This game is really built to stretch out the progression as long as possible.
Sorta disagree. Maybe when you get to level 28 and up or so it will feel like that, but I've played games that do what you said, and the concept of being ready for "endgame" within 10 days would have been an absolute joke.
No benefit from fighting tougher enemies (in terms of XP and loot)
There is for the Daily Heroic Story, Weekly Heroic Strike, and of course the Weekly Nightfall and Raid
Yeah, one of the reasons for that is definitely to stretch it out for people who have lots of time per night.
Rep may not be shared but you can gear up your alts with acquisitions from your main.
Buy encrypted engrams from the cryptarch and level him up.
D: The Cryptarch has got you guys all by the balls. I should do a PSA on this.
I did this last night. A GAF member on my friends lists was in a strike mission, then I couple minutes later I randomly checked again, it showed only two people in fireteam, and I clicked on join. Probably because he had it set to public
Oh hey. Check it out Nicoga Bungie listened to you!
I only hold that opinion that I stated because since I bought the game on Sunday, that's what I've been doing every night since: 7+ hour sessions with a friend of mine. The pacing of weapon and item acquisition has been pretty damn good for me and there really hasn't been a lull in terms of needing something. I'm always striving to increase something whether it be class skills, armor or weapon upgrades or rep/marks. By the end of the session Im always pleased with my progress. Like, last night not only did I hit level 23 within my first couple hours playing (random armor drops on Easy mode in some random chapter on the Moon), but I also found a brand new hand cannon (my weapon of choice) and took my weekly Van marks to 60 something.
And the only time I've truly farmed is for that 20 double fusion rifle kills (end of the first chapter on Moon).
It's an interesting mix of rewarding crazy dedication to an extent while not making it unreasonable to progress a little bit at a time.
The distribution is screwed up. Even if the color were to change, what's the point?
there's not a big enough difference between Rare and Legendary Engrams to justify the latter's existence. They're just glorified Rare Engrams.
That's the point. If they were just blue and silently had better chances of Legendaries, it would have a completely different psychological impact.
It's more than big enough to start forming a picture of the programmed percentages. Fifty five data points is enough to conclude that the majority of the time Legendary Engrams will give you something less than Legendary.
There are still more variables to consider if you're counting on engrams to gear up anyway. It's just not what they're for.
That, combined with their small drop rate and the expectations Bungie set by calling them "Legendary Engrams" and coloring them purple, is bad design.
Yes, that's the crux of it. Bungie screwed up bigtime with the expectations created when a player picks up a little purple ball that says "legendary engram."