Interesting points
From my experience with randoms, the contracts are secondary. Looting and completing objectives are a much bigger priority. Which I think is a good thing. In an average match, you will usually hit 3/5 POI on the map anyways, completing contracts passively. Most people extract within first 15min. So if I really need to do a contract and my run didn't cross paths with the contract, I'll usually just solo it after my teammates exfil, with no issues
I don't think random exfil would work with randoms. It would just add another level of chaos of where to go and what to do. The single exfil location really helps team coordinate a planned run without even needing to talk
PvP vs PvE zones is an interesting idea. It would be enjoyable to complete more difficult AI encounters without being concerned about being 3rd partied. I do worry whether that would take away from the moment to moment intensity tho. It would be great if future maps had variety of the two
I think Marathon will evolve a lot over time. You hear a lot of criticism because of that, imo. People trying to push the direction of the game in one way or another. I really enjoy the game for what is now, personally
I don't mind the TTK, but it really seems to be a sore spot with a lot of people. I wouldn't mind lowering it a bit. Respawning teammates directly from their bag is really dumb. Should 100% be an item. What's your problem with the loot? It's really satisfying as a newbie to Extraxtion shooters?
You have first hand experience so I'll have to defer to you, my experience is mainly watching streams. I kind of get the impression that this is a game that most people are actively trying to avoid PvP as much as possible. Whether that's by solo ratting or early extraction while others are still working on their objs/contracts etc.
I'm not sure the pitfalls of rotating extractions would be a big issue, you make reference to staying in game when your teams mates have exfilled anyway. I'd see the purpose of rotating extractions to make it a more emergent decision in the moment, or failing that as I'm spitballing, just more opportunities to extract (e.g. dropships landing and if you kill all the NPCs you can board and be extracted from there).
The whole genre lends itself to a very sly meta - this is not just a Marathon issue though. And I think the discussion is centering too much on whether Bungie will be successful rather than how can the extraction shooter be better balanced and more fun. But that probably brings me onto the loot. First the game is about team play, so much so that Bungie is actively swatting away solo requests yeah? But they don't player instance loot so you're in direct competition with your team anyway - some of who will have faster looting bonuses. The name of the game is quicklooting yet they make items really similar and hard to distinguish (e.g. rubber and wire) and that's not even mentioning the bonuses on mods which you have to weigh up in the moment.
The meta at the moment is all shield based, which can change in time. I think the wipes after seasons aren't inherently bad but they need to split the permanent and wiped bonuses. Why should players be forced to grind for the same backpack bonus every reset? I think a prestige system would be better here with reduced demands or they should be tied to successful extractions or good teamplay. I'm not saying I have all the answers and I don't want it necessarily to fail - I thought Concord had a decent foundation for context - it's not even barebones at the moment. Sometimes you have games that take parts of other games and they aren't spectacular but do each of them well so it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Marathon is the opposite to me of that, it's taken a load of parts from other games, stitched them together in some sort of frankenstein and by throwing an extraction mechanism in thinks they can dominate the genre.
I agree it will evolve over time, but it's a bit like a leveraged buyout. They want us to invest in a fundamentally flawed product and then use that money to fix the game into something we want. I just don't agree with that - they need to innovate and ultimately create the genre. They have too much cheaper, experienced competition to half ass this. Even something as simple as a bonus enemy spawning with guaranteed purple loot if a team completes all three objectives incentivises team play - there are so many obvious wins/ideas here.
I think if we all take a step back, we can all agree that the reception has been generally poor from the broader internet - yes there are some streamers farming engagement with 'reasonable' takes and some 'ragebaiting' but this is not a reaction that Bungie/Sony will like. However, the bigger problem is that you have probably 2/3 communities (extraction players, destiny players, PvPers etc.) coming up with absolute hundreds of ideas to 'fix' the game, many contradictory, many unreasonable and some even more isolating. It's just a game right now that doesn't really have an identity which is why people strongly compare it to Apex and other derivatives. There isn't a quick fix and from what I've seen it's just not worth dropping money on in this guise.
FWIW I don't mind the art style or the maps, I think they're fine. And I fully intend to play the open beta and change my mind if I need to. I was on the fence with the quality of Concord until I played it, but still that game was never going to go anywhere as a paid title.
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