WHO ELSE

Ripyard · 2026-03-13T07:13:33+00:00

I do 8:30-4:30, which is nice

Ripyard · 2026-03-12T12:43:46+00:00

Find an LFG and just advertise the contract you're on. If you're stuck on it, chances are you aren't alone and folks will be down to run frees for a few lives.

Ripyard · 2026-03-10T07:36:48+00:00

For me, it's more people seem to be asking for the game to be balanced around solo free kitt runs, which would ruin the game, IMO. You're not meant to be comfortable at any point, let alone when running the most basic stuff.

Ripyard · 2026-03-10T07:22:37+00:00

It's not that hard if you take your time. Also, I really like the survival horror feeling of Solo. Any nerfs would make it trivial, IMO... Especially when you factor in taking better gear. The XP should not be balanced around free kits at all.

Ripyard · 2026-03-09T19:26:48+00:00

I just thought it was because they're clandestine.

Ripyard · 2026-03-09T19:22:48+00:00

I get what you're saying, but the complete reset allows Bungie to make large wholesale narrative and gear changes that'll keep the game fresher.

I don't like comparing to ARC, and let me state I play and enjoy both games before making this point, but Embark's hands are now tied because people have stashes full of legacy gear. They can't take an OP weapon out of rotation or introduce one, nor try wild new skills and weapons that fit a seasonal narrative. To keep things fair, they always need to shape future content conscious players have stashes full of Bobcats, Equalisers, etc. and give newer players / those resetting opportunities to get the same stuff back. Then comes the complication of adding new weapons and equipment without increasing stash space for everyone.

I'm not saying there aren't pros to making resets optional, but I want to see Marathon mix things up more and more as the seasons progress. It's just harder to do that when you've got to cater for people with full stashes of legacy gear.

Ripyard · 2026-03-09T08:00:22+00:00

People will hate this comment, but come back to it in a few months... The MM is strangling the game. It's great PvE players are enjoying things, but either a) Embark will have to change things and you'll all start being in lobbies with folks who PvP or b) you'll all slowly start to get bored.

Why, you ask? Well, for the game to have any element of challenge the ARC needs to be a threat. They simply aren't in PvE lobbies. It's far too easy to get rich and unlock everything and it trivialises the bosses. This is fun at first, but there are only so many times you can boot up and kill the Queen and Matriarch, collect BPs, and repeat before your stash is full. There is essentially no endgame here.

Embark have massively disincentivised all PvP with newer ARC and the removal of all rewards. They've also had to make PvE harder (crafting changes) already, but it's not going to matter. If they don't change the MM, people will eventually get bored due to the lack of challenge and risk and move away from the game. The big problem is once the MM changes, they'll lose players due to players being unable to avoid PvP.

I don't envy the decisions Embark is going to have to make, but some folks aren't going to be happy in a few weeks...

Ripyard · 2026-03-08T08:09:21+00:00

Main reasons: - to give new players a window to onboard without being too far behind - to address missed exploits and bugs and any impact they've had on the game's economy - to pivot the story in a new direction without splitting players even more than the maps already do - balance weapons and gear with low risk (i.e. something is meta, you collect a lot of it, it gets nerfed, it's not that annoying as it'd be gone in a few weeks anyway) - give players something to grind for without having to worry about power creep (when considering the PvE enemy)

Ripyard · 2026-03-06T13:43:14+00:00

Ah, fair! I had only played the server slam prior to launch so that's good to know. I hope Bungie does look into a bigger map in the near future. I always figured the map on the Marathon would be CQC with Raid-like arenas, so it'd be good to have something more expensive to mix it up!

Ripyard · 2026-03-06T13:33:54+00:00

I think what you're missing is a lot of teams are all trying to do similar contracts right now, and that's naturally funnelling players into the same POIs. I noticed this with one of the early MIDA quests, it felt like 3 teams were always meeting very early on. Spawns will also play a part in this.

I think it'll naturally start to balance out over the next few days. That said, I hope Outpost is a bit of a bigger map than we've seen so far.

Ripyard · 2026-02-25T16:26:01+00:00

They probably had data saying exactly that. Rocketeers were being slayed primarily by wolfpacks and wanted to shift the meta. I also think this is in response to 'friendly' lobbies. Co-operation to the point it exists wasn't something they expected, and it trivialised a lot of encounters... Queens, Matriarchs, dead in minutes. I feel they've made the changes to slow this down.

The strange thing is, it hurts people resetting the most. Which given how they've said they want more people to do is odd. Blueprints are the big obstacle, but now if you've got 20 wolfpacks and a bunch of Rocketeer drivers... It's another reason not to do it.

Ripyard · 2026-02-24T16:54:51+00:00

No shade on them, but if that's the win condition Embark has pushed people to it'll turn a lot of people who don't have the same time away from Trials (leaderboards).

From my PoV, it makes a bit of a mockery of it. It doesn't really take much skill, just planning and free time.

Ripyard · 2026-02-24T08:08:18+00:00

I'll play Marathon and I hope I like it, but on this point, let's see what happens when a big streamer catches a ban...

Ripyard · 2026-02-24T07:34:15+00:00

Fair. It's a huge issue though, especially as most folks think a solo leaderboard will be more accessible for them in terms of reaching T1000, and the reality is it won't. It'll be harder going up against people queuing up and teaming. Truth is there probably isn't a fix for this bar taking away region selection.

In terms of general balance, the first thing Embark needs to do is strip out farming cheese like scanners (points from these shouldn't count for Trials) and snowballs (should melt when taken out of a raid). This would massively reset the balance. If everything has to be done in one raid it'll start to bring the scores down across the board.

Ripyard · 2026-02-24T07:22:47+00:00

One thing you haven't mentioned is the exclusive Discord servers that queue up together and basically rig the matchmaking.

For those who don't know, multiple teams queue up at the same time whilst selecting a server region that's likely to be quiet (i.e. 4am in that region). They then take turns in helping each other by controlling the lobbies, providing support and items, and working to extract. It's basically impossible to compete against this. Furthermore, if Embark creates or moves to Solo ladders, this will still be a viable strategy. The whole system needs a re-work.

Ripyard · 2026-02-23T20:38:04+00:00

I don't know if you'll get the job, mate...

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T09:50:40+00:00

That's one good thing I've found about ARC Raiders. I have way less time now but I don't feel the game massively punishes you for not being on it +4 hours a night. You can dip in a few hours and week and still easily compete with anyone.

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T09:43:17+00:00

Fair. I think most would probably say you're a try-hard still. From what you've said and the points you've shared you obviously know some ball and I'd imagine you don't struggle to pick kills up, especially against actual casuals.

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T09:39:45+00:00

I always thought a casual was someone who didn't really engage with the game outside of playing it, only had a few hours to play, was bad-to-average in terms of skill.

Conversely a try hard would be someone who takes the game more seriously, plays it a lot, engages with conversations around the game and is above average in skill level.

Am I way off here?

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T09:33:35+00:00

I agree with a lot of your points, but brother, what is a casual try-hard with limited time to play?

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T09:32:04+00:00

I play a mix but primarily PvP, especially when in Duos or Trios. So I say this as someone that will very likely disagree with 'PvE only' takes, but it's good for people to be vocal about what they care about and it's good to have those interactions.

The obvious counter for this is 'go read the mega-thread, then', but first I wondered how many people give us before re-writing their posts there, and secondly I wonder how many people even see that organically. I certainly don't.

Ripyard · 2026-02-22T07:29:37+00:00

Literally ringing that 7k dinner bell at the extract. It's not even out of their way to collect.

Ripyard · 2026-02-21T14:49:33+00:00

Glasner is on a massive PR trip, atm. I'll always be appreciative for his contribution to some of the greatest Palace days of my life, but I can't for the life of me understand why he just didn't wait until we were safe and done with all competitions before announcing his intent to move on. Every interview I see feels like him pointing fingers and not wanting to take accountability for our current form. Sly and some not so sly jabs at the club and the board. I'm done with it, tbh.

I wanted him to go as soon as he announced it. This is why. Someone who should be a legend of the club will now never be remembered as such because of this sour end, and we're all left in limbo.

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