Whoa, wait a sec

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Monday, July 08, 2013, 12:06 (4199 days ago) @ ZackDark

So, at least in Joe's head, it will be possible to purposely find and join friends already playing.

Yeah, that's pretty clearly shown in the gameplay demos. The second person joins long before a public area is reached, so it seems likely that they specifically looked for and joined the main on-stage player. We may not have actually seen the UI (or whatever process) of them doing so, but it happened. Bungie's focused on the public spaces because they believe it's a large part of what makes the Destiny experience unique, but I doubt that means it's the only way to encounter other players.