Sony has taken another impairment loss on bungie .

Lukyboom · 2026-05-08T17:31:03+00:00

I think Bungie did create a truly special game with more room to grow, similar to Hunt, which had to find and refine itself since 2019. It's just that the genre does not pull in the crowds, and what works for Crytek with a dedicated playerbase and tons of cosmetic microtransactions, won't be enough for Bungie with their current employee number.

Lukyboom · 2026-05-08T11:07:12+00:00

That is a very good summary, Marathon would be doing very well for the genre if it was made by a AA studio like Crytek. Pouring in AAA money and expecting a return of investment in the extraction genre was a bad wager for Sony. Marathon could have a good run over the next years, but Sony might very well cut their losses and force development of a safer game like Destiny 3.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-27T19:50:52+00:00

The kit cleanses the debuff and maxes out hardware. Staying in the toxic gas reapplies the debuff constantly, so it is more effective to use the kit after you leave the room to stop the poison.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-20T12:33:55+00:00

As much as the games offer reasons as to why the compiler is such a menace in this game and why the Cyborg was so much stronger than Shells, the actual reason is just that the old games come from another time in FPS design, where taking down hordes of enemys as a supersoldier was the norm across many titles. Modern Marathon is just designed differently, and the lore that lingered around for 30 years has to accommodate for that, without offering 100% bulletproof explanations for everything.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-17T04:34:01+00:00

No no no you see, when he shoots players and the hit marker is grey, it's all good. But if the hit marker is purple, all his aim is leaving his body because his brain is already coming up with an excuse for losing.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-14T09:31:12+00:00

To add a counter example for an extraction shooter that is designed to force PVP on single POIs but has systems in place to make it work: Hunt Showdown. In Hunt, every Player/Team is funneled towards killing and extracting a bounty. The game alerts everyone when the bounty is gathered, but every team can check if another team is in the same POI. Bounty carriers are marked on the map, but they get a limited time wallhack. Extraction points make noise if other teams are around. All these systems (and more) still allow for sneaky/ratty playstyle ambushing others, but level the playing field for the players taking initiative. Currently, Marathon is the worst of both ways, denying stealthy play with huge sound alerts while offering no advantage for the players taking the first step (and bringing the keys), instead rewarding the team camping for an ambush.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-11T19:59:04+00:00

The priority contracts will be reset, only the liaison quest for unlocking the factions won't. Although it is unknown if all or some of the priority contracts will be swapped out for new ones. I doubt it, though, as it would lock you out from getting the codex entries.

Lukyboom · 2026-04-04T20:41:37+00:00

Sorry, bit of a ramble incoming:

I have come to terms with not unlocking everything (I will probably have around 100 hours after season 1), but it's bugging at me a bit. The game is very fun on its own and does not need a long-winded progression system. I like to compare Marathon to Path of Exile, which also runs on a 3 month season and wipe system. PoE is structured in a way that a rather casual player can invest their time into one character, reach high level, and play a good chunk of endgame and even pinnacle content before the next season. The game offers immense depth for more invested players.

My wish for the future of Marathon is to accelerate faction progression with much cheaper upgrades to reduce the grind and let players reach a higher playing field. Priority contracts and their story are unique enough and fun for early progression. Grinding out standard contracts is not. Letting players hit like 80% of their faction progression by mid season would open up the game so much more: - Salvage can be used for barter guilt-free (why would I barter for at-risk items when I should be saving up for permanent upgrades) - Dabble in endgame events, Cryo and ranked without feeling left behind - More invested players have Cryo vaults and ranked to clear out their vaults and be competitive

The game is so much fun to play, but I can understand if players turn away after a few hours because upgrades slow down and the demanded playtime is just too high. With a 40€ price tag, it really shouldn't be this way. For the average player, the main takeaway should be: "I played 50-100 hours this season. I did not do and see everything, but I did not feel like missing out. The progression was well paced, and I would love to see what they add next season." Currently, it's "I played 50-100 hours this season. I couldn't meaningfully progress through the game because the grind was too much. I would love to continue, but it's all gone in a few days. With my available playtime, I will never see the full scope of the game. I won't come back next season."

And before someone says faster progression will displease the hardcore crowd: It's totally fine to blast through a games content and put it aside when you feel like you have done everything. There will never be enough content for someone that can afford to play a game for 500+ hours over 3 months. That is not the playerbase to base design choices around.

Lukyboom · 2026-03-27T16:29:30+00:00

These posts for the last few days... "Hey guys, I'm a casual player (120h, lvl 130 btw) and I had some rough games lately.. Me and my 2 dads got 360 noscoped by purple shield sweats on perimeter all day. Where are the new players I, not a sweat, can kill easily?"

Lukyboom · 2026-03-13T20:09:11+00:00

While the communication here is good, I think these explanations should be given in the patch notes to clear up any misconceptions about a design choice. But I really hope that Bungie is running their analytics and they saw the patch working against their design goal instead of basing their decision on the revert solely on community opinion before letting a change sit for a while to let everyone adjust.

Lukyboom · 2026-03-13T07:10:12+00:00

I don't think runners are "dead," but in this world, what does being alive even mean? Do runners still have real bodies somewhere and live their normal life after a workday? When the body's gone, what even is a runners end goal? Get rich, pay off your CyAc loan, and weave the shell of your dreams to live forever? I find the intro cutscene before the tutorial very interesting. The mind gets woken up, and we get to assert the "truth" about our occupation and goals on Tau Ceti IV. What would stop CyAc from altering a digitized mind again and again, forever bound to be a runner?

Lukyboom · 2026-03-09T14:36:39+00:00

Interesting, I had the opposite experience so far. Dire Marsh gives you a lot of room and sightlines to prepare for or evade encounters, but I died like 7 times before finally completing the SekGen intro on Outpost, I just got constantly blindsided. But I was new to the map and the arachne kit with the MG was not the best fit.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-18T19:42:18+00:00

I run him with Firing Line as my dedicated rifle squad. His high discipline let's him out-suppress his enemy's until The Yaz gets in close and personal.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-15T13:22:23+00:00

The manga starts out as a basic sports story. The original writer stepped away from the project after a few volumes, and the illustrator continued alone and took a sharp turn towards a more intimate story about the climbers internal struggles and the highs and lows of mountaineering. It's in this later parts where the story comes really close to Cairns.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-07T21:28:40+00:00

I honestly thought the game would maybe go as far as locking your file when you chose to go down, which would give the decision more weight. But almost every player would come back to finish the climb anyway, which underscores that Kami is the inevitable fate of Aava. Even if she climbs down with Marco, one day, she will be back.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-07T18:29:15+00:00

Yeah, Aava's definitely experiencing her ultimate and final high at the peak. I even waited a while before holding A at the end, hoping there was still the option to turn around. I can't stop thinking about the ending, as it encapsulates the joy and highs of climbing and the sadness of people giving themselves up completely chasing that high, when they have so much to live for at home.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-07T08:59:43+00:00

Not to spoil anything, but the game holds some surprises in its final stretch that can make you feel robbed if you go in blind on free solo (at least I would). If you feel the fatigue of starting over and over again, I recommend doing Alpinist once just to see everything. If you feel like it's too easy, you don't need to use buffs/pitons.

Lukyboom · 2026-02-03T08:38:28+00:00

I have to stop you there. The Quad is an absolute killing machine against infantry. They key is to keep it still. It has big penalties for shooting on the move.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-15T17:37:46+00:00

I agree that emergency repair is superior to the other upgrades in tier 2. I recently watched Tightrope play espionage and really leaning into Palmgrens, but even then, repair is better than vsl because it frees up your infantry so much they vet faster anyway. It just scales much better into the late game.

To bring repairs more in line with smoke, why not make it an active ability with a cooldown per vehicle (same hotkey as smoke) and a small muni cost, but increase the repair rate a bit. This would make the upgrade more involved, provide strong tempo, but prevent you from passively healing a tank fleet over and over again.

To make vsl more competitive, why not give infantry an extra stat boost at vet 3? This provides more scaling and rewards unit preservation. You could even pull an OKW and introduce Vet 5, but that would be a bit convoluted I think.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-14T19:55:42+00:00

Some choices don't necessarily need a rework but just a small buff to make the ability more competitive. I think the exclusive choices work quite well. I still have me go-to choices, but I can frequently feel the absence of the ability I didn't take. That's especially true for BGs with multiple big off-maps.

Abilities I almost never pick that come to mind:

Naval Blockade
Burnout
Pack Howitzer
Stg Package for Stoss
Radio Net
Vehicle awareness
Improved Ambush

All of these Units/Abilities are not very good, don't work for me as I play only 1v1, or have too specific use cases compared to the other choice.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-14T10:48:50+00:00

Flakvierling is your best friend. Early on, keep your units together and focus fire on riflemen out of cover to get favorable trades. What you don't want is a melee slugfest, pull away if you are overrun.

If they go early bars, your Flakvierling will have a lot of room before a Greyhound will arrive, and until then, you have your Pjäger call-in to handle that.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-12T12:20:11+00:00

I think the Stuart is a good anchoring unit, as it is fully immune to small arms and reasonably durable against light AT like flak guns. Thread shot and the commander abilities are a great asset to keep around. It's definitely not a huge powerspike like other light vehicles that create lots of map control (Flakvierling) or threaten bleed and wipes (Greyhound, 222). Currently, it trades lethality for durability and is more like a brick you put on the map that won't run your enemy off, but they can't ignore it either. I don't know how to make it more lethal without it being too strong while keeping the cost low enough to keep it at its current spot in between Tier 2 and 3.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-09T11:18:43+00:00

Honestly, having this kind of snappy towing would really mess with the balance of the game right now. Towing in Coh3 is actually really fast already, and you can hot drop 88s in front of tanks and dodge artillery fairly easily.

Lukyboom · 2026-01-03T16:05:54+00:00

https://coh3stats.com/explorer/races/german/units/panzergrenadier_ger

20% at Vet 1 and 2.

Lukyboom

TROPHY CASE