stuck on losing teams for two or three hours with no reprieve--even if you switch lobbies. And this kind of wild shifting happens regularly, and it really takes the fun out of things.

[Dumien]

Finally 30! Wooohoo.

and the mythoclast.

and the hezen launcher.

[hebbnh]

Oct 14, 2014 5:44:59 GMT -5 Dumien said:

Finally 30! Wooohoo.

and the mythoclast.

and the hezen launcher.

Nice!  I guess that means it's Warlock time?

[Dumien]

Yessir! Just gonna play some crucible so I get to experience the gun before it gets neutered.

[hebbnh]

Ha, yeah, might as well enjoy it while you can!

[iw5000]

Oct 13, 2014 23:00:40 GMT -5 GodMars said:

One thing Hawk and I talk a lot about in regards to the PvP is how wildly inconsistent it is. You can run off 4 or 5 games with K/Ds between 1.5 and 2.5, and then hit a 4 game skid when you can't top .6, with little rhyme or reason as to why. But aomething feels really off about it, almost unnatural. And then there's getting stuck on losing teams for two or three hours with no reprieve--even if you switch lobbies. And this kind of wild shifting happens regularly, and it really takes the fun out of things.

Put it in CoD terms. I posted about this on the first page of this thread.

CoD allows more of flow to one's gaming. A person has more control over how he does (tactics, intelligence, position, etc..) I think that is the key difference. The4se things allow one person to go HAM much easier and fend off multiple opponent waves. One can then rinse & repeat that process many times over. Then use killstreaks to widens further boost these effects. While teammates certainly help, you don't necessarily need many of them to achieve this. So all these things give the game a much wider spread on performance. You get the big highs of 50-5. With some players also getting the low low's of 5-50. Especially so since CoD has very little SBMM and more importantly, fully open pre-lobbies where opponents can be pre-screened. Put all this together, a player can find his/her good game rhythm pretty easier.

Now play CoD 'Destiny Style'. Let's design a game like this!!!!

Go start and create a game with more emphasis on SBMM. To cement this in hard, then keep the opponents hidden in pre-game lobbies, so you have no clue of their makeup, party status or how good they may be. When the game starts, make it more difficult to shoot two opponents, and three is next to impossible due to shields, forcing players to need teammates. Well, you think it's impossible, but you aren't sure. Hide all your stat mechanics so players are lost. Then make access to the guns uneven across the playing field and to rub salt in the wound, make it very difficult for players to even know what guns opponents are using. Yeah, that's the ticket. Completely in the dark. It is all about the darkness, right?

But wait, there's more.....

Make small maps where opponents spawn everywhere. Then do a nice thing like reduce incentives to hide, but then forget that this also creates a endless circle jerk of running around, kicking spawns like nobodies business. Yes!! Now with all these people running around, give all the players THREE Dead Man's Hand attacks to use. 12 players x 3 DMH's = 36 really cool explosions for kids to love, as well as neat 1,800 mph ball of flame ninja sword attacks and Titan 'Fists up the Ass' insta kill attacks. For sh1ts and giggles, then allow those CoD players to then actually also shoot these attacks at each other. Yeah, try avoiding 18 potential attacks like that a game. 18 insta-deaths coming to a town near you!!!!

Is it no wonder people have a harder time finding a rhythm in Destiny?

Some people might like the above. I won't say it's necessary worse or better, it's just different. But for me, I am personally not liking the above style of play that much. It's more like Mario Kart CoD.

[TheHawkNY]

I played 146 games of Crucible during the beta, and have played 227 games of Crucible since launch. I am honestly no better at Crucible than I was during the beta. I'm not sure if there's very little learning curve, or if I'm just not putting as much time into Crucible as the other players, and so I am relatively behind.

In Crucible, unless one player is playing like a shitbag (crouched in a corner with a shotgun, or sniping), both you and your opponent have the same information - there's no soundwhoring, you're both on the radar. I'm an older player that relied more on an advantage in intelligence, rather than pure gun skill, and so adjusting is difficult.

But the bottom line is that I just don't have much fun playing Crucible.

[markopolo]

I enjoy destiny. A lot. I probably won't go to COD:AW.

And while I complained about it before, I really like not having voice. It gets really god damn tiresome listening to the 12 years dropping racial, homophobic, and degrogatory terms every 5 seconds... all while going 1-15 and accusing everyone (teammates included) of cheating. Yes, it would be nice for the strikes/raids.

I just hit 20 and have no desire to stop.

[iw5000]

Oct 14, 2014 9:59:58 GMT -5 TheHawkNY said:

I played 146 games of Crucible during the beta, and have played 227 games of Crucible since launch. I am honestly no better at Crucible than I was during the beta. I'm not sure if there's very little learning curve, or if I'm just not putting as much time into Crucible as the other players, and so I am relatively behind.

In Crucible, unless one player is playing like a shitbag (crouched in a corner with a shotgun, or sniping), both you and your opponent have the same information - there's no soundwhoring, you're both on the radar. I'm an older player that relied more on an advantage in intelligence, rather than pure gun skill, and so adjusting is difficult.

But the bottom line is that I just don't have much fun playing Crucible.

I will admit to having fun at times, but it's such a haphazard type of inconsistent fun, it's kind of meaningless. I do think I have gotten better due to map knowledge, but that's standard procedure in any type of FPS. I also know for a fact that getting some Legendary/Exotic weapons most certainly upped my game a bit too, leveling the playing field for me. No doubt there.

[wittyscorpion]

I have seen pretty consistent reports on that Destiny Crucible is playable (so going for Marks / loot is not totally unpleasant) but not great. Looks like PvP minded players have to find something else to scratch that pwn-other-players itch.

Once CoD:AW and Halo are out, and Destiny is no longer the only option out there (don't know how many people are still playing Titanfall, but that game has been out long enough to feel aged regardless), I can see Destiny as a viable complement. At least for me, it sits right in the middle of CoD and Halo to provide variety. That's what I am looking for from this game anyway, a longer TTK experience with headshot focus, but not as hardcore as Halo. My problem right now is that I barely have enough time to get through all the PvE activities (daily: 3 public event gold finish, 3 daily missions at the highest level that I can succeed, often 2+ levels above my character; weekly: 3 weekly missions at the highest level, 100 Vanguard Marks on each character), hopefully starting this week I can make room for PvP.

On the positive side, Bungie is actively addressing issues that can be addressed. Latest ScoutR buff and AutoR / Shotty nerf may introduce new playing patterns into the game, whether they are in general positive or not remain to be seen. And they just got started. With more and more people beating Raid and expansion pack is still 2 months away, making Crucible more fun should be their top priority.

The question remains on whether Crucible can be dramatically improved with the current setup. That's one reason why I started this discussion, to see whether people's lackluster/lukewarm impressions of the experience can be easily addressed.

[iw5000]

Witty,

I'm going hard in PvP mostly because I have a ton of Crucible Marks, and let me say this. That part is unpleasant.

I'm up to almost 180 marks and I am still light years away from Crucible Level 2. I think you need 2,000 rep points, and I only have 378 right now. I am guessing I didn't do enough bounties initially? I do have three bounties going on now, but they're only worth like 300 rep pts. You can see math. This journey is going to take forever. I'm thinking I am going to have well over 450 crucible marks by the time I get to level 2. The only good thing is this. When I hit Lv 2, I should be able to buy three to four Legendary armor pieces. There's 8 to 12 Ascendent Shards for me.

^^^ The above is related to your topic. You want to help the Crucible experience, reduce the above ridiculous time requirements. It's unbalanced. You first need a TON of time played (100 plus games?), maybe around twenty hours, to just get to Level 2. Then what? One can get some equipment or two ascendant shards?

[hebbnh]

Oct 14, 2014 14:07:51 GMT -5 iw5000 said:

Witty,

I'm going hard in PvP mostly because I have a ton of Crucible Marks, and let me say this. That part is unpleasant.

I'm up to almost 180 marks and I am still light years away from Crucible Level 2. I think you need 2,000 rep points, and I only have 378 right now. I am guessing I didn't do enough bounties initially? I do have three bounties going on now, but they're only worth like 300 rep pts. You can see math. This journey is going to take forever. I'm thinking I am going to have well over 450 crucible marks by the time I get to level 2. The only good thing is this. When I hit Lv 2, I should be able to buy three to four Legendary armor pieces. There's 8 to 12 Ascendent Shards for me.

^^^ The above is related to your topic. You want to help the Crucible experience, reduce the above ridiculous time requirements. It's unbalanced. You first need a TON of time played (100 plus games?), maybe around twenty hours, to just get to Level 2. Then what? One can get some equipment or two ascendant shards?

Yeah, you pretty much have to do the bounties if you're trying to get your rank up at any kind of acceptable pace.  I'd stick to the ones that are pretty easy and that you'd get by just playing normally, like win 3 control matches, get 50 assists, kill 25 titans/warlocks/hunters, that kind of stuff.  There's usually 3 or so of those a day which does work out to around the 300 rep points you mentioned plus whatever rep you get from wins/losses depending on how many games you have to play to complete the bounties.  No bounties left or none that are easy?  Stop playing Crucible for the day and come back and get a new set of bounties tomorrow.  FWIW I absolutely agree that the time required is excessive, I'm just pointing out the most painless way to do it from my experience.

The same thing can be said for Vanguard rep, although Vanguard seems to rank a lot faster than Crucible to me.  If you do nothing but grind patrols it's going to take you forever to rank up, but you can easily get 300-500 rep each day from bounties while you're doing patrols you'd be doing already anyway, which would put you at rank 2 in a week or two if that's all you did.  Then there are public events and weekly activities that add to that which helps out quite a bit.

[iw5000]

I think one gets like two to three rep points per match? Something like that.

I didn't pay close enough attention to the bounties initially. Wasn't doing them. Didn't understand these little things. I think I have close to 110 crucible games played now. I am focusing on these now. I currently have some tough one. Fifty head shots. And fifteen head shots with a sniper rifle. Good lord, this last one is tough, even in Control game mode. I have eight right now, need to sludge through seven more kills. :-(

Most of the time in Crucible, if I am solo, I don't even give s sh1t about winning. I'm just doing these dumb challenges now. My random teammates probably hate me (and I wouldn't blame them for doing so)

Vanguard Rep leveling ....agree. It was MUCH faster. Not sure why, but it seemed to go by twice as fast.

[wittyscorpion]

iw5000: I was under the impression that you already got some legendary/raid gears. Do you really need to reach Crucible Rank 2 and buy the armor pieces through the Crucible route?

Is this not your primary character?

[hebbnh]

You get 25 rep and 3 marks for a win, 10 rep and 2 marks for a loss IIRC. Now I realize why it feels so much slower than Vanguard to rank up--because it is. Most of the patrols only take a minute or two, probably 5 minutes tops. Lets say you're on the really slow end and can only finish 10 patrols in an hour. That's 100 rep at a minimum with plenty of room for a lot more than that, especially if you can coordinate with friends to cover different zones so you don't have to waste time travelling back and forth. In Crucible I'm lucky to get 5 games in an hour. Win them all and that's 125 rep maximum, not so bad, but lose them all and you're only looking at 50 rep, and there's not really any way to increase that when you're at the mercy of load screens, matchmaking, and whatnot. Meanwhile I can get 50 Vanguard rep in 10-15 minutes just doing patrols solo! Not to mention all the other PvE activities that give rep. I think based on that, 50 rep for a Crucible win and 25 for a loss would be a lot more reasonable, maybe even more than that.

And yeah, some of the bounties are a real pain. I did several of the headshot ones while grinding out rank 3 for the Queen's Wrath stuff. Hand cannon and scout rifle headshots aren't so much fun when you're getting destroyed by ARs pretty much all game. Sniper ones weren't so bad as long as it was a big map, like the Moon or one of the Mars ones, Bastion I think. On small maps I didn't even bother trying after a game or two, got tired of dying the whole time and went back to an AR/shotty combo instead.

[TheHawkNY]

It would be nice if you could purchase items from factions with Vanguard marks as well as Crucible marks.

[GodMars]

2 1/2 hours in Crucible this afternoon, and not a single win. Most of the time my team lost quite badly. I spent most of that time under a 1 KD (I went positive maybe twice). I switched lobbies and game modes, to no avail. It was frustrating and not fun in the slightest. I did the math earlier, and I figured out I can lose 7 matches a day and still cap out on marks every week. I think I can suck that up until I get another weapon or two I want from the vendors. After that I'm not sure I'll PvP again in this game. I understand this is a different game with different mechanics, but to go from a 1.91 K/D with a 5 W/L in Ghosts to losing 90% of my games and struggling to stay above a 1 K/D most days is just too much for me.

[wittyscorpion]

As I mentioned in the other thread, my fear is real on whether MMO and FPS MP appeal can mix well. Still yet to see one solid example of a game that does both well...

When starting a new game, I am almost always deep in the negative territory at the beginning. I am not bothered by that as long as I see a clear path of improvement. Can't help by bringing up my most favorite game atm: Titanfall, again. I was seriously doing badly at the beginning, but the game experience was quite fun regardless. That enjoyment gets me through the learning curve and the fun keeps increasing from there. The paths of improvements are clear and what happens in game are pretty transparent, so I know exactly what I need to work on to become better.

Not sure whether I can have similar experience with Destiny PvP, because I still yet to find time. But with the current setup and the complaints I read so far, it does seem to have the problem of lack-of-consistency-and-transparency.

[GodMars]

Good news is I dig the PvE. I'll keep going as long as I have people to play with.

[wittyscorpion]

Oct 14, 2014 17:50:45 GMT -5 GodMars said:

Good news is I dig the PvE. I'll keep going as long as I have people to play with.

On PvE vs. PvP, I am with iw5000. Killing AIs can be great fun, but pale in comparison vs. outplaying other humans. I have been hoping that Destiny can do a great job of bridging the two.

If Destiny PvP = Auto+Shotty, then it would be rather disappointing. I can do that in CoD and Titanfall I am really hoping for a Semi Auto / Sniper Rifle experience, at least as viable options.

It is still early so there are hope. We will see what tricks Bungie have up their sleeves...

[GodMars]

Oct 14, 2014 17:53:34 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

Oct 14, 2014 17:50:45 GMT -5 GodMars said:

Good news is I dig the PvE. I'll keep going as long as I have people to play with.

On PvE vs. PvP, I am with iw5000. Killing AIs can be great fun, but pale in comparison vs. outplaying other humans. I have been hoping that Destiny can do a great job of bridging the two.

It is still early so there are hope. We will see what tricks Bungie have up their sleeves...

As long as I am playing with people I like I have a good time. For me and PvE, the bonus is AI mobs don't camp in corners with shotguns and they always play objectives. Makes for a good, vigorous fight.

[iw5000]

Oct 14, 2014 15:17:42 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

iw5000: I was under the impression that you already got some legendary/raid gears. Do you really need to reach Crucible Rank 2 and buy the armor pieces through the Crucible route?

Is this not your primary character?

I am pretty much good on gear, almost all i need. At least to a high level 29. I think i will need Raid gear gloves to hit that last two pieces of light to level 30.

But regarding Crucible... I already have two exotics and a queen's armor fully leveled, but when i switched to the raid gear, i need to level that up now. And that requires (for the last stage leveling) a number of AS's. So with all those mark's sitting in my Crucible account, how can i just let them go? It seems best to grind it out. I think i am over halfway there. When i do get there, like i said, having 400 plus Crucible marks will get me a lot of gear, and breaking that down gives AS's.

[iw5000]

Oct 14, 2014 17:48:33 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

As I mentioned in the other thread, my fear is real on whether MMO and FPS MP appeal can mix well. Still yet to see one solid example of a game that does both well...

When starting a new game, I am almost always deep in the negative territory at the beginning. I am not bothered by that as long as I see a clear path of improvement. Can't help by bringing up my most favorite game atm: Titanfall, again. I was seriously doing badly at the beginning, but the game experience was quite fun regardless. That enjoyment gets me through the learning curve and the fun keeps increasing from there. The paths of improvements are clear and what happens in game are pretty transparent, so I know exactly what I need to work on to become better.

Not sure whether I can have similar experience with Destiny PvP, because I still yet to find time. But with the current setup and the complaints I read so far, it does seem to have the problem of lack-of-consistency-and-transparency.

Just go try it Witty. A typical control (domination) match takes about 12 to 15 minutes round trip. You could easily squeeze two games in with your present schedule. Give it a shot, and let us know your thoughts. I would love to know if you see, what some of us are seeing.

Reading your other thoughts up there, if you are hoping/looking for a good sniper/semi auto experience, .....better put on your big boy pants. That plus maybe a six pack for the nerves. If sniping, maybe even switch over to hard liquor to ease things back down. I know you are one of the most level-headed, calm gamers out there, but i gots to think even you might be wanting to toss a controller through your TV after a few games of trying to snipe.

[wittyscorpion]

Oct 14, 2014 22:59:56 GMT -5 iw5000 said:

Reading your other thoughts up there, if you are hoping/looking for a good sniper/semi auto experience, .....better put on your big boy pants. That plus maybe a six pack for the nerves. If sniping, maybe even switch over to hard liquor to ease things back down. I know you are one of the most level-headed, calm gamers out there, but i gots to think even you might be wanting to toss a controller through your TV after a few games of trying to snipe.

During Beta I went with AutoR + SniperR on map "Shores of TIme", and it was fun. I was able to connect enough SR headshots, which can be addictive enough for me to forget about KDR.

Judging from what I read so far on this board, the full game don't look very promising for getting that "high". I will see it myself soon enough

[psychlon]

Oct 14, 2014 17:53:34 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

Oct 14, 2014 17:50:45 GMT -5 GodMars said:

Good news is I dig the PvE. I'll keep going as long as I have people to play with.

On PvE vs. PvP, I am with iw5000. Killing AIs can be great fun, but pale in comparison vs. outplaying other humans. I have been hoping that Destiny can do a great job of bridging the two.

If Destiny PvP = Auto+Shotty, then it would be rather disappointing. I can do that in CoD and Titanfall I am really hoping for a Semi Auto / Sniper Rifle experience, at least as viable options.

It is still early so there are hope. We will see what tricks Bungie have up their sleeves...

I have had similar experiences in CoD with having a couple of good games and then lose 10 in a row. Destiny doesn't seem to be so different to me in that aspect. The difference to me seems to be that I can drop people like flies in CoD if I handle my weapon properly, in Destiny however I have to go through a meat shield, making headshots with regualar weapon impossible. This results in situations where you have your target down to 10% ready to be killed only to be shot by a second person in the process. Therefore the time spend to kill an opponent is longer and therefor leaves room for getting killed which may explain why a streak of 40-5 is out of question in Destiny (unless you have a team full of friends, playing coordinated against non coordinated individuals). 

I will have to try again at some time but PvE is more enjoyable at the moment. My warlock now has the self resurrect, can't wait for the double grenade. I'm currently only lvl 25 with 1 legendary piece of armor and the rest is blues with 15 light on it so I started to give the blues to my Titan/ Hunter until they've got 15 light on their gear as well before trying to get my Warlock higher by turning in engrams. 

What I didn't/ don't understand in my leveling experience is/ was that while you're leveling (past 20) you do unlock this and that strike/ weekly heroic etc. . The weekly strike doesn't come up with a "find another 2 random player" feature but it seems I would have to find another 2 people (I guess?!). Since there is very limited chat options and no general chat to just look for people via that I end up not doing it because it just seems too complicated. Nightfall strike (thanks for leveling up enough to actually get this option... why that can't be shown as locked from the beginning.. no idea) I haven't even touched because of it. We've been doing 40 man raids with just written text, can't be that nowadays there needs to be voice chat for everything. 

[hebbnh]

psychlon: You can always solo the weekly strikes if you can't/don't want to find another player or two to run through it with you, or if you just like a challenge.