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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Well said... I may not totally agree with all you have said YET but I have not had a chance to play for as long as you have. But the sense of being alone is creeping in...turn on the mics for god sake let us speak to each other!! Let hope some one with clout in bungie reads your great suggestions and saves this game from dying out too early!!
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Halo didn't offer nearly as much as destiny has and your bitching that your bored of a new first person shooter mmo RPG on a next gen console because your a lame ass nerd who needs to feel purpose in life when playing a game or whatever you said? Wow. And if you want more story read the cards bro that explains everything you dumb turd Idk why you would write that much like bungie gives a -blam!- about you
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Halo had an actual story.
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Edited by DestinationEarth: 11/3/2014 11:02:12 PMOh well that escalated quickly
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LOL....not the Grimoires again!!! And what do they explain actually? Do they tell what's the purpose of the Fallen, Cabal, The Hive and Vex in our solar System? From where they come from, are they the minions of The Darkness , if so why are they fighting each other. And most important of all. ....how did Earth end up losing everything?Where the invasion originated, the course of battle on every planet, where there survivors? Have they retreated to Earth?what the traveler actually did to save the Last City from impending doom?
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Uh you'll find out through the course of the whole story. And if your attention span was long enough you would have been paying attention to the dialogue and heard that the Fallen, Cabal and Vex are indeed minions of The Darkness. If everything was explained and hashed out in the first installment, there would be no point in making any other games
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Hm.....from the plot so far.....the Fallen have come to Earth after the collapse...also it is mentioned they are scavengers...yet all the 2 battles on earth referred in the campaign are against them.there is no mention of the events in the actual collapse.if they come after the collapse that means that they weren't in the Darknesses main army ....so either they are not minions of the Darkness and have come after his defeat or they are something like auxiliary units. The only reference to the Cabal it's that they are a warrior race and that their empire spans countless galaxy's.there is no mention if they do the bidding of The Darkness. So far the Vex are an machine race who master time travel, but with all their logic they cannot explain a powerful force they have encountered so they choose to worship it....is this force The Darkness? And the hive.......it's evil.....so they are in league with The Darkness. ....but their God its reffered to be Crota. .. So the missions don't explain much either...
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And the point of my first post....was a response to someone that said the Grimoires explain everything.....using harsh words against another user ....so no they do not.....
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That's pretty damned disrespectful. It's only an opinion, man. You aren't required to read it or agree with it, but having some respect would do you well.
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Lol having some balls would do you some good too
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You are the perfect consumer, sir.
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Because I don't write an essay explaining why my life sucks and the Gilmore of hope you found in destiny to escape let you down and the reasons why? Try adding some people and making some friends I bet you'll have more fun
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U dont have to be a -blam!-ing asshole. Its just his opinion u dick
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My life far from sucks, and I explained my predicament with friends who play Destiny in the post. Don't make baseless assumptions and try actually reading what I wrote.
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Y'all are both wrong . Get a life
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Holly my dam are there no character limits on this thing!!
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Hahahahahahahahahaha!
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Except you're all still playing the game... Bitching but still playing. The OP even has games logged today. -blam!- logic though right?
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What's your point? I explicitly stated that I like the game. I just feel like it has so much unrecognized potential that it makes me sad, and it's not what I expected it to be. Of course I still play the game often. If I didn't care about Destiny, why would I post on this forum? #Logic
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I'm with you BRUH it's kinda boring
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Every game has unrecognized potential. I bet even if it had more features, people would still bitch. Definition of insanity?
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The difference in this case is the comparison of the product itself to what Bungie themselves said it would be. "A Bold New World Embark on an epic action adventure with rich cinematic storytelling where you unravel the mysteries of our universe and reclaim what we lost at the fall of our Golden Age." The issue isn't about how Destiny stacks up to other games, the issue is what Bungie promised isn't there. If a world class marathon runner holds a press release and says he's going to take gold at the next Olympics, and then finishes the Olympic race at the middle of the pack . . . he's still a world class athlete, who put in a performance the majority of the world couldn't come close to . . . [i]but he can't get upset when his fans want to know why the discrepancy between what he promised and what happened.[/i]
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Edited by P4TM3RCH: 11/3/2014 5:28:52 PMVery well said. This is exactly what the Bungie forum should be about. I really hope they listen and will take these ideas into account as they are what every player wants to see in destiny.
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BUUUUMP