Hey DeeJ, and any Bungie lurkers willing to read this. And hi community. :)
There have been plenty of complaints and concerns aired about repetitive content in Destiny. Play the same Strikes and Story missions again and again, etc. The following is a proposed help/fix for these concerns.
For [b]all[/b] Daily Heroic Stories, Weekly Heroic Strikes, and Weekly Nightfall Strikes, please consider randomizing the placement of enemy wave spawns. This would help keep the fights intense and varied. Complete randomization is probably unwise, as you might see ten Elder High Servitors spawn at once (or something similar - maybe funny, maybe dumb). But a directed group of possibilities from a limited set of possible wave content and spawn locations.
A great example is the Refinery portion of the Sepiks Prime strike. By now, almost everyone has played this Strike many times. As soon as one player heads up to the Fallen computer to begin hacking the 3 Mesh Layers, at least one other player takes up position near the entrance to the area, so they can mow down the first wave of Dregs, Vandals, and the Captain that spawn back there. It's totally habit by this point.
Similarly, The Archive on Venus. Sure, the Fallen "followed you down" to the Archive (kind of raises the question why Ghost didn't close the door behind you... but we'll let him slide), so it makes sense that the first couple of waves spawn near the entry to the Archive... but again, as soon as someone triggers the opening sequence, you've got players planted right next to those initial spawn points, ready to mow down two waves (including Those Annoying Sniper Bros. who take up position on the high catwalk if you let them).
How much cooler and more involving would it be if, rather than knowing ahead of time exactly what you'll be facing and where it will come from, each mission is a new run with new challenges. The Archive mission is clearly intended to have players up on the dais where the computer terminal is, defending it (and the Ghost) from all the mobs. What if players stayed up in that spot just because it was really a good idea (a good place to defend against the mobs)?
Of course this also raises the question of making the Ghost actually vulnerable to attack, making it much more important for at least one player to defend that location. Most players find Defense missions pretty annoying. However, there could be the underpinnings of a really neat mechanic there. For example - if the Ghost doing the activity gets damaged, a player can use their own Ghost to reinforce its hit-points - but doing so leaves the player vulnerable for a second or so, making coordinated tactics important. Alternately, competent players could just prevent mobs from ever reaching the vulnerable Ghost. Needless to say if the Ghost gets "killed," the event has to restart. A tough challenge, but again, something different from what exists now (and demanding more thought and coordination).
The idea is to take the model currently in use for content, and make it more varied and fun. Thanks to anyone who reads, and please feel free to add feedback or your own suggestions.
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Great idea!