Well, no . . . (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Friday, December 12, 2014, 13:55 (3445 days ago) @ Monochron

I think maintaining separate playlists for non-DLC owners is a nice-to-have feature, but not one without costs. I don't assume that I know or understand all the reasons behind the decision not to offer them, but it does complicate things, and I'm sure it costs something.

As an analogy, in a world where most people have cellphones, those who were used to having a phone booth every few blocks begin noticing that they no longer have as many options, but they can still use the phone system.

Destiny is a living world. I like being in it, but it's changing, and who knows? Down the road it may change to a point where I don't like being in it. This isn't Halo. None of us can play the game that came out in September. That game no longer exists.

What is the value of the game? Have the people who bought the game gotten their money's worth? Is part of their expectation that the game, or at least a portion of it, would continue to offer the same experience whenever they want to have that experience? To a degree, probably, but the nature of Destiny makes that expectation less realistic than it would be for a different kind of game. The other economics in play are the costs of developing content. We want it all. We want other planets, and we want those planets to be consistent in quality to what we've gotten so far, and I don't think making such things are easy or cheap. You don't just poop out environments like we see in Destiny. Speaking for myself, the game continues to amaze.

Bungie is threading a needle here. Can they continue building such a game, and keep users happy over the long term (and make money)? That last parenthetical brings out the cynics, who assume the worst of the companies involved, and there certainly is reason to distrust the money men. I think Bungie has been pretty responsive to users, but this game isn't quite like anything else, and some experiments within it might fail. I remain hopeful that over time, Destiny will grow into something that exceeds our expectations of it. I've seen glimpses in this DLC that it can.