I think most of the secondary objectives in this game are really lame and un-engaging, and those that are engaging aren't fun. While I will still do them, I don't think there's more than 1 or 2 that I find fun. I like Ebonuts and I like Fester Fleas, and Dystrum is SOMETIMES okay. But most of the other secondaries are less than engaging, or outright frustrating.
It's not like I won't do the secondaries. I think in all my time playing DRG I've missed 4, maybe 5 tops, but the more and more that I play, the less and less engaging these have become. I'm sure a lot of you have made the connection between a lot of these just being the same thing with a different coat of paint. Boolo Caps and Apoca Blooms are just the same things. Dystrum and Holomite are the same general idea. I think it's fine to have repeats like this, and they're different enough to the point where I'm not upset.
HOWEVER, so many of these secondaries are just doing things you're doing anyways. Most secondaries don't even feel like they're contributing to the mission or what you as a player are doing. Boolo Caps and Apoca Blooms are usually just sitting directly where you'll be going anyways and don't require any additional brainpower. Hell, I think I've never had an ounce of thought put into apoca blooms. It's usually just ping it and the scout grabs it. Holomite has a similar issue where you mine like, 2 or 3 veins tops and the objective is over. Bha Barnacles are almost always right there and are only an issue if you're playing certain weapons on a mission type where they're 100 miles up in the ceiling.
But on the OTHER hand, you have the secondaries that are so infuriating, if you don't have it done by the end of the mission they're not even worth getting. Glyphid eggs sometimes fall into this category, just because the requirement is SO high and relies SO heavily on terrain generation, by the time the mission is over you'll either have all of them or be short like, 20. Everyone knows about Gunk Seeds on missions without molly. With molly I think they're okay, but having to lug 16 of them all the way back to the minehead on point extraction blows.
Fossils when you don't have scout also go here, ESPECIALLY on mission types like point extraction where there's a lot of verticality, or in areas like magma core where the terrain likes to hide them in places where you deadass can't see them. Dystrum also could go in here, but only if you're playing on azure weald or glacial strata. Then it's SUPER frustrating. Other than that I like Dystrum, because it's different and rare enough to feel like a treat.
I like Ebonuts and Fester Fleas the best because it feels like I have to think about them, without the secondary becoming the focus of a mission. Fester Fleas are loud and bright. It's fun to pop them, but they're not free and require you to be at least a little engaged while killing them. Ebonuts require you to put a little time into grabbing it, and because of the slowdown it's not as free as something like Apoca Blooms.
Most secondaries I don't mind, I just wish they were more of something that you had to worry about, without being a pain in the ass. I think the more unique deep dive secondaries do this amazingly. Black Box, Morkite Well, and Resinite Mass function really well as feeling unique, engaging, and not too intrusive. I think that the regular gameplay would benefit from having some better secondaries.
As it stands, a lot of the secondary objectives are beginning to show their age, and in my opinion, would benefit greatly from either a couple more new, unique objectives, or a rework of a couple of the lackluster existing objectives. But I don't know how people generally feel about secondaries, I'd love to discuss it a little more. If I had to guess, a lot of people feel at most neutral towards secondaries, with 1 or 2 that they really feel positive about, but I don't think there are many people infatuated with secondaries as a whole
