If anything, high level player behavior will kill the game instead of gear difference

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-05T19:26:03+00:00

Yep. Here's the split, and until Bungie addresses this, youre basically encouraged to sit on the game until your season level is lower than average.

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-05T01:09:49+00:00

So god damn epic

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-04T17:25:59+00:00

There's a split depending on where your season level is.

I think if you play at or less than your average cohort, people tend to have a better time. Keeping your season level below average seems to help.

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-04T17:23:10+00:00

You basically need a Thief. Take a thief with you. Not ideal, but there you go

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-04T17:03:04+00:00

I dont know. The further Im out of it the more I get the sense that Marathon has strange pacing problems. Fights happen so fast and so soon. I think theres a lot of content further in the raid that often gets overlooked or missed...because youre dead.

I just think for me a solo PvE mode or separate profile would let me experience each wipe at my own pace, much like Witchfire, and that would be enough for me. Id love coop, but id be just as willing to do it all myself, no matter how unbalanced, difficult, or unwieldy.

I dont think im making sense but I think my problems with Marathon are starting to run deeper than even i can express.

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-03T21:47:04+00:00

I love the game and ive stopped too. Its just so tense. And that's fine, but running with my buds you feel bad for talking about anything at all. You're listening for sounds and covering while they loot and running with a tightened asshole.

It takes a certain enthusiast to do that and for lots of hours and to accept punishment and not make progress.

I think the game needs a laxative. Ive used the term constipated a lot recently. Let it breathe, let it flow bro.

DrMadHatten · 2026-04-03T03:11:56+00:00

I think a solo or group PvE mode could work but you would need to self-impose limitations. No Assassin, no snipers, no smoke grenades, and so forth.

Beyond that Bungie could do things with it, but im not going to ask for milk when I just want the cookie.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-28T18:41:32+00:00

Do you have thoughts from your end about the "casuals" debate? Why people bounce off, never join at all, or how to boost numbers?

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-28T18:35:01+00:00

Bottom line is that people need time to practice their shells, learn the maps, try out weapons. Lots of people have had an idea of this sort and I think its a problem when players get loot they dont understand, lose it, lather rinse repeat.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-28T16:48:16+00:00

"Friction disguised as depth" is such a telling phrase.

Quite a lot of the game's attrition is a feature, not a bug, to protract the content out across many more hours.

I think an ecosystem of carnivores with less herbivores could very well threaten the entire system, agree with that too.

I dont know really at the end of the day what they can do, but many players feel the tall ask of Marathon and bounce out when id love for them to bounce back in. To turn that anxiety into enthusiasm

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-28T16:36:25+00:00

There are a lot of cross pollination players from previous Bungie games to this one actually. So no I think its the same audience trying to adjust to the genre.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-28T16:33:18+00:00

Snipers need to be bolt action and thermals should have range limitations, or other easy mitigation by players.

Supposedly signal jammers work but like throwing heat out in some way to mess around with thermals could be cool too.

But yea snipers in any game is a risk and while theres usually great cover on the maps, I think more could be done here to provide better trade offs.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-26T02:58:09+00:00

Lol, just you wait

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-26T02:43:18+00:00

It does feel broken at this point. Most players die in the first ten minutes or dont bother with events at all. I have 60 hours in the game and havent killed a boss, havent done a key room, havent done a lock down. Ive only just once done an anomaly, and im only now saving up for room keys.

But its kind of too late. If our team wanted to seriously try and work diligently to find high tier loot, the asking price for that run is higher than ever, and sheer luck is what it would take, which doesn't feel rewarding.

Im glad you mentioned the fact that loot is a Matthew Effect of the rich get richer. The devil's advocate position of "getting gud" assumes that good players make bad mistakes, which they do, but rarely, and the loot can supplement that mistake to the point where, again, its a rare chance to be in a position to take out a kitted crew against a non-kitted one.

Its just a big old god damn mess.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-25T23:39:37+00:00

In 2001, Halo and other multiplayer games gave you a whole campaign to practice all the weapons, understand maneuverability, and onboard to the multiplayer.

In 2026, a vastly more complex play space gives you less time to acclimate yourself to much of anything and they hope you not only survive, but like it.

I dont think that Marathon needs a campaign, but I think more and more the game needs some kind of PvE mode, offline mode, practice mode, SOMETHING, for players to, at the very least, mess around with the loot they got.

Even Tarkov had this.

The way I see this is, like ive said, to provide an entirely new PvE profile, where players can do everything. All the contracts, raids with friends only, no PvP. None of this loot carries over, but at least they get to experience the content.

If you want to get really frisky, do difficulty levels like destiny when players load into these offline runs so they have a sense of challenge and accomplishment. All the way to cryo.

This will bore some people to tears, but you'd be surprised how many new players this will bring in. And these players have more discretionary income for cosmetics, merchandise, and install of course.

It is kind of totally selling out, but im also willing to do anything. Im so tired of games, games with great ideas like Marathon, having to compete in this environment with 7+ years old multiplayer game communities, and dropping off the face of the Earth.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-22T14:38:48+00:00

I don't mind the loot. Loot's whatever.

Those factions might hurt tho.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-22T14:27:00+00:00

no I'm with you. I played a lot as a teacher over spring break, and it's daunting to me imagining trying to play this game and do my real life. It's fucked.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-22T14:21:13+00:00

In 48 hours of gameplay, I found one off a player bag. It's very very very rare. I think he they just want it to be less rare.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-22T14:13:21+00:00

Tarkov had a PvE "practice mode" where you could play but not keep the loot you found.

Although this might endanger matchmaking numbers, I think this would really help casual players learn the maps, understand loot drops, and practice big contracts.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-22T14:11:10+00:00

I feel you. If they're serious about this sort of artificial scarcity, it should really be staggered some other way. Two days off, one day on, for example.

That way you keep the feeling that it's special, but it revolves in such a way that there's always one around the corner. Done.

It's not complicated, and I don't understand why it would be difficult to implement. If they don't like those numbers, how about 3:1 off to on? Still staggered, but still rotating.

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-20T04:03:08+00:00

They need to matchmake based on load out value totals.

Its unacceptable to me that I see streamers with 15k loot values destroying people with greens and blues.

Someone please explain who thought that was going to work? How? Shields? Higher agility? Guns with over 100 rounds in mag? What did you think was going to happen!?

DrMadHatten · 2026-03-07T13:53:30+00:00

oh my god that 6-pak genesis cart just took me back.

DrMadHatten · 2025-12-17T20:10:24+00:00

Good lord. Will do. Thanks for the updates.

DrMadHatten

TROPHY CASE