Dear Bungie,
Destiny simply isn't what I expected. I've had great respect for the work you guys do from the first time I played Halo with my friends, and I followed the Destiny buildup until its release with edge-of-my-seat anticipation. To me, there's no story more compelling than that of humanity's very survival, and no pursuit more noble than fighting for the preservation of our species. It's what drew me to Halo, and what drew me to Destiny. It's teams of artists such as yourselves, who recognize the inherent nobleness of this concept and seek to bring it to millions, that inspire me, that give me something to look forward to after a long day at the office, that offer me the chance to escape a reality where the difference I make is marginal at best, and enter a reality where I have the chance to make a difference that feels like it matters, if only for a couple of hours every night.
You brought me that sense of purpose and inspiration with Halo. But I don't feel this anymore. In Destiny, with a full loadout of legendary and exotic gear and having played through the full story, experiencing what the Crucible has to offer, battling my way through countless strike missions, finishing every bounty 100 times over, and exploring the complete extent of every map, I'm...bored. But it's worse than being bored. I don't feel anything. I've stuck with the game all these hours, whole days, desperately seeking to feel what I expected to when I first read about Destiny so many months ago. It isn't there.
Although I initially thought that the lack of story was the problem, I've come to realize that the lack of story is only the tip of the iceberg. It's the part that's visible, that every Guardian who's also searching for that sense of purpose and fulfillment in Destiny can readily point to and say "That must be it". And it's a very valid concern. But the core problem with Destiny runs much deeper. The core problem, as far as I see it, is that you're utterly alone in the game.
I'll attempt to expand as best I can. The reason the raid works so well (and is arguably the most successful part of the entire Destiny endeavor) is that it requires massive amounts of teamwork. It provides, upon beating Atheon, a sense of reward and togetherness that no other part of the game currently gives you as a player. I feel as though the team at Bungie would like to bring this experience to the wider majority of the game, but is confused as to how to do so, or is otherwise very conflicted as to how to go about doing so. I want to assure you that doing this would be exceptionally easy, and would make Destiny the game you want it to be and the game that we, the players, want it to be.
My suggestions operate on the assumption that most Destiny players care about the notion of fighting for humanity. It is the premise of the entire game, the reason anyone who enjoys PvE wanted to become a Guardian in the first place. With that in mind, Bungie needs to begin addressing the issue of feeling alone in the game by giving players a shared experience outside of the raid. Sure, if you have enough friends with the game, you can link up a fireteam and do some of the same 4 strikes (now a staggering 5 strikes for only $19.99 on Xbox) you've done 5,000 times over, but the only emotional appeal to this is that you're doing something with your friends for a while, until you get bored, and let me assure you, killing the Archon Priest for the zillionth time is boring - boring enough that the friends I used to play with have quit the game. I feel that many can relate to this situation. In order to make your players feel something deeper and continue to invest in Destiny, we need to be able to actually fight for the very survival of humanity.
Other people have left comments regarding this, and I'm mirroring their ideas and sentiments and not claiming them as my own, though I've had the very same thoughts as them for some time now. Bungie needs to actually put humanity on the brink. As Guardians, we need to be able to get an alert from The Tower while we're out collecting Spinmetal that The City is under a massive attack by The Fallen. We need to be able to see all the players around us disappear, heading to orbit just like we are, mashing our controllers to take us all back to defend The City. Upon arriving, we need to see droves upon droves of enemies marching to the walls, and have a way to get out in front of the walls to fight them in the plains before they reach the gates (troop transport ships on a loop that fly you over the city and drop you into battle, anyone?). We need to see dozens of other Guardians fighting tooth and nail to defend the last bastion of humanity alongside us, and we need this on at least a weekly basis. These kind of encounters can play out all over the solar system, and last a day at a time, giving many players the chance to enter the fight. Ground must be gained and lost, territories threatened, The City seen teetering on a precipice before you and your fellow Guardians prevail (or don't, which leads to many other, ridiculously interesting options for the game, and opportunities to fight for what is lost).
Again, I don't claim such ideas and sentiments as my own, but I wanted to articulate them here in the hopes that someone with a voice inside Bungie HQ might raise these ideas that I very much believe thousands of players yearn for. If ideas like this were baked into the game, this crippling sense of solitude that one often feels while playing would effectively disappear, because we'd all be fighting for something together - something tangible, that we could see and feel and believe in.
While you, Bungie, continue to release patches nerfing hard-earned exotic weapons, killing loot caves, restructuring the raid to prevent players from beating it with human ingenuity, and announcing DLC content that is quite honestly very lackluster and addresses none of the deep, even psychological ineptitudes within the Destiny universe, I assure you that even if the current numbers say otherwise, you are not building a 10 year franchise. Or a 5 year franchise. I'll be curious to know what those numbers reveal once other games are released through the holiday season. Somehow, I don't think they'll be very promising. Not considering what you gave us at launch, and how little you continue to give us. Destiny was a promise of something incredible that never was and still isn't. It could still become that, but my hope is waning, and that's a real shame, because this world you made for us, this repetitive, empty world - it's very pretty.
Thanks for your time. I hope I get the chance to thank you for your efforts in the future.
English
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Bump!
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Enough said!!! My thoughts also new to game."two weeks in"
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Edited by Black Hammer 61: 10/30/2014 4:40:06 AMVery true, when i was first combing thru the story mode, i kept telling myself its gonna go down big time at the tower, and when it was over........ I felt cheated!!! Lol i was hoping for a huge battle at the tower and all us guardians taking a stand and being victorious
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Agree. Well said.
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Awesome, I agree
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Here, have my bump.
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Agree
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Bump! Very well said sir! I hope Bungie takes notice to this post!
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First i thought destiny was a bit going to be like fallout 3, a big world to explore, characters you meet, quests to do, people to save, bosses to be slain. Then i played te beta and thought, ok this is going to be awesome! Some areas you couldnt enter because enemies were (to) strong, so gave the illusion you had to revisit that place when you got stronger, turns out its just a level loop...But now i have the feeling im still playing the beta...altough im having fun, its missing something. Would be cool if the worlds were bigger, and found some settlements or other alien races that are fighting for survival, a place on the planet were you can turn in bounties and buy stuff so we dont have to fly to the tower and back for that 1 bounty because there is no more space to take more. Cant wait till the expantion, but if ads nothing im done with destiny, because i have done pretty much everything, so why would i keep on playing?
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Takes out destiny and looks around.... Puts in fallout 3 and new Vegas....... No multiplayer and still a better game
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Bungie won't read this but still.... BAHMP
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Major BUMP
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Bump halo was about community in the destiny universe you cannot talk to an ally standing in front of you without making a firearm and sending out invitations first? Most free mmorpgs at least get that right.
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You sir.. are my hero.. Bringing up the idea of actually defending the tower would be a great addition to the game. Something that would bring out more feelings towards the story of survival. I hope they read this
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This. A thousand times, this. I feel those sentiments wholeheartedly and agree with every single thing you posted. I truly hope Bungie listens to you (or hires you)
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Bump, I just really hope Bungie could read and actually consider the many great ideas and critics in forums and comments, don't have to consider it all at once, just step by step, think of the possibility.
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Agreed
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Everyone who plays destiny, especially Xbox gamers like myself, absolutely have to read this.
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Biggest fail ever.
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You sir gave them constructive criticism! Love the idea about territory
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I petition that everyone read this comment and then proceed to copy and paste it on every,single,board. Just -blam!-ing flood the forms with hundreds of copies of this response and then maybe,just maybe, we will get an actual response as to why this game it's not what it was supposed to be.
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You have my full permission to do so.