📌 my name gart

september 24th 2024

hello, my name is roshan 👋, but usually found online under the alias of gart 🎭🎭, and this is my blog 📑. this introductory post will always be at the top 🔝, however, future posts will feature in reverse chronological order 🔁so that the newest is always at the top. i have recently started an undergraduate degree in computer science 🤓💻, and have studied it since gcse level. for the last ten years 😖, i have been playing destiny 🤢, and i have found it impossible to stay normal about it, and i have an increasingly difficult time not sharing elitist takes about it ✅✅.

🏆 2025 - the year of the gart cup

january 9th 2025

i know, i know. the moment you've all been waiting for, is finally here. real gartcup information!!! after a quick poll for the community summit, the games have been decided, as well as the introduction of a new award. the games are as follows:

• Lethal Company
• Black Ops 3 Zombies
• Halo MCC
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Doors
• Destiny 2
• League of Legends
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Call of Duty: Ghosts - Extinction
• Counter-Strike 2
• Phasmophobia

and announcing the new award: the virgin of the year! this award is completely community nominated, and will be awarded to the person who is the biggest virgin. the winner will be revealed during the quiz.

the format of the cup has been altered (AGAIN). previously, you could choose between two games in a single bracket and complete the challenged associated; however, i feel that this creates an unfair advantage, as the games are not equal in terms of difficulty, and there may be some players that are extremely experienced in one game, and not the others.

Lethal Company

• Challenge 1 - Speed Runner: Complete one set of quota as fast as possible solo.
• Scoring: Points awarded based on speed and amount of scrap over quota, capped at 100 points.
• Notes: You must use the gartcup modpack when completing this challenge [01944872-2f93-e401-db83-29e5104fcd71]. Here is an example run (that for some reason did not score correctly? https://youtu.be/iKWdjP4DEPs)
• Challenge 2 - Current Objective: Survive: Survive for as long as you can..
• Scoring: 5 points awarded every 10 minutes, capped at 100 points.

Black Ops 3 Zombies

• Challenge 1 - Sky Temple: Reach round 20 on Sky Temple with Wonder Weapon Pack mod.
• Scoring: 75 points for round 20, +5 points per additional round, no cap.
• Challenge 2 - No Pack : Reach round 25 without Pack-a-Punch on any map.
• Scoring: 50 points for completion, +10 points per additional round, capped at 100.

Halo MCC

• Challenge 1 - Firefight: Survive Legendary Firefight.
• Scoring: 1 point per minute, no cap.

Left 4 Dead 2

• Challenge 1 - Dead Center Expert: Complete Dead Center on Expert with Realism.
• Scoring: 75 points base, +5 per survivor, +5 no incaps.

Doors

• Challenge 1 - Marathon: Reach door 50.
• Scoring: 50 points for door 50, +1 per door after, +2 after door 100. Capped at 300.
• Challenge 2 - Speedrunner: Reach door 50 as fast as possible.
• Scoring: Points awarded based upon time.

Destiny 2

• Challenge 1 - Sherpa: Carry an LFG through Shattered Throne.
• Scoring: 75 points, +25 for sub-45 minutes.
• Challenge 2 - Solo Flawless: Complete Shattered Throne solo flawless and beat Gary's time of 26 mins.
• Scoring: 150 points flat, no additional modifiers.

League of Legends

• Challenge 1 - Carry Performance: Win a game with high performance.
• Scoring: 40 base, +10 for S/S+, +5 per kill/assist, cap 100.
• Challenge 2 - ARAM King: Get 3 S ranks in ARAM within 24 hours.
• Scoring: 25 points per S rank, capped at 75 total.

Deep Rock Galactic

• Challenge 1 - Hazard Master: Complete missions at different hazard levels.
• Scoring: Previous scoring system, capped 200.
• Challenge 2 - Gold Rush: Complete a mission with 300+ gold collected.
• Scoring: 50 base points, +1 point per gold over 300, capped 100.

Call of Duty: Ghosts - Extinction

• Challenge 1 - Difficulty Master: Complete map on chosen difficulty.
• Scoring: Previous scoring system.

Counter-Strike 2

• Challenge 1 - Competitive Beast: Previous scoring system.

Phasmophobia

• Challenge 1 - Ghost Hunter: Previous scoring system.
• Challenge 2 - Speed Detective: Identify ghost type within 5 minutes on Professional+.
• Scoring: 100 points base, -10 per minute over 5, minimum 20 points.

the last part of the cup will be the 20 question quiz, no further details at this time.

Incentives

• Trophies will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in the tournament. Trophies TBD.

gartcup begins on the 10th of january, and will end on the 31st of january. the quiz will follow shortly after that date, at which point the awards ceremony will be held at the end.

📰 an open letter to Tyson Green

december 16th 2024

dear Tyson Green, i am writing to you today to express my concerns about the future you have planned for Destiny 2. you have only been leading the helm for a short while (i have to assume at least since The Final Shape launched), and yet, in this time, you have done nothing but dissapoint. every single turn you make is the wrong one; would it be so bad to listen to the sav-nav once in a while?

this year in Destiny should have been a victory lap, a way to very easily win back everyone that had left, and yet somehow you have managed to make it worse. player counts are at their lowest, and player morale decreases by the second. this game is not that difficult to direct. even i could do it! in fact, here is every step i would have taken this year to progress the game forwards, and to cement Joe Blackburn's legacy.

2024: the victory lap

to begin with, i would address the story post Final Shape. the current model of self contained stories is awful, and it makes no sense. we know that the villain of the season is either going to die or just dissappear anyway, so why not have taken this year to start subtly building up to the next big bad? the darkness is still somewhat outthere, and we know that there is someone bigger than The Witness (he says at some point during The Final Shape that he is 'the First Knife of the darkness'), so why not lead up to the next big release in Frontiers? instead of this cookie cutter bullshit we have now.

next, i would address the loot grind. weapon crafting is not the evil you perceive it to be Tyson. it is a way to keep players engaged, and to keep them playing. the current model of 'play the game for 12 weeks, then leave for 12 weeks' is not sustainable, especically since you have cut the amount of endgame content in half AND you have removed the ability to focus for red-border weapons (of the season that is currently active). to re-iterate for those that do not know, you cannot receive or focus red-border weapons from the season that is currently active, which means you cannot add the crafting pattern for the weapon to your collection. you must farm for the specific roll that you want, except the current method of farming is the absolute worst it has ever been. you can use a 'tonic' to focus your weapon drops to a smaller pool, but it does not guarantee a drop to occur, nor does it allow you to focus for the weapon you want. the way forward that i see, is to take a page out of the menagerie's book, and introduce pure weapon focusing, maybe not exactly as it was back then, but similar. oh and it also only works in seasonal activities. just make the focusing for strikes, gambit and crucible loot cheaper man. none of the loot in those activities is worth the cost. wake up.

the idea is simple: 5 different slots in the 'chalice', each serving a different purpose and using a different (get ready for the real kicker) and very EASILY FARMABLE currencies. the first slot is for the weapon archetype, the second slot is for the weapon slot, the third slot is for the specifc weapon. the fourth and fifth slots would be to enable double perks in the 3rd and 4th perk slots, but the materials required for these slots would be earned from endgame activities (dungeon/raid encounters, trials, GMs, etc.). and even more importantly, you can still earn red-borders towards patterns, to mitigate the grind. this not only encourages player agency, but it respects their time, something you have personally failed to do Tyson.

another pain point is related to loot in dungeons and legacy raids. there needs to be a way to receive a guaranteed red-border weapon at the end of every dungeon and raid, and there also needs to be the same focusing chest that is at the end of raids in dungeons.

finally, i would reintoduce hard mode raids, with cosmetic rewards as incentive. the idea that hard mode raids are not worth the development cost as the amount of players that complete them is not high enough to justify their existance, is an outdated mindset. the pantheon event proves this. the pantheon event even proves that hard mode encounters can be created, as the team at Bungie has shown they are creative enough to change the encounters in meaningful ways! hard mode raids also incentivise players to chase powerful loot with the best perk combos, as it is an environment where you must be at your absolute strongest to succeed, and the cosmetic reward incentive is a way to show off to everyone else. I MEAN COME ON, IT IS LITERALLY THAT EASY TYSON.

Tyson, please, do not continue to cover your ears and eyes and wake up to reality. it's never to late to change, but if you don't do it now, you might not get another chance.

from, gart