The current way the post expansion content is delivered is like getting a great book and having it taken away for a few months every time you read a chapter. How are you supposed to stay engaged with the content like this?? This method is by far worse than the seasonal model.
Plus, the activity rollout is like getting fed crumbs and never a satisfying meal. These episodes would be so much more enjoyable, engaging, and satisfying if you would drop all of the content and story for them in one drop - like an expansion. Have some items unlock as you progress through the quest and story content, sure. But stop this time gating of these great stories and activities.
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Or maybe Drip fed content was actually healthy for this release model, and the issue people had was the consistency and predictability of each week If people can accurately guess what is going to happen via a week to week basis, down to the very structure of next Weeks missions, then that is an inherently bad design. For Example, Season of the Witch vs Season of the Haunted. Haunted should and could have been a very good season. It was the first major story that genuinely looked at the mentality, fears, and health of Guardians and specific characters. The best part of that season (outside of Eris) was Zavala because of his ancient and unique perspective. The lore was goated that season, but the season absolutely sucked because each week ended up being the same as the last. People knew what was going to happen by the end of the second week and as a result, we were left feeling dissatisfied. Conversely, Witch may not have had the same emotional depth as Haunted, hell, I would argue that it was a Bridge Season, but the reason why I and so many people look at that season so fondly is because each week was diverse in what we did and how we did it. You never knew what was going to happen each week, which plays perfectly into Savathunes character. I mean, it was a total surprise to see the Ahamkara egg, and then the 15th Wish, an absolute cherry on top. So it’s not about the content being Timegated. It’s about the structure of its presentation. If each week ends up feeling the same, then each week is going to be boring, conversely, if each week has a diverse structure and overall narrative value, while some weeks might be shorter and much weaker in comparison, people will stay engaged with the story and the game. It’s similar to the Week by Week release system that many shows do. And that’s another issue with Episodes. Because we have a 3 week break between each act (since the missions are meant to be released over a 3 week period) people lose interest, even if you had a great hook and a great introduction.