Of course they want you to keep playing their game.

That's the way they can continue to make money.

Making more money allows them to make more game(s).

There isn't anything insidious about it. It's not like they're sitting in a dark room, twirling their mustaches trying to get you hooked with malicious intent.

It comes down to the individual, and ultimately what they like. I hesitate to say there is a "wrong" way to play Destiny, but it is obvious that it is designed to give the player incentive to play a little bit everyday. How is it doing this?

*Daily heroic mission
*Refreshing bounties
*Various economies to upgrade armor and guns
*Factions and reputation
*Caps on what you can earn

^^^These aren't BAD things, but that last one is important. Players that play Destiny everyday for 8 hours or more and are running 3 different characters, chasing intangible rewards that are decided by RANDOM chance 95% of the time, are going to have a bad time. Destiny isn't meant to be played like that, unless you're addicted.

The ideal way to play is of course for fun, and enjoyment, but a little bit at a time. If you gorge yourself on Destiny, it sucks as a video game.

It's an empty snack.

It's like eating a whole bag of potato chips, and then loathing yourself after.

Moderation.

Say it with me again: moderation.

I feel like, you've kinda had a moment where you realized "GUYS, We're rats! In a maze! What are they doing!?" and you feel like you're being taken advantage of.

Your not. That is, if you can convince yourself to put the controller down when there isn't anything for you to do, or you aren't having fun.

For me, Destiny is a console version of a mobile game. So I don't play it often unless I have nothing better to do.

^^That's not a criticism on the game- merely me acknowledging the game, telling it that I know what it is, and it isn't going to fool me into something....idk. Basically, I know when to say "I'm done, for today".

The key for me, is knowing what Destiny is trying to get me to do, how it is trying to suck me in (in a good way, with Raids and friends) and in bad ways (with material\level grinding, bad story telling, promises of more content that leave me....wanting).

So lately I've been playing Bloodborne and things on the Wii U, and I'm having a great time. I hop on Destiny once, maybe twice a week, play the weekly stuff with friends, and then leave. Sure, when HoW is out, I'll play the hell out of it for a few weeks, but then I'll be done. Other fun to be had elsewhere.

I'm not trying to pick on you, but all I want to say to your post is:

DUH!

Bungie has sent a clear message of what their player retention strategy is, that being the proverbial carrot on the stick. It reeks of placing profitability over player enjoyment.

If you're fine with this, by all means keep supporting them. Or, you can do what I did, and promise not to send another cent their way until you see a significant change in direction.

If the last couple of years watching the games industry have taught me anything, it's that nothing will motivate the corporations involved like a swift kick in the wallet.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3085/behavioral_game_design.php

Hopson wrote about psychology of game design and making people continue to play games in 2001 here. This was no mystery to many of us.

For me, though, I don't really play the game to get stuff. I play the game because it is fun, then I get stuff as a bonus! Sometimes I put on Halo or Borderlands (both are games I haven't even completed the story for) and think "Why am I playing these games? They're less fun than Destiny." Then I go play Destiny, if I have time. But do it in moderation.

The beauty of Destiny over a game like Halo is you get a different loadout and a huge selection of guns, since they carry with your character, as opposed to being limited by the map. So, you get to play missions again in a totally different way than you might have before. As multiple classes, you get to double, triple, even sextuple that. By playing again, you even get bonuses like possibly getting new guns to vary your playstyle even more! People give Destiny shit because there's so little to the game, but FFS, there was way less in Halo Reach. They had bounties, but what did they do? You got cosmetic gear. Greaaaaat. In Destiny, the bonuses do stuff! Neat! To top it off the 30 seconds of fun is better than any game I know.

The main thing for me, Chris, is shooting the shit with my friends. I signed up for Banana's lagfest later not because I think I'm going to accomplish something, rank up factions, or do bounties, but because the game is something fun to do while chatting with dudes I know. I have only done hardmode Crota a couple times because the last part isn't fun, but I like to help my buddies so I still sign up occasionally.

I'll buy the expansions and Destiny 2 day 1 because I legitimately like the game, and I like playing with friends.

If you were only playing for loot, you were doing it for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, Bungie counted on this, so they got a lot of gameplay hours from you.

That being said, how the hell are they supposed to suck money out of you when you paid $60 for a game you got 800 hours out of? Every few months dump some expansions which add a lot of fun and variety to the game for a reasonable price? What's malicious about that? They aren't charging you extra, they aren't screwing you, they are literally just making you like the game more.

tl;drComplaining about this is like complaining that Olive Garden puts extra butter in their unlimited salad and breadsticks so you want to eat more of it at a reasonable price.

Does this change their mantra from "designing games we want to play" to "designing games we find addictive to play?"

Instead of asking people whether their game is adequately rewarding, why not just ask them if it's inherently fun? Those story missions could have used a lot more fun.

I think this is more important for Destiny than any other game I've played, and ultimately I think it's the reason the game is built with so many hooks. They don't charge monthly for the same reason; a monthly fee would turn off more people (you can bet they did a cost benefit analysis of the number of people they would lose for monthly versus the amount of money monthly subscription would make).

If Destiny didn't have people populating it, it just wouldn't work fundamentally. You need to play with teammates to complete most of the high level content. You need people playing to make competitively balanced multiplayer viable. Without a large population Destiny would disintegrate.

They obviously failed with their taking over the world + addiction goal with a segment of the gamer population... Maybe our brains are wired differently.

"Using his expertise in Behavioral Psychology, Hopson played a role in helping the team create something that would provide players with satisfying rewards after taking so many risks." I don't see it as risk, but rather frustration to see bullet sponges bosses and overwhelming amounts of enemy to make it "harder". I see risk as trying to run through sniper alley while tacking out all the Jackals in one sweep. No hiding behind a rock, the enemy will come and get you. In Destiny, if you have the time, that technique might work eventually.

I ran Destiny through Gizoozle.net for laughs & giggles and it translated exactly into how I feel about the game.

I play to escape and relax into a world I enjoy and have zero interest in collecting all the bum flaps and weapons in the game. I thought the progression was rewarding until 20+ but lost interest after that.
Is there a right way to play Destiny? Maybe? When I occasionally play it is for the beauty of the environment, the music and rewarding headshots but end up spending more time just observing all the wonderful details the artists of Bungie placed in this game listening to Marty's tunes. (artist here)

I grind at work everyday so I want to play a game that takes me away from worries, stress and daily routine. The carrot in Destiny is not attractive to me at all. The missions I've played all seem very similar (Hint, heard myself wondering many times "Did I play this one already?") I will play Halo or ME missions in a heart beat, because there is a connection between my head shots, a story, characters to relate to. Clearly Destiny does not deliver to lone wolves. It's friends or die of boredom. You can't even play the end game if you do not have a solid group to do it.

So about the addiction, I'd recommend to stop playing if it feels like a chore or a burden. Just like great advertising can convince people to buy a new iPhone every six months, you can decide if it's pointless or not. Guess I lack an addictive or hoarding personality and lucked out! XD

TLTR: Addictive for some, not for me, game lacks storytelling skills, carrot not appetizing enough to keep grinding

Spoiler: Destiny needs to hire more writers and less psychologists...
I'm happy for Bungie and what seems to be a majority of the players enjoying the game but in my opinion the potential to make this game epic was missed, although all the elements were there, including the talents, to make it happen.

- No text -

Maybe one day, we'll get LEGO Sparrows, Interceptors, and Goliath Tanks?

Yawn, called this way back at release. Fact is some people just don't care that they're being manipulated. There's a lot more I could say on the subject but I'm not going to. Have to follow your own compass on whether this is ok I suppose, but its not for me.