If you've read anything else I've written, or played with or against me, or run into me in Destiny-related chat/discord/twitter/what-have-you, you'll not be astounded to learn I am a middling player who, while not yet at his skill ceiling, is shaded by a rather low ceiling.
You'll not demand evidence of these, my middling bona fides.
I wondered, though. What lies beyond that ceiling? And is the theorized and unbound celestial province, all earthly evidence notwithstanding, within my reach, and yours?
I wondered, because there are distances within me insusceptible to our race's fumbling measurements and clumsy taxonomy. Now, fair warning: the rest of this paragraph grows more obnoxious yet. I have authored epic-length novels. I have written and recorded dozens of songs on numberless instruments and toured the country performing the same. I have degrees in classical and jazz music from renowned institutions; my JD is from one of the tippity-top law schools. Each of my four children is possessed of the talent, intelligence and charm requisite for success in any endeavor, and each of them would serve as a credible child model besides. I am calm, collected and expert as I run the legal documentation side of billion+ dollar transactions and I negotiate with counterparties and applicable regulators. And yet, this is not all that I am. Far from it. Clumsy taxonomy, remember?
What, then, is a 0.99 k/d across three Destiny characters?
What, indeed?
It is a ceiling, yes, but it is an illusory one. I have seen what lies across that flimsy barrier; I have learned to transcend it. Amanda Holliday, my Seer. Shindig in the Crucible, my Teacher:
I have habitually avoided competition against and confrontation of my fellows because success requires a nauseating (to me) imposition of will. A man best embodies his Aristotelian form when he takes all and leaves none, and harms another to do it. I've always been more of a Plato man, myself. It was therefore enough for me to mostly win high school GoldenEye; to usually win dorm LAN Quake; to sometimes "get the girl."*
*Used solely in the colloquial sense; it's not exactly hard-won wisdom when I aver that "girls" are human beings and not prizes for male competition.
It is my nature to, as Al Swearengen would say, stand what punishment the world has in store, and give some back. But only some.
To wit, some years back, I was caught unawares in the apartment of a new lady friend when, while said new friend was off to work, her ex stopped by. I hadn't known about the ex situation, but his position seemed so eminently reasonable that I bore his boyish facsimile of punches about my head and body and thought, as I catalogued my blood stains for later cleaning, "Okay, that's fair."
You say, "The hell does this have to do with Destiny Crucible?"
Okay, I say, that's fair.
The point is this: I can reach beyond the limits of my skill ceiling only by abandoning that which makes me Subtimus. By running invis bladedancer and sniper camping or, if the map does not allow that, matador camping (which, trust me, is a thing). By hanging back as a stormlock or hammer sis and waiting for super to charge. By using goddamn sticky grenades. Juggy/shotty. See what I mean? Nauseating.
No, no, I was not meant to be Optimus.
Were you?
There are Guardians, natch, whose skill ceiling allows for a 2 point whatever K/D as a matter of course. Who impose will purely by loading into a match and being themselves. Who resolve, utterly and finally, any open question as to whether it is the gun or the user that decides the outcome of each engagement.
They are legion, and I have (thankfully? depends . . .) only rarely been matched against their like.
Some will bear further investigation via future installments of the blog's CALLING ROLL series, but here's a non-exhaustive list of folks I've either encountered or who are content creators you may already know of, all of whom embody the almost alien quality of being able to impose will in the Crucible:
Clan TIERJUAN (bonus points for pun name)
Clan Pineapple Boys
Clan Last Rites
Destiny Fun Police (clan motto - "What Ya Gonna Do?" - boldly evinces the ethos while twisting the "Bad Boys"/"Cops" connotation in a new direction.)(Also, it's worth noting that clan founder fimi_sheikh represents the final word on that old saw, "so-and-so elevates trolling to an art form." He might bristle at the sobriquet, but fimi is a true Artist and it's inspiring to watch his art form evolve and stretch and change the perceptions of everyone around him in this game world. Destiny Fun Police on YT. The pure, unvarnished imposition of will.)
I leave you with a micro-tage that, in the absence of knowing more about me, might give the impression I am one who imposes will, too.
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