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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Can you just make a game? If you made a game like this I would definitely love to play it! XD
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I wish I could! Unfortunately, I'm just a writer, so I'd need quite a team to help me with that. Ha.
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The nail in the coffin right there. I trusted Bungie. I literally said the day before release of Destiny "man I can't wait to get a new story to be engrossed in!" (I literally said this) Boy was I wrong. Destiny is an unfulfilled promise. That is all. And now that I see Forge is going to be everything I had ever wanted in the MCC, I have no reason to go back to Destiny, cause an old friend is calling me back, and his name is Halo. I am not buying the DLC, and bid Bungie farewell, cause the guys at 343 are my new Bungie. (Btw, already spent the expansion pass money on Project Spark addons. I bet I can make a better story than Bungie)
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I just want to thank you for this post and I agree with everything you said.
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Thank you for your support!
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Spacebump
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Big fat sweaty bump
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Bump it up, everybody! Thanks for your support.
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Can't agree with you. You have to let it go and then you can enjoy more things in life. This is a solid game. And you sound like a guy who broke up with his first love and then complained about every girlfriend after that cause "she's not the same". Enjoy destiny for destiny man. It's not halo. It's not Diablo. It's WoW. It's destiny. But it's a good game. Compared to games released now, it's a really good game. Enjoy CoD. I know at the end of November I'll be enjoying dragon age for a bit. Then prolly squeeze more destiny. See what I did there. These are games not life. Let it go.
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Thank you! Games are what you make it!
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But Destiny isn't a good game. Good games keep me invested. I've been slapped in the face by a veritable zoo of animals just for trying the first raid. Not just once, but every time. I've been insulted for my efforts with laughable rewards on nightfall strikes. I can solo weekly heroic strikes, which sort of tells me I've done them so often I can now set the autopilot to do them for me. Everything is repetitive and utterly predictable. This game feels more like a chore than a game. I have maybe 150 hrs of playtime since launch, so it's not like I'm grinding it to death either. All of this within 2 months of launch. This game has no staying power, and even less replayability. If it were a car, it would be considered a lemon.
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I love this idea! I really do! BUT... If they can't handle have 16 ppl in the tower at one time without being kto... Or handle having 6 ppl in a raid without being kto... This is WAY out of this IT teams league... Just hate to see everyone get their hopes up for something this awesome sounding. I think the only hope we have is if someone, one of us, is reading all this feedback and building us an epic in your face edge of your seat, 'RUN YOU BASTARD!' that we all seem to crave.
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You could have mini battles of 16 players within the larger fight. There's lots of ways to go about this concept.
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I could see the line up in the tower waiting for the ship to scoop up whole teams of randoms and plop them in the heat of battle. No need for story there, hey we under attack DEFEND! Lol
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Lol I was just thinking that as my phone went off. I like it bro and here's hoping👍
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Bump. Very well said. Couldn't agree more
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Please bungie listen to this post!
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Bumpathousand
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Someone at bungie please listen to this man.
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Bumpity
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Same here man I can deeply agree with ya.
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I share the same feeling as you my friend! Ive made your words, my words!
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We need to have just a huge battle with vex fallen all enemy's everywhere guardians all working together to defeat them all protect the world save the last safe city on earth!!!
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