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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Me: Hey guys want to play Destiny? *Three friends respond* *I feel like a PoS for inviting friends to play a game that will not allow all of us to play together.* Or... Animals and fruits keep rolling out of Bungie's Ark of errors to prevent us from playing at all. Or... Disconnected by a "random" anifruit error just before misson/public event ends. Are we having fun yet?
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Thank the lord someone who has said a positive thing unlike these whiners
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I thumb down your comment
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Great letter! I do enjoy the game, but i do feel let down to the experience and adventure i had hoped for and was promised... I keep looking for the next story like "the last of us" i guess i was just looking for the sense of pride to save mankind.. But it was not here.
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Bump it up, everybody!
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Bump. seriously Bungie, I'm trying as hard as I can to still appreciate you guys, but this is getting absurd. I hate the fact that I have to hate this game. So much time looking forward to it, and within a month, you sapped all my enjoyment, so much so that more and more I'm finding that not playing any games at all is preferable to playing destiny, which frustrates me. There's so much potential, and yet, it seems like this game is all about the money, not the game or the players. I'm, under no circumstances, paying $20 for content that should have been part of the game at release, and certainly not so when I know I'm not even getting the whole package. Segregating content based on console? What happened to you being an Xbox exclusive company? Now suddenly PlayStation is getting all the perks? It's just sickening...
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You seem misinformed
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I love the game already but that is a sick idea
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Exactly amen and well put
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Bump! Hey has DeeJ said anything on this thread yet? Just curious
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He hasn't said anything. I'm disappointed. I think it deserves some form of acknowledgement.
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I do agree with this user I am a level 15 warlock now I might not be a very high level but trust me as a true gamer I do know the greatness of reviewing games so let me get straight to it so basically in the beginning when I heard about destiny and I saw the trailers and everything it looked like a pretty great game the freedom of what type of warrior the different types of enemy's the weapon arsenal everything looked awesome and all in place so here's the actual problem when the game actually came out you have people that are new to this type of game and people that are experienced with these type of games sooooo the real problem is the game is one sided first the crucible if your a level 10 and usually the people who play crucible are 18 or higher they are going to wipe the floor with you so the game is based off of level if your a level 15 like me and your friends are 20 or higher or even 17 or higher they over there having fun on mars or possibly doing high level raids while your dumb ass is stuck on Venus trying to beat the vex gate lord but I mean I'm doing pretty good on mars and I'm in my way to level 16 but that's my opinion
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Edited by compostmentis: 10/31/2014 2:16:10 AMI understand the sentiment, but the idea you have is too grand to stick in the game as it is. The amount of coding/testing/balancing means that it isn't something that they will do. At this stage I just want them to fix existing issues and expand the game in more subtle ways. At the moment public events are a piece of cake, and I don't think I've participated in an event that had more than 3 other players. This is far from the epic scale Bungie are going for. They need to make public events a lot harder and they need to allow more players to be on the same map at one time to participate. Imagine a Fallen Walker with a massive amount of health, being taken on by 20 players at once, or a Warsat being defended by 10+ players as wave after wave of enemies drop in. That's what I'm going for. The loot reward needs to be better as an incentive for the increased challenge; more than just one ascendant material.
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Like the arkfalls from defiance at any given time no less than 20 players min fighting them! Bungie can do it on old Gen consoles because Trion did it beautifully so I don't want to hear any bs!:)
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Please sign this petition as this is the only way to get our voices heard. Make your Fate Guardians. https://www.change.org/p/activision-make-first-2-expansions-free-or-give-people-a-refund-for-the-retail-purchase-of-destiny-and-or-any-downloadable-content-they-may-of-purchased
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I signed as well. Not buying another bungie/Activision product until they answer the people. They gutted this game, and I hate them for it.
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I SIGNED IT!
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Edited by Zaniakk: 10/31/2014 2:00:53 AMTruuue
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Brilliant and well written! Bungie, if you are wondering why I'm not ever going shell out more cash for an expansion to this, read this person's post again.
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Bump it up guys!
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did anyone else feel a sudden lump in their throat when they realized that a small part of this guys comment had more substance and emotion than the entire story of destiny? does that bother anyone else?
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The crap i took this morning had more substance and story then destiny( i really want to like this game but why do you make it so hard to like it)
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A lot of people had had a similar response, actually. Kind of feel bad for making anyone feel that way, but it just really sucks knowing how good the game we wanted to love could actually be.