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Where did the assumption of Destiny 2 2016 originate? (Destiny)

by Schedonnardus, Texas, Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:37 (3323 days ago)

There's been a lot of salt recently on reddit and other forums to the tune of "looks like Destiny 2 isn't happening this year." This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks. Before then, i had never seen any assumptions that it would happen.

When is the last time that bungie announced a new title (not expansion) in the same calendar year as release? I didn't follow Bungie during their Mac days, so I don't know. They definitely haven't done that with console releases.

Halo 1 - 1999, released 2001
Halo 2 - 2002, 2004
Halo 3 - 2006, 2007
ODST - 2008, 2009
Reach - 2009, 2010
Destiny- 2013, 2014

Unless they change their MO, I had personally assumed that a Destiny 2 announcement would come this year, with a 2017 release date. If Destiny is supposed to support a 10-year cycle, i would assume that major releases would be more than 2 years apart, otherwise we'd be looking at "Destiny 5" in ten years.

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Think it began from this image

by unoudid @, Somewhere over the rainbow, Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:42 (3323 days ago) @ Schedonnardus

[image]

Where did the assumption of Destiny 2 2016 originate?

by electricpirate @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:44 (3323 days ago) @ Schedonnardus

There's been a lot of salt recently on reddit and other forums to the tune of "looks like Destiny 2 isn't happening this year." This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks. Before then, i had never seen any assumptions that it would happen.

When is the last time that bungie announced a new title (not expansion) in the same calendar year as release? I didn't follow Bungie during their Mac days, so I don't know. They definitely haven't done that with console releases.

Halo 1 - 1999, released 2001
Halo 2 - 2002, 2004
Halo 3 - 2006, 2007
ODST - 2008, 2009
Reach - 2009, 2010
Destiny- 2013, 2014

Unless they change their MO, I had personally assumed that a Destiny 2 announcement would come this year, with a 2017 release date. If Destiny is supposed to support a 10-year cycle, i would assume that major releases would be more than 2 years apart, otherwise we'd be looking at "Destiny 5" in ten years.

It came from 2 places.

1. the original contract that came out as part of the infinityward lawsuit. That contract specified alternating year full title releases/ large expansion packs (like TTK).

2. A leaked "Roadmap" image about how Year one would have 2x small DLCs and one large expansion, and year 2 would have 2x small dlcs and a new release.

Obviously, all of these have seen major changes, so at this point no one knows.

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Where did the assumption of Destiny 2 2016 originate?

by Schedonnardus, Texas, Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:49 (3323 days ago) @ electricpirate

i had forgotten about the leaked image, and haven't really paid attention to what all had come true/not come true, and i guess i didn't pay enough attention to the contract. Having a major release every other year sounds like a huge undertaking.

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^This

by CyberKN ⌂ @, Oh no, Destiny 2 is bad, Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:50 (3323 days ago) @ electricpirate

The contract has clearly been modified since, as it specifies a 2013 Destiny launch. It'll be interesting to see if the yearly release clause was also modified.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by dogcow @, Hiding from Bob, in the vent core., Friday, January 22, 2016, 14:54 (3323 days ago) @ Schedonnardus

I don't know how people can think there's going to be a major rewrite named 2.0 when the current version # is already past 2.0. Are we on 2.1 yet? I don't remember the exact version #, but I know it went to 2.0 with TTK.

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Where did the assumption of Destiny 2 2016 originate?

by Kahzgul, Friday, January 22, 2016, 15:07 (3323 days ago) @ Schedonnardus

i had forgotten about the leaked image, and haven't really paid attention to what all had come true/not come true, and i guess i didn't pay enough attention to the contract. Having a major release every other year sounds like a huge undertaking.

It is, but it's also the Activision standard for FPS games. CoD games alternate studios each year, so they assume every company can work at the same development speed.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Friday, January 22, 2016, 15:13 (3323 days ago) @ dogcow

Right, but I don't think you can necessarily equate a 2.0 version number with a sequel. Destiny version 2.1 or whatever is the 2.1 version of that specific codebase. It represents certain updates and revisions, to the first release of Destiny. If the sequel we'll refer to for now as "Destiny 2" comes out and is an actual new game with new code, the version of "Destiny 2" that ships on release day should be version 1.0*, of that particular software.

*Snarky comment: It'll actually be version 1.1 because day one patch. :P

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Friday, January 22, 2016, 15:20 (3323 days ago) @ stabbim

I don't actually think we'll get a "Destiny 2" per se. I think Bungie will just keep releasing improvements to the game the way they have been. One of the things that I think Bungie has been targeting with Destiny is a way to do more incremental releases. I think TTK is much more like how Bungie will upgrade Destiny in the future. Sure, they shipped a disc with TTK, but the disc is just a Destiny disc. All of the rest of TTK was actually just patch downloads.

Or take Sparrow racing as an example. Bungie simply added a completely new gametype with new rules (boosting gates, wins based on finish time, etc). In the past they would have needed an entirely new game, but with Destiny it was just a patch download over the internet. The graphics in Destiny don't really need updating, the engine does a really good job of delivering graphics that match the art style they have been going with. Even if they do decide to upgrade the graphics engine, they won't be creating an entirely new engine. Instead, they'll just release a patch and boom, upgraded graphics.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by Xenos @, Shores of Time, Friday, January 22, 2016, 15:35 (3323 days ago) @ stabbim

*Snarky comment: It'll actually be version 1.0.1 because day one patch. :P

Fixed that for you :)

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Friday, January 22, 2016, 16:39 (3323 days ago) @ Blackt1g3r

Agreed. And I think the way Bungie has talked about TTK in official circles (interviews, on show floors, ect) where they refer to it as "Destiny: The Taken King" as if it is a new product rather than talking about TTK as DLC speaks to the idea that there may never be a Destiny sequel. Look too at the way Destiny's back end has received steady improvement. No one thing is major, but stuff like changing the aiming / shooting system to have make more use of the Range stat so as to give Auto Rifles a place again, or the multiple not-insignificant tweaks to the matchmaking systems and Quest display systems and UI over the last year and a half...

Maybe there will be a sequel and maybe there won't, but one thing is clear: Bungie has not developed Destiny like they did Halo. The amount of new front end content and back end fixes that have come out for Destiny dwarf any Halo release.

"The Great Destiny Malaise"

by Avateur @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 16:50 (3323 days ago) @ Schedonnardus
edited by Avateur, Friday, January 22, 2016, 16:58

This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks.

There's also this that got posted today:

http://kotaku.com/the-great-destiny-malaise-of-2016-1754495561

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Friday, January 22, 2016, 17:37 (3323 days ago) @ Blackt1g3r

Just to be clear, I never meant to imply this was NOT the case. I was just addressing the issue of version numbers.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by MacGyver10 ⌂, Tennessee, Friday, January 22, 2016, 17:51 (3323 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Yeah, kind of interesting though that the current Halo is following this idea of a steady stream of post-launch content. Whether we received 'cut content' in Destiny, or even the current Halo, I do like the idea of these consistent updates for AAA titles like have been happening.

- MacGyver10

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"The Great Destiny Malaise"

by cheapLEY @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:12 (3323 days ago) @ Avateur

This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks.


There's also this that got posted today:

http://kotaku.com/the-great-destiny-malaise-of-2016-1754495561

Care to sum it up? I won't willingly click a kotaku link. The title already makes it seems like the typical Kotaku crap, though.

"The Great Destiny Malaise"

by Claude Errera @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:17 (3323 days ago) @ cheapLEY

This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks.


There's also this that got posted today:

http://kotaku.com/the-great-destiny-malaise-of-2016-1754495561


Care to sum it up? I won't willingly click a kotaku link. The title already makes it seems like the typical Kotaku crap, though.

People feel frustrated with Destiny, but it's less about the lack of content and more about the lack of information about what's on the horizon. (I'm not sure I agree 100% with the first part - I mean, people are ALWAYS frustrated with something, I don't know that it's 'worse' now than it was, say, 2 months ago - but the second part is actually pretty perceptive.)

"The Great Destiny Malaise"

by marmot 1333 @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:39 (3322 days ago) @ Claude Errera

Also it touches on the fact that Bungie is tight lipped about the future, because Bungie doesn't seem to know what the future holds. Additionally they don't want to promise things they won't deliver.

This leads to the frustration about what's on the horizon.

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Thanks.

by cheapLEY @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:44 (3322 days ago) @ Claude Errera

People feel frustrated with Destiny, but it's less about the lack of content and more about the lack of information about what's on the horizon. (I'm not sure I agree 100% with the first part - I mean, people are ALWAYS frustrated with something, I don't know that it's 'worse' now than it was, say, 2 months ago - but the second part is actually pretty perceptive.)

I can't disagree with any of that. I do think that has been, and still is, one of Destiny's largest problems.

We're all still over here debating whether we're getting Destiny 2 or whether we already got it with The Taken King. That's nothing but terrible communication, and that frustrates me more than just about anything else about Destiny. What purpose is served by them hiding simple things like that from us?

I usually go to bat for Bungie and assume they are at least trying to do the right thing, but they seem to have been very coy and downright deceitful over the last year, and that's worrying and upsetting. It definitely doesn't build any goodwill or trust with the community.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by dogcow @, Hiding from Bob, in the vent core., Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:44 (3322 days ago) @ stabbim

Right, but I don't think you can necessarily equate a 2.0 version number with a sequel. Destiny version 2.1 or whatever is the 2.1 version of that specific codebase. It represents certain updates and revisions, to the first release of Destiny. If the sequel we'll refer to for now as "Destiny 2" comes out and is an actual new game with new code, the version of "Destiny 2" that ships on release day should be version 1.0*, of that particular software.

*Snarky comment: It'll actually be version 1.1 because day one patch. :P

Yeah, a version # of 2.0 does not mean Destiny 2. I guess I feel like TTK was such an improvement, and radical change, that it seems like Destiny 2, and the version # goes along with it. Also, nowhere in that image do I actually see a "Destiny 2", just another product box that ... coincides with TTK. I guess that's my point, TTK is that second "Destiny Box" that people were taking to be Destiny 2, it was a big change, and gee, the version # goes along with it.

Anyway, like others have mentioned, I think we've seen what we'll see for the next 10 years, the main destiny with various updates and expansions, some big, some smaller.

Thanks.

by marmot 1333 @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:50 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

We're all still over here debating whether we're getting Destiny 2 or whether we already got it with The Taken King. That's nothing but terrible communication.

Eh, I understand where you're coming from but I disagree on these particulars. There may never be a "Destiny 2." There is no tangible benefit to Bungie by making a statement either way on the matter. They released Destiny: The Taken King and that's what we got.

My opinion at this point is that we will see more named expansions and no numbered sequels.

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Thanks.

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:51 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

We're all still over here debating whether we're getting Destiny 2 or whether we already got it with The Taken King. That's nothing but terrible communication, and that frustrates me more than just about anything else about Destiny. What purpose is served by them hiding simple things like that from us?

To be fair, Bungie never said there would be a "Destiny 2" so why would they think it would be necessary to communicate that? Did Blizzard even say there wouldn't be a WoW 2?

I usually go to bat for Bungie and assume they are at least trying to do the right thing, but they seem to have been very coy and downright deceitful over the last year, and that's worrying and upsetting. It definitely doesn't build any goodwill or trust with the community.

Bungie has always been coy and secretive. It seems like the few times where they told us incorrect information were all instances of someone not knowing about something which is exactly what the Kotaku article said. They claim that some Bungie employees don't know about all of the important decisions which isn't really that surprising since Bungie is a very large company these days.

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Hope for a better game.

by ProbablyLast, Friday, January 22, 2016, 18:55 (3322 days ago) @ Schedonnardus

Not that Destiny isn't fantastic, of course.

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Thanks.

by dogcow @, Hiding from Bob, in the vent core., Friday, January 22, 2016, 19:03 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

We're all still over here debating whether we're getting Destiny 2 or whether we already got it with The Taken King. That's nothing but terrible communication, and that frustrates me more than just about anything else about Destiny. What purpose is served by them hiding simple things like that from us?

The term "Destiny 2" was invented by the community, and the community has its own pie-in-the-sky opinion of what Destiny 2 will be. Thing is, AFAIK, Bungie has never said there will be a Destiny 2 (please correct me if I'm wrong). This has put Bungie in a no-win situation when it comes to talking about Destiny 2. If Bungie says, "there is no such thing as Destiny 2" the community will rage, if Bungie says, "TTK was Destiny 2" then the community will rage that it wasn't enough to deserve the label Destiny 2. So what do they do? Cue the dating analogy: Like a 'nice' girl who doesn't want to hurt your feelings they're avoiding confrontation and are dropping hints instead, hoping that the community will clue in. One hint was when they gave TTK a version # of 2.0. Personally, I prefer a girl just be blunt and straight up reject me instead of hinting around and dragging it out when I'm too dense to clue in.

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Thanks.

by Kahzgul, Friday, January 22, 2016, 19:16 (3322 days ago) @ dogcow

I feel like somewhere I read that "the next Destiny" would be a stand alone, next-gen only game that would import your characters from Destiny 1, but would not be an "add-on" in terms of content and your characters would not be able to "go back in time" to play Destiny 1 with new weapons or armor etc.. Kind of like importing your character from Mass Effect into Mass Effect 2. But even that didn't exclude the possibility of future expansions to the current Destiny.

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TTK was destiny 2. Settled for me for some time now.

by slycrel ⌂, Friday, January 22, 2016, 19:55 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

- No text -

Thanks.

by Avateur @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 22:10 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

The article also mentions unnamed people who either work at Bungie or are familiar with Bungie things claiming that as of this very week (or last week), "Destiny 2" was delayed and that some of the employees at Bungie didn't even know about it yet until Kotaku asked them. They also point out the whole "skill matchmaking thing" that was denied in December happened without Derek Carroll's knowledge from Derek's own Twitter feed. I took the article to imply that Bungie's left hand has no idea what its right hand is doing, where the game(s) is going, or anything else at this point. Assuming everything in the article is correct, that sucks (especially concerning a potential Destiny 2 that maybe was gonna launch this year, but not anymore). Assuming a lot of it should be taken with a grain of salt (always a good idea since Kotaku), I guess maybe there's still sorta hope for the future (this year's future, that is)?

TTK was an actual expansion

by Avateur @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 22:14 (3322 days ago) @ slycrel

The only thing I know with 100% certainty regarding this game is that TTK was totally not a game of its own. It's an expansion, pure and true, and a damn excellent one at that. If Bungie doesn't want to go the "Destiny 2" route and instead unload huge gigantic expansions on the base game, I'm all for it (especially if they manage one a year, with their "events" and maybe a few scattered DLC drops sprinkled throughout).

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Thanks.

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Friday, January 22, 2016, 22:23 (3322 days ago) @ Kahzgul

Yeah. And maybe the Mass Effect plan would work but nothing official has even hinted at that. The thing I'd point to are the weekly updates near the end of the Destiny beta where Bungie was talking about never having to lose or reset your character again. Even in Mass Effect you sorta changed characters since each game changed the combat systems so much.

With no real proof for it, I just can't see Destiny doing that, ya know? Like Mass Effect 1 was ground breaking in a lot of ways, but its actual gameplay is "unsmooth" at best... Where as Destiny's moment to moment gameplay was pretty darn excellent right out of the gate.

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Agreed.

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Friday, January 22, 2016, 22:24 (3322 days ago) @ Avateur

Give me a TTK every year and perhaps a bit more of a roadmap looking to the future and I'd be pleased as punch.

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Thanks.

by cheapLEY @, Friday, January 22, 2016, 22:45 (3322 days ago) @ Avateur

They also point out the whole "skill matchmaking thing" that was denied in December happened without Derek Carroll's knowledge from Derek's own Twitter feed. I took the article to imply that Bungie's left hand has no idea what its right hand is doing, where the game(s) is going, or anything else at this point.

That's was part of what I was getting at when I said Bungie is either being coy or downright deceitful. Either that's a lie, or Bungie as a company is so utterly messed up that it's almost hilarious that they can accomplish anything, much less launch and support such a great game. It's not the first time Bungie's explanations and communication have been suspect.

And don't get me wrong, I don't think Bungie actually owes us an explanation about anything. It's their game, they can do whatever they want to it and with it. I don't particularly care how they do their matchmaking as long as it works. I do care what the plans for the future are, just as a fan and wanting to know at least some sort of what we can expect, but I understand that they are absolutely under no obligation to tell us.

I was trying to form an argument that it's important that we know whether we're getting a full blown Destiny 2, or just 9 more years of TTK style expansions, but I don't actually think it's all that important. It just feels odd that they don't just come out and say it. I get that saying something publicly, and then doing something different because plans change can get the internet fired up like just about nothing else can, so I sort of get why they don't just tells us what is going on, but it's still really frustrating.

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Thanks.

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Friday, January 22, 2016, 23:10 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Right. For instance, I knew before buying Mass Effect that is was meant to be part of a trilogy. That was the stated goal. All we know of Destiny's gameplay is Bungie's initial comments about it being a 10 year thing. But a game that last 10 years? A series? An expansive universe of games and books and animes? It would be nice if they'd tell us their intentions. And if it has to change, change then explain why... We'll forgive them!

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Hope for... the future?

by Beorn @, <End of Failed Timeline>, Friday, January 22, 2016, 23:21 (3322 days ago) @ ProbablyLast

You're welcome.

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Thanks.

by Kahzgul, Friday, January 22, 2016, 23:27 (3322 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Yeah. And maybe the Mass Effect plan would work but nothing official has even hinted at that. The thing I'd point to are the weekly updates near the end of the Destiny beta where Bungie was talking about never having to lose or reset your character again. Even in Mass Effect you sorta changed characters since each game changed the combat systems so much.

With no real proof for it, I just can't see Destiny doing that, ya know? Like Mass Effect 1 was ground breaking in a lot of ways, but its actual gameplay is "unsmooth" at best... Where as Destiny's moment to moment gameplay was pretty darn excellent right out of the gate.

Yeah, going back to ME1 is *rough*.

That being said, Destiny's gameplay was amazing out of the gate, but then in mission two I had to go through that same gate backwards. And so forth. I'm being overly negative here on purpose, because the actual movement and gunplay is awesome, but the enemy AI, the lack of a sense of a living world or any player impact on it, and the incredibly repetitive early missions all detracted quite a bit. The early reviews of 6's and 7's were pretty spot on.

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#tosoon

by breitzen @, Kansas, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 01:34 (3322 days ago) @ Beorn

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#+1

by red robber @, Crawfish Country, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 02:18 (3322 days ago) @ breitzen

- No text -

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#itwillalwaysbetoosoon

by Beorn @, <End of Failed Timeline>, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 02:42 (3322 days ago) @ red robber

- No text -

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+1

by breitzen @, Kansas, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 03:18 (3322 days ago) @ Beorn

- No text -

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by narcogen ⌂ @, Andover, Massachusetts, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 04:44 (3322 days ago) @ stabbim

Right, but I don't think you can necessarily equate a 2.0 version number with a sequel. Destiny version 2.1 or whatever is the 2.1 version of that specific codebase. It represents certain updates and revisions, to the first release of Destiny. If the sequel we'll refer to for now as "Destiny 2" comes out and is an actual new game with new code, the version of "Destiny 2" that ships on release day should be version 1.0*, of that particular software.

Why would they ever do that at this point.

Do you want a new game that starts over from scratch the way vanilla Destiny game would? Or would you want to keep access to all current content, but continue to get new stuff?

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Agreed.

by slycrel ⌂, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 04:51 (3322 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Have a look at undouid's image he posted. Comet was TTK. It's the big thing for Y2. You can call it an expansion if you want (they even did for marketing)... But they sold it as a separate game.

WoW never got a WoW 2. And look at how long it's been running. I'm not convinced we will see a destiny 2. The only reason I can think that they would do that is if they revamped the engine so drastically that it was a clean break between the current game and the new one. Probably when they support a new generation of consoles.

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In the contract. Here's some other stuff.

by narcogen ⌂ @, Andover, Massachusetts, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 05:16 (3322 days ago) @ electricpirate

There's been a lot of salt recently on reddit and other forums to the tune of "looks like Destiny 2 isn't happening this year." This sentiment (that it's not happening) seemed to just morph out of thin air these past couple of weeks. Before then, i had never seen any assumptions that it would happen.

When is the last time that bungie announced a new title (not expansion) in the same calendar year as release? I didn't follow Bungie during their Mac days, so I don't know. They definitely haven't done that with console releases.

Halo 1 - 1999, released 2001
Halo 2 - 2002, 2004
Halo 3 - 2006, 2007
ODST - 2008, 2009
Reach - 2009, 2010
Destiny- 2013, 2014

Unless they change their MO, I had personally assumed that a Destiny 2 announcement would come this year, with a 2017 release date. If Destiny is supposed to support a 10-year cycle, i would assume that major releases would be more than 2 years apart, otherwise we'd be looking at "Destiny 5" in ten years.


It came from 2 places.

1. the original contract that came out as part of the infinityward lawsuit. That contract specified alternating year full title releases/ large expansion packs (like TTK).

My copy of the contract specifies the "tentative" schedule in an appendix, but I don't have it, and neither do the other "leaked" sources I've seen. It mentions "Destiny Game #2" and "Destiny Game #3" and even "Destiny Game #4" as well as "Comet #2" and "Comet #3" and "Comet #4" but as hypotheticals, as indicated by the phrase "as applicable" when referring to them. Beyond the games specified in the contract, Activision has right of first negotiation on further titles.

The document describes the full releases as games, the major expansions as Comets, and smaller "DLC releases" as well as Conversions (presumably, anything for platforms other than PS3/4 and Xbox 360/Xbox One, referred to in this document as Xbox 720-- in other words, Windows PCs.

The initial tentative schedule was like this:

Destiny 1 Fall 2013
Destiny 2 Fall 2015
Destiny 3 Fall 2017
Destiny 4 Fall 2019

Since Destiny slipped a year, it would look like this:

Destiny 1 Fall 2014
Destiny 2 Fall 2016
Destiny 3 Fall 2018
Destiny 4 Fall 2020

So that's where people are getting their Fall 2016 expectation from.

The Comet releases were scheduled for the in-between years:

Comet 1 Fall 2014
Comet 2 Fall 2016
Comet 3 Fall 2018
Comet 4 Fall 2020

Again, to compensate for the one-year slip, we'd get:

Comet 1 Fall 2015
Comet 2 Fall 2017
Comet 3 Fall 2019
Comet 4 Fall 2021

So far that makes sense if The Taken King is Comet 1, which is pretty much what everybody considers it to be. That would make Dark Below and House of Wolves the other two DLC releases, with two more of those expected to come before Destiny 2.

However, this contract was old even when it was leaked, and it's possible that this was revised even before Destiny 1's release slipped a year, and was altered further when DLC plans changed.

There's also some weird stuff where at the top of the page it says Destiny 1 should be out Fall 2013, but then specifies that the PS3 version of Destiny 1 was expected out in Fall 2014. So perhaps the slip was already anticipated in this draft, but was only to affect Sony platform(s), or else parts of the contract were revised to reflect the new schedule, but others were not.


There is some other choice stuff in there, too, though. Like this:

Activision and Licensor shall mutually agree upon a budget to support the continuing operation of the
Products for a period of three (3) years following the commercial release of Comet #4 ("Support Term").

So there you have it. According to this, Activision is obligated to fund Bungie's continued operation of Destiny until Fall 2024.

Think my Xbox will last that long?

Also, Bungie has to finish the 2nd full Destiny title and make $375M in revenue before they can work on Marathon. So Tess Everis is actually running the Marathon kickstarter.

Final note, with relevance to the later dispute between Martin O'Donnell, Bungie, and Activision: Under Section 7.1 paragraph xii, Bungie was obligated to:

delivering Product art and style bible (and appropriate updates thereto) (which such style bible
shall be subject to the approval of Activision, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld) and
other w i se providing Activision staff (and/or its designated agencies) with reasonable and regular
access to and review of subject matter experts, game assets and other related materials such that
Activsion is sufficiently able to create and generate customary (i.e., consistent with other AAA
interactive software entertainment products published by Activision) events, marketing, advertising,
promotional and packaging materials for the Products;

The indication here is that control of "events, marketing, advertising, promotional and packaging materials for the Products" rested with Activision, with Bungie obligated to provide raw materials. Nothing in it grants Bungie creative control of advertising and promotional materials.

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TTK was Comet #1.

by narcogen ⌂ @, Andover, Massachusetts, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 05:20 (3322 days ago) @ Avateur

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Not odd at all. Revised schedule speculation.

by narcogen ⌂ @, Andover, Massachusetts, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 05:32 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I was trying to form an argument that it's important that we know whether we're getting a full blown Destiny 2, or just 9 more years of TTK style expansions, but I don't actually think it's all that important. It just feels odd that they don't just come out and say it. I get that saying something publicly, and then doing something different because plans change can get the internet fired up like just about nothing else can, so I sort of get why they don't just tells us what is going on, but it's still really frustrating.

It is EXACTLY because of stuff like this that they don't. They're having their feet held to the fire for failing to meet the tentative release schedule in an old contract leaked by legal action.

If they aren't saying now how many more DLCs there are, or when the next title launches, or whether the whole thing is going to be done differently from now on, it's because they don't exactly know the precise answers to what and how and when. When they do, with probably more than a reasonable degree of confidence, I expect they'll do so, but if they come out now with parameters and release dates and then fail to hit them, it's just inviting the press, Reddit and others to pile on.

Most people were expecting a new game this fall. I think they'd expect some sort of announcement or confirmation before that.

Destiny was announced in February 2013 for an initial expected release for the end of that year-- a release they did not make.

So if Destiny 2 was on the current schedule, but slipped a year, and Bungie was as confident now as they were then, then they might announce Destiny 2 next month. Of course, Destiny 1 did NOT ship that year, it shipped a year later. Which may just mean they were a year behind where they thought they were, which puts the schedule back a year, or that every phase in the schedule underestimated the time required by a year.

That would make the revised schedule look like:

Destiny 1 Fall 2014
Destiny 2 Fall 2017
Destiny 3 Fall 2020
Destiny 4 Fall 2023

So that's where people are getting their Fall 2016 expectation from.

The Comet releases were scheduled for the in-between years:

Comet 1 Fall 2014
Comet 2 Fall 2016
Comet 3 Fall 2018
Comet 4 Fall 2020

Again, to compensate for one more year development time for each main title, it would be:

Comet 1 Fall 2015
Comet 2 Fall 2018
Comet 3 Fall 2021
Comet 4 Fall 2024

In this case, we might not expect any news about Destiny 2 until next year, but realistically, since people are expecting it out this year, they'll probably have at most until late summer to say whether or not something is coming out this year before the whining becomes deafening.

I sort of like the idea of the tight initial schedule that provides a constant stream of new content, such that when you're done with one, the next one is already up. The gap between House of Wolves and Taken King felt like that to me. It's okay to take a break and play something else for awhile, though.

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In the contract. Here's some other stuff.

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 06:37 (3322 days ago) @ narcogen

The initial tentative schedule was like this:

Destiny 1 Fall 2013
Destiny 2 Fall 2015
Destiny 3 Fall 2017
Destiny 4 Fall 2019

Since Destiny slipped a year, it would look like this:

Destiny 1 Fall 2014
Destiny 2 Fall 2016
Destiny 3 Fall 2018
Destiny 4 Fall 2020

So that's where people are getting their Fall 2016 expectation from.

Yup, and of course "Destiny 2" could slip as well. Probably that will happen less and less as Bungie gets better at planning Destiny development, but it's still possible. Also, Bungie decided to do away (or delay, I guess we don't really know) the DLC (and presumably Comet) for year two in favor of these smaller/more frequent "events," so the whole schedule is a big question mark at this point.

Nothing in it grants Bungie creative control of advertising and promotional materials.

Well, that explains a few things.

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We already HAVE Destiny v2.0.x

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 06:39 (3322 days ago) @ narcogen

See my other replies. That post was not meant to suggest what I actually think their plan is. I was merely illustrating that "Destiny 2" doesn't necessarily require a 2.0 version number.

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Thanks.

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 16:03 (3322 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I was trying to form an argument that it's important that we know whether we're getting a full blown Destiny 2, or just 9 more years of TTK style expansions, but I don't actually think it's all that important. It just feels odd that they don't just come out and say it. I get that saying something publicly, and then doing something different because plans change can get the internet fired up like just about nothing else can, so I sort of get why they don't just tells us what is going on, but it's still really frustrating.

The article makes the point that Bungie themselves (as a collective) might not know what is happening. Some sources are saying Destiny 2 has been pushed back to 2017, other sources have not heard anything like this. We can't possibly hope for clear communication if the studio as a whole doesn't fully know what is going on.

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Thanks.

by Xenos @, Shores of Time, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 16:41 (3322 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

To be fair, 'sources' at Bungie don't know the plan. That doesn't mean there isn't one. For all we know their 'sources' are in the QA department. They even point out that some of their sources hadn't heard about the supposed delay.

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Thanks.

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Sunday, January 24, 2016, 00:43 (3321 days ago) @ Xenos

To be fair, 'sources' at Bungie don't know the plan. That doesn't mean there isn't one. For all we know their 'sources' are in the QA department. They even point out that some of their sources hadn't heard about the supposed delay.

That's pretty much my point. I've never worked in a large studio environment like Bungie, so I don't know what level of company-wide communication is "normal". Kotaku is making it sound like the future of Destiny is in a state of flux at the moment. If the team within Bungie is not all informed of the current plan, there's no way Bungie will be announcing anything quite yet.

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Big companies are not known for transparent communication

by Mid7night ⌂ @, Rocket BSCHSHCSHSHCCHGGH!!!!!!, Monday, January 25, 2016, 02:12 (3320 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

To be fair, 'sources' at Bungie don't know the plan. That doesn't mean there isn't one. For all we know their 'sources' are in the QA department. They even point out that some of their sources hadn't heard about the supposed delay.


That's pretty much my point. I've never worked in a large studio environment like Bungie, so I don't know what level of company-wide communication is "normal". Kotaku is making it sound like the future of Destiny is in a state of flux at the moment. If the team within Bungie is not all informed of the current plan, there's no way Bungie will be announcing anything quite yet.

I work in company several orders of magnitude larger than Bungie, but once you get past a certain threshold very similar things happen, for one; company-wide communication is EXTREMELY difficult. In some cases it just plain sucks. It doesn't surprise me AT ALL that certain corners of Bungie had zero clue about goings-on in another, relatively unrelated, corner. Case in my point; sometimes I hear news about my company from friends who watch the news before I hear about it from my upper management. :-/

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great post narc, thanks!

by Schedonnardus, Texas, Monday, January 25, 2016, 14:19 (3320 days ago) @ narcogen

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