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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i personally feel cheated and i try not to do alot of bashing, but the more and more i play the relentless, repetitive, and down right monotonous missions, strikes, and raids i feel tired, bored even, because theres nothing compelling me to keep fighting the good fight. what fight are we even fighting?
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Stop complaining
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This is what I want too
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Agreed
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Couldn't word it better.
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I want to play this game. Bungie...Please do this.
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Bump 👏👌
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Bump! I'd pay a monthly sub for this guys game!
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Hell yeah if that is what it takes to pay for the fixes and motivate Bungie to get on it and make new content!
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I understand how you feel about this topic, but I personally disagree with some of the things you've said here. The first thing I wanted to touch up on was the enemy attacking the Tower. The Tower is suppose to be humanity's last safe city, the only city still protected by the Traveler. If it was up to everyone to defend the Tower while the Fallen or someone was attacking it, how would that work? The entire game is full of live servers 24/7. When the time comes where there isn't enough people online or there is no one at the Tower, that's bye bye Tower and no more video game. Also (unfortunately ), destiny isn't a cross-console game. so the amount of work to have to put in to monitoring attacks on the Tower and all the other stuff is even more work that would probably take the game back off the market for awhile. Yeah it would seem fun and everything, but that sounds a lot like a Lord of the Rings concept which isn't destiny. Destiny also isn't like Halo, or it isn't suppose to be. Halo is all campaign and multiplayer. Destiny is different because the campaign and patrols are dynamic with their enemies and public events. The destiny that is open to everyone at the moment IS the tip of the iceberg. The DLC's are DLC's because they couldn't be released without holding the game back again. I think this game is great for what it is right now and I can't wait for the expansions. I'm in no way trying to attack you or anything for the post, or talk down to your idea's. I just think you're asking too much from the game to be something it isn't and that isn't Bungie's fault. It's just how it is. You can't be too harsh on them. Thank you for your time.
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Edited by Ember Chrysus: 10/31/2014 1:38:17 AMIt's funny you think in-game NPCs would put an end to a real-world video game. I mean, I agree with you in that I don't think everyone would want the city to be under attack all the time, but it's still funny. I imagine it would be an event you can choose to participate in, then you'd simply lose XP if you lost the event. It wouldn't ACTUALLY put an end to the video game. Lmao.
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Well yes and no. A lot of what he suggested has already been implemented in Firefall. It can be done, maybe not cheaply, but it is possible. I agree that the Crucible may not be the best place to have attacks, but some server wide events where we fight off an attacking horde would be nice. Heck, even when there is a public event, I am only aware of it if I am nearby. I often find myself on a different part of a planet from my wife when her screen lights up with a public even and nothing happens on mine. How am I supposed to participate in these if I don't even have warning that they occur? Playing with other people randomly to fight off some nasty fallen horde have been some of my favorite moments, but they are so rare, and always the same. I would love more of this, and the feeling that when I succeed I get more than stars. I want to feel like I actually helped preserve humanity, if only for a bit longer.
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A map of the area might solve that problem:)
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Bump for agreeing with you. I play crucible only because strikes are to repetitive and about as rewarding as crucible is to me at this point and bounties are easier for weapon lvling purposes from crucible. I don't have friends for raids so I've never played that or the weekly heroic/nightfall strikes. Would be awesome to just go in and fight the crap out in a massive war. I know my wall titan would freaking love feeling useful. Throw in a couple of archon priests or like a pack of colossus's (if on Mars) etc and give a massive challenge.
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I completely agree with you but that's a lot of content to implement and if you put yourself in moneyvision's shoes then it just won't happen, as all the dlc has already been made; the content would take a while to produce and if it was a free update, then the problem Is obvious... Moneyvision don't make any money.
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I'm curious what happen to going the extra mile for your consumer to make them happy and not be focused on greed? Are there really no company out there anymore that cares about their custumers?
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I'm afraid it's a sad truth that once a company expands to bungies current level they begin to realise that they will make money no matter what the consumers opinion is. If you think back to when they were doing halo, they were far more isolated (xbox exclusive) and thus they could communicate with the community much easier and there was no conflict amongst the community so they got clear comments which everybody agreed with. Now it's a case where the community is full of divisions, and there are disagreements everywhere, so the community has ended up being more and more obsolete. We also can't forget the contribution that moneyvision has made, in terms of dividing opinions and not caring.
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I've got to say, if i worked at bungie and i had read this post, i would have quit bungie. That post alone has more to it than destiny. Personally, i would be ashamed after reading this if i was bungie. My hat is off to you sir. That was beautiful. Thank you for a more assuring voice that i can listen to.
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its pretty pathetic that a post on a forum had me more moved than 99.9% of the story in the game...
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Indeed.
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Absolutely! I wish I worked for Bungie. I would love to.
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Bump for the truth