Future 2 gamers logged in for a brand new story mission in its “Echoes” episode yesterday, after which have been promptly knowledgeable that…the primary Act was over. This was a shock to many (myself included) who weren’t conscious earlier than this that an Act would finish with simply three weeks of story growth, earlier than taking a 3 week break, then presumably three weeks on and off till we get by way of the entire thing.
Sure, that’s a change from the seasonal mannequin however this looks as if it’s going to be…worse. Having simply three weeks of story earlier than taking a 3 week break jogs my memory of how Netflix is splitting its new seasons of huge exhibits in half or thirds with a month break in between, and it actually breaks the stream of issues.
Previous that, if that is the schedule, it might imply 9 weeks of story content material, which can be greater than the 7-8 a season normally has, however once more, these Episodes are for much longer than seasons, as Act 3 doesn’t even start till August 27. Act 2 will proceed July 16.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the story stopping and beginning, it’s additionally about what the sport is now timegating that it wasn’t earlier than. Specifically, the sport will introduce new weapons to affix the present seasonal choice with these subsequent two Acts, given gamers little purpose to play seasonal content material at present, even when they wished to, with these rewards held again. We have now not seen weapons timegated on this vogue…ever, and it actually doesn’t really feel good to have this be the plan for the episodic mannequin, even when it would certainly be extra general weapons than standard.
The second most important subject is the battle cross, which can also be now timegated. You will get to stage 100 now, which is the place I’m as of this week, however after that, it now takes dramatically extra expertise to stage up, and even for those who achieve this, you can’t declare any rewards till Act 2 begins. That may unlock 50 extra ranges, then 50 extra for Act 3. The results of this implies there isn’t a factors claiming challenges or finishing bounties till Act 2 launches, lest the expertise depend for less than a fraction of what it’s purported to.
I do know why Bungie is doing this, as for those who simply had every thing up entrance that might lead to even longer lifeless time on the finish of an episode than we had with seasons, given how lengthy they’re, however this doesn’t really feel good both, and feels worse than the seasonal mode. The promise was that episodes could be larger than seasons, and whereas that’s in all probability true, provided that there are much less, I’d be amazed if it was extra content material whole than 4 seasons had. To me, this looks like a option to reduce on content material supply to some extent, and the additional timegating is the primary factor that makes all of it really feel worse.
There could also be massive surprises coming in Act 2 and three, and maybe extra content material that we’re envisioning, however up to now, this alteration doesn’t seem to be a very good one and “mixing up” the format of seasons looks as if it’s similar to what it was earlier than, however with extra timegating, which is without doubt one of the most important issues folks grew to dislike about seasons within the first place.
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Decide up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller sequence and The Earthborn Trilogy.