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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Bungie please read and bring us together as a community in game.. Bump..
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Bungie will never read these replies. We waste our time trying. Not one staff member reads any of these
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+1 for the ideas...
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I wonder if the tech limits of the last gen systems are what's preventing something like this from happening? Don't know if the 360 & PS3 could handle a tower-wide battle with hundreds of AI enemies, for instance.
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Bump bumo bump.. bungie you are killing my hopes of spending anymore money om this game. My friend is quitting and so are a bunch of people.
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That would be pretty awesome. Sort of like world v world in guild wars 2. It would definitely help you feel more immersed in the world. Honestly the story for destiny is good. It's just presented poorly. Your ghost hacks something while you defend him and he tells you something in a somewhat humorous way or he mentions that you need to kill something but you never really know why.. I really want him to be a little more lifelike though, like wheatly from portal 2. I looked into the cards and went "ooooohhhh that's why the archon priests mattered.. And that's what sepiks prime is.." they needed more real cut scenes like the ones with the queen or stranger to explain the bosses and the races.. But you get such a shallow definition of what they are and then get sent out in the field. I'm hoping that once the contract is up with Activision they'll bring more to the table.. I really do like this game, my favorite fps ever already, but it could be genre defining excellent if they just.. Tried a little.
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Thank you so much for that. It is nice to see thoughts that run through my head during the day in words with people that support them. I sincerely hope Bungie reads this and gets as inspired by this as I have. Rock on man!
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Bump this so bungie can see it
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Read the Bungie you faggits. If you want to save this shitty game read this and build upon this idea
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Basically make it more like Firefall, if you haven't played Firefall for PC its everything we want Destiny to be. Giant Player vs. environment events everywhere all the time.
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Edited by TAURiNN: 10/30/2014 3:28:27 AMBut that's actually an awesome idea! You guys can joke all you want but the fact that you have a bungie account and you're reading these comments means you want the game to improve as well so don't act like a jerk to compensate for your lack of balls. Bungie should create an event almost like public events but on a massive scale that everyone (or at least a servers worth of players) is called to to fight a massive battle. Raid + public event + crap ton of enemies = epic game
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nice :)
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You have put all my frustrations into a beautiful masterpiece of a post that deserves a spot in a museum. Thank you so much. +1, bump, and everything else in existence.
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Thats a pretty good idea but i think not possible
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*slowly claps with tears running down eyes
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Beautiful!
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Fck me. I stopped after the 5th paragraph seriously I deserve a medal!
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you make the compelling argument i have been trying to make. thank you for putting what i feel into words.
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[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/75887640/0/0]Posted This Article in the forums in #Feedback[/url] Not only will I Bump this, but I shared it in hope of Destiny to see it
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Thank you very much for taking interest, and for giving me due credit. I really appreciate it!
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I appreciate the time that you took to write the article, and yes sir 🙌 and I do my best to help out
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Edited by RarePheonix: 10/30/2014 3:19:11 AMPerfectionists I see lol
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Well said I couldn't agree more