Destiny‘s upcoming expansion, The Taken King looks to be the biggest, most game-changing addition to Bungie’s latest game yet. This is largely due to the fact that The Taken King is planning to go above and beyond the mere act of just including new things to kill, and new weapons to kill them with.
The expansion will change Destiny at its very core, with the primary focus being on player experience and how guardian progression works. Partially moving away from the loot based system and giving players more direct control and feedback on their progress is a great move, and it can be used to really expand the endgame when all is said and done.
There are already quite a few games that leverage their experience systems to add new dynamics and replayability to their games. Games that have proven to be quite successful, and have shown that so much can come out of using experience intelligently to expand the endgame offerings.
Seeing as how one of the biggest issues many players have had with Destiny since its launch had to do with repetition with little to no reward. To help with that, Destiny could borrow from those that have come before in order to create something that never ends yet still keeps that tight gameplay the game is known for at the forefront.
While not every method of expansion is fit for Destiny, there are a few that look like they’d go hand in hand with the shared world shooter. And it all starts with borrowing a little something something from fellow Activision juggernaut Call of Duty.
Call of Duty’s Prestige System
When Destiny: The Taken King revamps the progression system things are sure to change. On one hand you have gear and weapons dictating your power level and basically controlling your chances of survival in The Taken King‘s upcoming challenges. On the other, leveling up is no longer a matter of waiting to find legendary or exotic gear. Everything you do will provide experience to your guardian from level one all the way up to the new level cap of 40.
For some, the replayability of Destiny came in the form of hunting down gear in the hopes of finally reaching the level cap. But reaching a level cap quickly can potentially deter some players from continuing, unless you provide an incentive of course. One possible incentive could come in the form of Prestige.
In Call of Duty players prestige in order to reset their level progress and open up the opportunity to earn new and better rewards for their soldier. Unlocking prestige in The Taken King could work similarly in that it will allow those players who’ve sunk a tremendous amount of hours into the game the opportunity to see and unlock new things (preferably something other than shaders).
New abilities on weapons, new armor variations, the alteration of a specific class skill, or other additions will add that same hunt for something better but center it around character progression. Also, it would remove a lot of the sting from the randomness found throughout the game.
Diablo 3’s Paragon System
Diablo III has a system that is perfect for a game where the player is allowed to create multiple characters: the Paragon system. If you haven’t played Diablo III, what the Paragon system does is allow a character to continue to earn experience after reaching the cap and provides small stat based awards to the player. What it also allows is for all other characters under that account to benefit from these paragon levels.
In The Taken King the benefits would be twofold. On one hand you have players being able continue to improve their guardians without having to reset that shiny number 40 above their heads. On the other, they now have the incentive to roll those second and third characters since they’ll have a bit of a head start in terms of ability.
It’s a way to add replayability by adding incentive to all experience, and not just for that first climb to 40 and whatever gear you may come across in Destiny: The Taken King. By providing constant growth for a guardian, Bungie would provide an infinite Legend.
Mix It Up Like The Elder Scrolls Online
When Destiny was first released it brought the magic of subclasses. Okay, well there was no magic, and subclasses in games that have RPG elements aren’t new. But the way Bungie handled them was kind of different.
When you first began the game you were locked into a subclass until you hit level 15, which was when an entirely new subclass with a different burn and different ways to play became unlocked. The second subclass wasn’t necessarily better, but it did help to mix up the repetitive nature of the game. One issue that some have with these subclasses is that although they offer a bit of flexibility within their trees, they don’t cross over.
So, if you played as a Warlock, it was either all void, or all solar. Yes it can be argued that each subclass has its own specific play-style and inherent strengths, but part of the fun of RPGs, especially those more action oriented, is truly playing the way you want.
Subclass restrictions prevent that to a certain degree. Maybe a system in which you can unlock the ability to mix and match skills off of your various trees to make your Warlock really seem like a space magician is in order. Make it so that after level 30 you can wield two different burns with your abilities, sort of like The Elder Scrolls Online allows players to equip two completely different weapon and skill sets after reaching level 15.
Branching between the subclasses being offered as an experience incentive could get more players into the game for the long run so that they can finally build that perfect guardian.
With a little bit of tweaking, Bungie can make The Taken King much less of a laborious loot quest by incentivizing all experience. Reaching a level cap is cool and all, but being able to progress further than the highest limits changes the game and keeps it fresh.
Do you agree with these three ideas? Have some of your own? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
And, as always, safe travels guardians.
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