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 am was astounded by your diplomacy in putting forth your (and other players') ideas and I feel very strongly for what you have to say and hope that this gets enough attention and be heard. I would shake your hand if I ever saw you sir!
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Well said, sir. A few weeks ago, I was one of those who says "yeah it's repetitive, but I'm still addicted to it". This past week, however, after having run the raid over a dozen times, getting multiple duplicates of the same raid items and still have not gotten the raid boots, I've decided to put the controller down and just do raids and nightfalls twice a week. I already have all the weapons I wanted and they are fully upgraded, so there's no point in doing the same bounties over and over again. No point in grinding dailies and weeklies for ascendant materials since I have over 50 of each and no items I want to use them on. No point in earning marks from tiger playlists because it's the same 6 strikes and because the vendor weapons no longer interest me. I'm a fan of the alert scenario you and our fellow guardians have come up with. It doesn't even have to be The City; if occasionally they make a few of the story missions feel slightly different, have different enemies appear, or have a new type of modifier -- I'd play it since its different and would be refreshing. Right now, nightfall is the only interesting thing for me other than raid, since the modifiers change (elemental burns, juggler, unflinching, etc), and the wipe to orbit (nightfall) is an actual challenge. But that's only once a week. Can you make a daily nightfall story mission on top of the weekly nightfall strike? Exotic weapon bounties were also decent. I don't usually play PvP, but the exotic bounties force me to play it a bit, and I like that. I don't do the regular crucible bounties since they have no tangible rewards like a special weapon. Please make more challenging bounties with desirable weapon or armor rewards, not just xp. XP is useless at this point as I get Motes of Lights frequently enough from engrams. I'd like to echo your sentiments for the raid, and add a personal opinion to it. Yes, raid is so repetitive it almost feels like a chore. However, the whole idea of teamwork makes it worth it. The satisfaction of clearing the raid with a group of strangers you found on reddit or destinylfg or friends of friends is Destiny's most shining aspect. I hope Bungie develops more raids, not just one for the upcoming dlc in December, and just one more for the second dlc. I think Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn's high level full party guildhests are a good example. Another interesting aspect of raid, to me, that perhaps many people don't realize is the exploration. There are many secrets in the raid (hidden paths, chest spawn conditions) that are undiscovered. There are reddit threads where people come together to dispel theories and I think they are interesting and am thinking of participating. These are just my two cents. What do you guys think?
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awesome post. i feel the same way, i have done every mission/strike/weekly and nightfall on my own because they don't require teamwork at all. the greatest sense of accomplishment is through the raid (the best thing about destiny imo) because of the TEAM effort. this post has great ideas. how about letting us somehow play the greatest battles of the fall of humanity with other gaurdians or make having a clan mean something like a clan battleship in space where all clan members can dock at and meet up. make vehicles more relevant than just getting from point A to point B, i even read an article about wanting to add space battles. Bungie, think "Halo meets Mass Effect" but MMO style, then you have a 10 year game. we dont just want content we want DEPTH of that content. simply adding something "new", but still within the boundaries of the old structure doesnt mean much. PLEASE listen to your fanbase!
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I have probably played this game way to long and its been fun the whole time, but you can't complain about continuing to play the same content because you already did everything your money was worth. Feel free to continue playing destiny but until you buy expansions, you already finished the game. Congratulations!!!!
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I think part of the problem here is we might be having a different vision of Destiny than Bungie. A lot of us including myself like to see Destiny more MMO-like. A more alive world (admit it, it's pretty static), large events that bring guardians together (I can solo most public events) and actually affect the living game world. I think Mass Effect 3's reaper invasion, but where all of us are involved. Bungie might not have the same vision. Seeing as how they are focusing more-than-desired attention in the crucible, I'm starting to think they intend us to "build our legend" in multiplayer, where some of us might have thought that would be done more in the "shared-world" front. I read somewhere about ideas like "this clan successfully fended off a fallen assault from the array on earth" or "the cabal are pushing on Mars. Guardians, battle stations!" These events to occur on patrol mode and affect the entire game world. I understand the costs to develop these things for the game are not free, and I personally would not mind paying more to support a more living and dynamic world, so long as it's reasonable. I guess it depends on what Bungie wants their game to be. Are they willing to create a game the fans want, or are they trying to reel in a certain audience?
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http://youtu.be/UZ5BpeHVTWY
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Too long didn't read, I'm guessing you aren't happy
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Yeah, but in a VERY well written and diplomatic statement. If you can bring it up I hope you are willing to read it. I thought it was very good anyway.
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Damn shame bungie will never acknowledge it
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Personaly. I have some issues with the empty repetitiveness of the game, but overall i love it. Either way, with a non-biased opinion id like to say, this is an amazing post from someone who obviously cares very much. I am in awe of the respect i have for ur opinion sir, thank you for honesty, this was a very intellegeny post.
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I aint reading that shit
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Well written, well thought out post. While I enjoy destiny a lot, and will probably buy the dlc (I'm on ps4), there's definitely so much room for improvement. I'm willing to give them time, but I really hope we start seeing things that actually improve the experience in the players' eyes. Having to wait for the dlc for more bounty slots, for example, seems pretty silly to me. :/ Also to all you tl:dr posters, if you don't want to read the lengthy post, fine. No one needs your stupid one-liners explaining that your reading comprehension caps out at maybe two sentences.
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http://youtu.be/UZ5BpeHVTWY They already trashed it man..
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"Ain't nobody got time for that"- sweet brown
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Please leave and don't come back, it's easy as that. Just walk away and don't look back.
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TL;DR
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Man I'm really tired of seeing posts like this. If you're bored with that game then play another game or wait for the expansion. Or don't play it at all. Complaining doesn't solve anything. Yes destiny lacks in the story area but its the type of game that your enjoyment comes from what you make of or it. This is coming from a guy who's favorite games are the legend of Zelda, a game franchise with great story and plot. A games enjoyment comes down to personal preference and how you can relate to it. In my opinion destiny is a good game. Not great but good. Destiny also brought aspects of team work back into videos games. I really enjoy the fact that a group of six player must come together to do the raids. And remember, we still have many more raids to come. Now I have never played a Halo game so I may be wrong here but I don't think bunji's intentions were to make a game like Halo. If this was the case then they would of just made another Halo game. It may have feature that remind people of Halo but it is it's own game. Now don't get me wrong, I respect everyone's opinion. And I understand that the game wasn't what you thought it would be but you need to look at a game as a blank slate. You fill the blanks. And if you don't enjoy a game, then just don't play it. Let us who enjoy the game enjoy it. But again it's your opinion and your game experience so do as you please.
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He wasn't complaining as much as he was offering suggestions that could/[b]would[/b] improve the game... The Destiny-app (and/or a voluntary email-list) could even summon "all Guardians" to the Defence event.
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Lol what?
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"Complaining doesn't solve anything." - Then you're doing it wrong. "favorite games are the legend of Zelda" - Games have moved on since then. " I really enjoy the fact that a group of six player must come together to do the raids" - The point is, groups of 6 close friends are starting to be hard to come by. "game as a blank slate. You fill the blanks." - No. We pay money for a fully equipped product. "don't play it. Let us who enjoy the game enjoy it" - If we did this, you'd be very lonely. Just look at how many people agree. "But again it's your opinion and your game experience so do as you please." - So why oh why did you take the time to comment?
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Let go man, just enjoy things for what they are. And what does "games have moved on"mean lol. A game is a game and that's it. It's what you make it. But like I said it's your opinion and I respect it so all I ask is you respect mine.
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You still fail to see and understand the truth (bigger picture). By the way I comment because I can...
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Keep the bump train moving!
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Agreed. This game is too repetitive for me. I fact I've cut down a lot on the play time a lot. Still like it but don't love it it's lost it's glimmer.