Several months ago the game did not motivate me at all.
My personal top issues:
- no useful loot
- rainbow stats, rendering the loot even more useless
- everything you 'earned' by grinding hundreds of hours was useless stuff sold to vendors
- no progression due to missing better items
- my items/gear never changed during months of playing
- even season rewards didn't break that rule
- the community (including me) did not have confidence the devs would be capable of doing better than ruining the game even further
Now, i tried DIv2 yesterday after moths of absence.
- In a 'state of the game' the devs said they would adress rainbow loot. After 4h of playing all i get is rainbow loot. Stats combinations that don't makie sense. Rolls that are totally rng resulting in a constant flow of trash.
- everything i earned during my last hours revisiting just felt the same like months ago: no usefull items, everything earned just goes straight to the vendors
- However, i was abolutely positively impressed by the intensity of fights in the 'summit' part of the game.
- graphics are still stunning even years after release
- the 'feeling' of the game still is awesome, meaning the movement, shooting and interaction with the environment
My question is:
What did happen that nothing happened regarding loot?
The game is still awesome but the loot system is still the major issue ruining any motivation. There was a time when loot was rewarding and divergent. That was before the 'crafting bench' was implemented and items had several properties that have been completely removed. That for itself is no mistake, IF it would have been replaced by a better system. But the actual loot system isn't better, it's the bulls eye of demotivation in the game.
Are there still the same untalented people responsible for the loot mechanic in the game working at Massive? Seriously? Did the community not oppose this lack of motivation over the past several months? How is it possible that in a loot shooter the loot is so epicly unrewarding and nobody at Massive focusses this issue? It was THE reason for me to leave and i'm totally blown away that nothing changed up till today. Even if Massive themselves are proven unable to solve that, is there a reason why they don't ask for professional help as they did in Div1? I really don't understand why a game technically THIS awesome keeps being misdeveloped over such a long period.
Anyone has a clue?
They fixed the Rainbow loot [on PTS], but then people complained it made Hybrid builds impossible, so now you have some rainbow loot still - but it is less than prior. Negativity Bias is a beast though, so for most it feels no different.
I and many others find the loot rewarding. Many do not. I don't think you can please everyone. I also think many people conflate "good loot", with "good loot I want for my specific build". That said, I'm still chasing my W&H unicorn Chest piece..
I guess I'm confused why the loot is more important than: the 'feeling' of the game still is awesome, meaning the movement, shooting and interaction with the environment?
That's easy:Originally Posted by LateNiteDelight Go to original post
In loot based games you're grinding the same places, the same modes and the same missions over and over and over again.
If nothing changes for you over the time of half a year, then there is absolutely no motivation to continue that. No proper loot mechanic kills motivation effectively.
There are many, many possibilities for the devs here. Because generic floods of unusable items don't mean anything, if there is a smart way to craft with it. Take Path of Exile: you're flooded with loot, nothing is of mentionable value. But you can recraft any basis to a really, really powerful item, cause the crafting system allows you to do this even with multiple approaches. Nothing like this is implemented in Div2, this system is short-handed, non-complex and does not enable you to craft on a specific item over a long period of time. This is why every single looted item ends up at the vendor. But even with the money you get ther you can do nothing. So, where is the long time motivation in that?
That's an easy one.Originally Posted by LateNiteDelight Go to original post
Let's say I have the nicest car in the world. It rides smoother and quieter than any car I have ever owned. It handles and accelerates better than any car I have ever owned. The only problem is that it dies just short of my destination on every trip. It's a fantastic car but it falls short of getting me where I want to be.
That's a terrible analogyOriginally Posted by mckrackin5324 Go to original post![]()
I mean, I do get better loot over time. I think the loot system is well balanced. I get rewarded frequently enough with good pieces, commiserate with the time/effort spent. Granted, loot is not my top priority, so maybe I'm more forgiving than people focused on chasing down the perfect piece, where I'm fine with it being 1% off. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Originally Posted by Angry_Gekko Go to original post
That said, I'd love for the crafting to get overhauled. Also, they do have the Optimization Station coming in TU12.
Yeah that's how I more so feel about loot right now. I think quality its in a good place I've been able to upgrade several of my builds including some perfect god rolls.Originally Posted by LateNiteDelight Go to original post
With looters you're always going to get more trash than good.
I didn't get any useful loot the last 800 SHD levels i went up. Nope, this is not exaggerated. But it's telling me there's something ODDLY wrong in conception and execution of long term motivation in this game. I tried out many items on my way. But i kept falling back to the items i got before the bench was introduced into the game. I'm at SHD 840 now. And i'm basically wearing the same gear i started up leveling SHD levels.Originally Posted by ECSemperFi Go to original post
Don't get me wrong: it's totally fine that you got 'quality in a good place', but that sounds very subjective to me. Not getting an useful item for a period of 800 SHD levels is objectively the opposite of what you're saying.
Well said!Originally Posted by mckrackin5324 Go to original post
Oh, so you weren't here to have an honest conversation*. Noted.
It is statistically impossible for you to not have gotten an upgrade over the course of 800 SHD levels, from what you were wearing post-Keener, unless you only play story mode or you farmed Heroic NYC before taking down Keener?
*The crafting bench was introduced well before SHD levels.