Bl2 not about loot

Borderlands 2 BL2 General Discussion
#1

So I am late to the game I think, I’ve been playing borderlands since 2010 just went through 1 playthrough with roland, Lilith and mordecai on bl1. Found out bl2 was coming out and was ecstatic. When I got it couldn’t put it down had a short time with it on xbox360 before it stopped working on my xbox only did one playthrough on maya and zero. Fast forward to end of 2014, TPS came out played it, my BL interest was reinvigorated said screw it “splurged” for whole package, BL2 GOTY then recently got the head hunters and UVHM2/digistruct peak. Okay so now before I start ranting I love borderlands one of the best game series to date. Gearbox will see this and go “ya but you’ll still play our games so shutup”. I’m okay with that I seriously am.

Literally just read something about people complaining about the storage in bl2 not being enough. I totally agree with that after BL1 storage, and BL2 storage not even being half that despite the game being advertised as “87 bazillion more guns.” From what I read it said gearbox’says response was that bl isn’t a loot game. Is that true? I mean come on? It’s BL of course it’s a loot game, maybe this was taken out of context or maybe I was reading wrong but does anybody know of this happening?
Here’s the link it only mentions gearbox saying it doesn’t provide links to proof so that’s why I’m asking on here

#2

Without a link to a quote from gearbox stating it’s not a loot game, I think you’re reading far too much into rants by other people. I think you can see that those comments come from someone who, whilst passionate, had an axe to grind, and who wasn’t happy with the moderation in the old forum. He was very insulting towards gearbox. (As are you. ‘screw you gearbox’, even in jest, breaches the rules. Go and read them, and edit your post)

Iirc, those arguments followed gearbox saying that borderlands was a game of decisions, and that you weren’t meant to hoard loot, you were meant to change it often rather than use it for level after level.

I don’t see much millage in dragging up an old non-controversy. I’ll be locking this thread shortly unless there’s any meaningful discussion.

#3

I hope this is a different view of the storage issue. I’m sure you’ll decide whether this is “meaningful” or not :slight_smile:

I play FPSs primarily. I have no interest in “collecting guns”. I might kill raid bosses once, just for completeness. I only farm under duress, of which more later.

The game, for me, is all about the campaign and skills, “not about the loot”. I play as GBX intended. I’m constantly upgrading gear. If my backpack ever gets full, it’s with “trash” to sell to pay for ammo. I only buy Bank SDUs if I’ve run out of other things to purchase.

However, this game offers us UVHM and Overpowering. I’m sure there are those who can breeze through these with White weapons. I’m one of the contingent who needs good gear.

Unlike BL1, and to some extent TPS, I cannot do a straightforward character playthrough of the game and hope to come to the higher difficulties with the gear to make them viable for me. Consequently, I farm, somewhat reluctantly, to get what I need to run the Peak or whatever.

I have created a series of “mules” over the years, to store these weapons, not for the sake of owning them but to pass on to my next character. I do not want to go through the tedium of grinding for gear for every character I run through the game.

So, if GBX designs a notional BL3 that allows you to find all the gear you need to complete all the game offers, without farming, then extra storage is completely irrelevant. However, if it includes gameplay that requires gear that is very scarce, then it seems to me that the desire for more “stash-type” storage is justified.

Just a thought.

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#4

There is also a technical limit on available memory. Borderlands loads all your items, including the 3d models, on starting, so there are constraints to avoid lag or stalling when opening your inventory.

My point about meaningfulness is that this issue had has been thrashed out a lot. A whole lot. I’m sure gearbox are aware, and when planning BL3 for the current generation of hardware, they’ll take it into account.

#5

My only quick thoughts to this is that I’m both OCD and a hoarder- I find it almost impossible to get rid of any quest or legendary gear simple because it is quest/legendary (sounds like a personal problem to me as some of my old drill sergeants would say :smile:) . My backpacks are stuffed with items I rarely if ever use but I don’t get rid of them because I might not find another, let alone one with the prefix/element/parts I want. With the HC on the XBox One it allows you to take screenshots and quick vids of gaming moments. If I had to part with gear but could take a screen shot of it just to prove I got it to cross it off my ‘gotta catch’em all’ bucket list, I could live with selling/dropping more gear…

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#6

image

This is the meaning of borderlands

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#7

I actually think this is an interesting issue (though I wasn’t a regular on the old forums so apologise if my thoughts are merely a pale echo of what has already been said). I like the loot aspect of the game, especially at endgame, but I also like that you’re forced to make decisions about which items to keep, rather than being allowed to hoover up everything, which - like the idea of infinite pizza - sounds amazing but in reality probably wouldn’t be. I have quite a few mules myself, not least because it gives me a reason to make more characters which I can use for more casual coop (though my company allegiance characters are very discriminatory about what they consent to carry - my Hyperion Siren would NEVER take a Bandit pistol!)

Borderlands is replete with heaps of wonderful loot but there are other characteristics too - that’s what makes the game so interesting. I reckon the RPG character development side (whether you’re developing a fully imagined persona or just a particular strong playstyle with your favourite hat) is what puts all the shiny things in a more enjoyable context. I get the frustration sometimes, but I also think making decisions about what to keep is one instance of shaping your own choices within the particular rules of the game… and overall I find that more fun.

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#8

Yes but if it was my decision to hoard loot? I think 114 total storage is plenty and should be implemented in the next bl game. I totally agree, this person was a little to cynical and reading that story almost made ME start bashing gearbox (sorry for my earlier comment.) Maybe I’m a little to sentimental but when I see non legendary weapons with good parts that make that weapon shine above the rest of the pack I want to save it maybe for a color run of the game, an allegiance playthrough, those things keep the game alive and keep people coming back countless people on these forums have motivated me to do those runs(albeit I haven’t hit max lvl so I can’t do those yet) i.e. white weapons on digistruct peak, or time trial runs with bandit weapons. Those things keep us wanting more and more storage space to hoard those weapons in a game with countless guns. I find a COM not usable on my current toon so I put it in the stash, but right now my stash is full of weapons so is my bank. So now I need to create a mule then that one gets full so now I’m left with good weapons and COMs that I have to sell. All I’m saying is I’m constantly running to a shop when I could play the game the way it was meant to played if we had more storage and places to put items that I come across.

#9

BL1 (and presumably other loot-based games) put an expectation in peoples’ heads about how a loot game should behave. When Borderlands 2 was different, those expectations weren’t met, and some people were upset.

If I were to make a similar game now, I would be sure to really hit people over the head with the concept that it’s more focused on acquisition than collecting/hoarding. That is, however, with the benefit of hindsight - I’m not sure Gearbox could have predicted how bent out of shape some people would have become about this?

Still - some players just aren’t going to get the message. How many players bought UVHM and then complained about the difficulty when it was advertised as, “built for challenging, high-level play”, with all the specific enhancements spelled out?

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#10

Then that’s a decision that will have be taken given the limits of the game. Many people get very angry with gearbox for not making the game *precisely * how that individual wants it to be. I don’t think this is very reasonable.

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#11

I love uvhm difficulty, I rush to get to uvhm just so I can enjoy the challenge. I love adjusting my strategy like for example just now never played Southpaw in Uvhm, didn’t know they threw a billion lunatic bombers at you. After a couple of deaths I said that’s it they’re getting phase locked every single one of them.

Maybe it is just my personal opinion about the storage, I’m ocd as @Carlton_Slayer said and I do tend to keep level 50 quest items going into uvhm to save for other toons so I don’t have to farm for them again, maybe the next borderlands could have a special stash just for quest weapons you want to save. Can’t wait til my brother gets his bl2 so I can give him some of the guns in my bank to free up space. Sorry for dredging up an old issue though, let’s just get back to talking about the game we all know and love.

#12

I agree 100%, with 3 playthroughs, 6 characters, and loads of guns it becomes more of a chore to farm for weapons for all your toons. That clap stash really saved the day and was more innovative that anything else coming into bl2. I was like holy skagballs you can pass weapons to other characters omg!:smiling_imp:

#13

Bl2 not about loot? Ahahahahaha. Oh wait your serious… Let me laugh even harder AHAHAHAHAHAHA

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#14

Yes, it helped me survive getting my Krieg to OP8… I think I might have gone as mad as he is if I had to farm all my legendaries again :slight_smile: Claptrap ALWAYS saves the day! :bldancing:

#15

Speaking more generally to the issue of people complaining about the game not being exactly what they wanted: I find that, in the last decade game developers seem to have forgotten the art of making games with enough options for how to play the game. If you look at old games from the early 2000s, they had TONS of options affecting how the game would play. While many combinations were probably rarely used, having those options gave players the ability to tailor the end-user experience closer to their own idea of exactly what the game should’ve been (this is also one of the initial motivations that launched modding of games as a hobby/activity). Modern games seem to have largely removed these kinds of options from players, and I kinda wish that wasn’t the case.

#16

I totally agree with that. More classic games are bent so that YOU that player are responsible for the way you beat the game. I mean there are thing you are responsible for in borderlands 2 like your loot and keeping it updated for example. But classic games did so much better at respecting the intelligence of human beings. Things just need to be like they used to.

#17

Borderlands 2 took this to an extreme, the likes of which I have never experienced before, and can only hope to experience again. When I go play other games, (new or old), there is no comparison to the variety of ways to play compared to Borderlands 2, not even close.

If you know of another first-person shooter with as much variety as Borderlands 2, I’m all ears.

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#18

Classic games better than BL2…well…uh…maybe…

But BL2 IS a Classic now.

I go around and play all the new shooters as long as they are First Person.

And most are Excellent!

BUT…

When I’m done…I’m done…I usually never go back.

BL2 and TPS…I keep going back.

Again…and again…and again.

And I STILL don’t think I have it all down…LOL

6 Likes
#19

So true now it’s only a handful of games and devs that actually encourage modding to the point that I wish I had the money for a PC. Elder scrolls,fallout and bethesda, gta and Rockstar, hell even BL1 on this very forum has posts of fan creations of what they thought should be in the game that’s the way it should be developers should get ideas from fans, bring some of them in on the game and implement some of their creations to life. It would make the gaming experience better IMO.

#20

Fallout 2, Wasteland, Diablo 2, Doom 2, Civilization 3-5, Might & Magic 1-8 are what I can think of off the top of my head…:grin: