Destiny's "Refer-A-Friend" Offers Potential Sherpa Opportunities
Nov. 14, 2015Destiny’s “Refer-A-Friend” Offers Potential Sherpa Opportunities
Polygonreportedrecently that data miners had found evidence of a new “Refer-A-Friend” initiative to be implemented into a futureDestinyupdate. While factual details are getting mashed up with speculation at this point, all indications are that this is going to offer rewards and other incentives to people who help newcomers through first-runs of Destiny.
This strikes me as a fascinating concept, and one which might look toDark Souls 1andDark Souls 2for direction. In both those games you can join theHeirs of the Suncovenant, and receivesunlight medalsfor helping other people in coop. Collecting the medals reaps powerful rewards in the form of weapons and spells. Players who love Souls’ games for coop adopted this covenant as their own, referring to themselves as the Sunbros. They are, arguably, the most-memed faction of the game, with their figurehead being the noble and doomed figure ofKnight Solaire. Sunbros represent the symbolic essence of fellowship that informs a lot of Dark Souls, contrasting with many of the invasion covenants.
If Bungie wishes to tap into this same spirit, I have a few words of advice: look to Dark Souls.
Spend any time around Bungie’s forums (or reddit, etc), and LFG sites, and you’ll notice what can only be described as a nasty attitude toward “noobs” evolving among segments of the community. It ranges in degree, but at its worst, can see people imposing all manner of restrictions on those looking to join raid parties. It can cover everything from gear and light level, to experience. In short, the grinding nature of Destiny’s mechanics have forced people to look for the path of least resistance when doing events. Nobody wants a weak link dragging them down. This sort of attitude is anathema in Dark Souls. I’ve been invaded and wrecked by people who then offer to drop a sign and help with the boss.
Imagine if you will a world in which veteran Destiny raiders, specifically those who have completed the current raid at least once, get admitted into unique “sherpa” covenant that rewards unselfish play. Imagine a similar type of medal being offered for helping people beat each sub-boss and the end boss. Like Dark Souls sunlight medals, these sherpa-medals would be a collectible of some sort, leading to rewards of unique (and very desirable) weapons. Imagine the Vex Mythoclast having been such a reward…players would have been trampling each other to help the less fortunate.
Granted, the rewards in Dark Souls, while excellent, are not the reason people join the Sunbros. This is something going back to the early days of Demon’s Souls on PS3, when regulars on the Playstation forums first started sharing tips on how to beat this wonderful and terrifying game. Destiny does not always engender that same mindset, and it would be naive to think that a spirit of camaraderie would blossom overnight. But if nothing else, it would motivate otherwise self-interested players to reach out and offer help to those who are up against the wall.
I can see the posts on LFG sites now: “Looking for noobs with no experience and crappy gear. Please help…I NEED THAT REWARD GUN!” It would almost bring a tear to my eye.
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Chris Graham
Chris Graham is a longtime video game junkie from the wilds of Eastern Canada. While he is now a fully certified “old dude gamer”, in his youth during the early eighties he spent embarrassing sums of money on quarter-munchers in some of the skeezy local arcades. He even ventured into disco roller skating rinks from time to time, since they carried upscale titles, but always swore to his friends that he was only there for the games, since, y’know, disco sucks! When he picked up his first console, the classic Atari 2600, he used a VCR to record game clips and study patterns in order to clear tough levels.
A former mobile DJ, as well as writing teacher and tutor, Chris has spent nearly 25 years crafting literary short fiction for periodicals and university journals. He became interested in writing about games and the game industry after immersing himself in social game communities. He’s written reviews and gameplay guides for both Xbox and Playstation games. His interests run the gamut, from shooters to sports and racing genres, although he spends the bulk of his time with RPGs.
That seems pretty legit. I like the idea, to help the newbies and get rewarded for the time and patience. I’m only light lv. 289 so far and I don’t know if that’s good enough to be considered a regular or decent player. I’d like to see how this Sherpa goes and I may join in the fun once I finish my Warlock profile.
By the looks of it, I’ll perhaps do my first legitimate King’s fall using that link by Thanksgiving with my cousin and 4 other peeps. All I need now is a cool Hand cannon and some Exotic Chest or legendary chest that looks good and is good as well.
