Episode 8, In the Jungles of South Africa!

Hey guys, MRO from the DoD 360 Delta Team, I think there's a lot off in the expectations of the Raid and the content and the concerns you raised seem to spot light the disconnect between what you expect and what you're getting. And that forces Bungie into one two things: Either change the program to meet your expectations, or better inform to change your expectations to meet the game. I think the choice of the Football Analogy best spotlights what's being missed. You are absolutely correct: If my Lions had to draw straws to see who was on QB, who was on Left Tackle, and who was on Wide Out for every play, it'd be chaos. Every play would be a hodge podge of events. Bush is for running. Megatron is for catching. Stafford is for throwing and managing tempo. Put Megatron at Left Tackle and things could get nuts. But that's also because the ~~Exepctation~~ is that each guy, right now, is going to always play the same positions and thus can train for those positions. Imagine, using your analogy, an alternate game of Football (American rules) where every play positions WERE randomly assigned. How would you approach this differently? Rather than hoping the right guys are assigned to the right positions you'd recruit Generalists. You'd want a team of guys that can throw, can catch, can block and can kick all with relative skill because you'd want to be sure they all clicked as a single unit regardless of what role they are assigned. To leave the analogy: You can't prepare for the raid the way you did in Warcraft. And YES this is different than every other raid in the game. Another comment that convinced me you were expecting a different product was the lamentation of what would happen if the level 26 had to carry the Relic. If someone would be oneshotted in any single role in the raid, then maybe the problem is that aren't ready for the raid yet. Maybe they need more strikes and PVP to get more Legendary gear, and more time to level that gear up to be better prepared to Not Die while running it. I'm sitting at a happy 27 and I've not even thought about the raid yet. I've got two pieces of gear with room to level before I even need to think about adding shards to them. I'm okay with this, myself. Because I do see the raid as something that I probably won't do. I've got my strikes to run, I love PVP for PVP's sake, and I've got a core of people I just like hanging out with and playing games with. ~~For Me~~ the lack of access to the raid isn't a problem. But I also don't expect to be able to get into the raid. I do want to get to 28 and I do want to try the raid, but for me that's something that if it doesn't happen I won't feel cheated because it's not something I expect to do. It's all about expectations. The changes to the raid, as far as I can tell, were specifically to get the encounters the way they were intended to be: The hardest possible PVE Content that only the best players can complete. That means every player has to be good enough to manage any role they are assigned by using what their particular guardian brings to the team. There are no healers and MT's in Destiny and I kind of like that. I wonder if the concern was the ability for a "lower" clanmate to be "Carried" through the raid and that was what they wanted to address. Even within this podcast there were lamentations about "that guy who didn't do anything got an exotic". Well, if the encounters are random, and everyone has to do ~some~thing, then that elimates the "guy who didn't do anything".

Great show guys really enjoy it every week. In regards to the raid and Having completed the raid twice, both pre and after the patch I'm not sure it was much harder. But that may have been because we were lucky enough to have 3 people in the group that were comfortable with the relic even if they prefer not to use it the post patch run (last Tuesday). This meant that most times when teleported we had someone that could do that job. If not we generally wiped. The biggest problem I've encountered in the raid is too many below level 28 guardians (I'm one of them and the other guys have had to carry me in the raids I have completed but I leveled up mid raid last time) as even in the most organised of teams you just don't have the firepower to kill the bosses before they get enraged and most first timers will be level 26 or 27 so they wipe continually and get frustrated (and this has happened to me on numerous occasions) This why I think matchmaking will not work for the raid RebelSaracen

I could listen to Dolphus all day, that man should be doing some kind of voice acting work, its entrancing...

Hey guys great show! I'm not a dad so I feel like I'm listening to something I shouldn't... Which adds a danger element to the whole thing! As a casual gamer the rant was really rewarding to hear. I'm currently a level 26 hunter (have been for a while) and due to my limited play time I've only made it half way through the raid. If didn't have high level friends that keep me around for comic relief I wouldn't have even made it that far. So I appreciate you guys looking out for gamers like me on your show! Thanks and keep up the good show! Btw over the weekend I tried a black & blue (Guinness and Sweetwater Blue) I highly recommend it!

Another stellar episode! Glad you guys addressed the changes to VOG (nice rant pope), stuff bungie and their intent this may be a game changer for me. Since launch I've invested around 45 hrs into my Titan got him to 27 and was looking for to raid but now I'm not sure. I like a challenge and I'm used to raids (former wow raid/MT healer) but introducing randomness is making me rethink how to approach VOG or just forgo it altogether. It seems bungie wants me to use my time researching, watching youtube and reading strategies rather than playing. I have limited time to play and the thought of learning all the intricacies of the fight is daunting, I'm a specialist get one thing and do it well that's why we have different classes and abilities. It would be nice to send a message to bungie about their change. Oh and real men drink coffee black NO milk/sugar and if your looking for the best beer in the world try coopers pale ale http://www.coopers.com.au/#/our-beer/ales-stout/original-pale-ale/

Great episode guys! Thoroughly enjoyable for sure. Enjoyed listening to Dolphus join in too! And Hambone, when I finally get the Thorn bounty, it's payback time! Lol! I particularly like the way you handled the changes to the raid topic - I LOVE this game, but Bungie really screwed the pooch on this one. For guys like me, randomizing the teleport on NORMAL is just one more GIANT hurdle to overcome and may prove too great an obstacle over which to persevere. I just ain't got the time. Again, good show! Thanks a ton.

Pope owes me a new iPhone. The tears from his rant left my phone soaking wet!! LOL Another great episode- to the The whole podcast team.