Isn't this pretty much normal for a new Bungie release?

I think this is normal for games in general.

But Bungie's Halo sequels weren't brand new IPs. For the most part we knew what we were getting: more Halo. No one knows a thing about Destiny.

For my part, I didn't find the reveal underwhelming at all. It got me pretty excited. However, I can see the point kapowaz was trying to make. They didn't really tell us much, and that's forcing people to speculate. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but eventually people are going to assume they know what Destiny is going to be, and if it turns out Destiny isn't what they thought, there's probably going to be some disappointment.

Personally, I don't really see it as a problem. There's still plenty of time for Bungie to reveal more about the game. Anyone that takes speculation as the truth at this point is just setting themselves up for disappointment. Folks just need to keep in mind that we really don't know a whole lot yet. Be excited, be optimistic, but don't form any real expectations so soon.

Isn't this pretty much normal for a new Bungie release? If anything they probably told us more about Destiny on the first day of the reveal than they told us about Halo's 2 - Reach.

Bungie announcements are normally pretty barren, but I think Destiny's reveal was waaaayy too hyped up. If they didn't have the 7-day ARG and the press event leading up to the announcement, the reveal would have been great -- just enough to get the speculation going. But nope, they made it seem like there was going to be a 10+ minute ViDoc with gameplay and other things.

Still looking forward to the next Destiny reveal whenever they get around to it.

It's like some people want to have their hand held through some miracle of constant ecstasy from the cradle to the grave. If they are let down for even a moment, it's 'How dare you, sir?' I mean, when one fires up Destiny for the first time, are they going to be thinking, 'If only the reveal was worthy of this certain (I did pay money, after all) masterpiece?'

I'd assume not. That's all very ridiculous.

I couldn't agree more. My brother and I are just ecstatic that Bungie is working on something new and sharing it with us. We recognize that not a lot was shown, but hey, a little is better than nothing. I compare it with the smells of cooking coming from a kitchen before a delicious feast...or maybe I'm just hungry.

And that masterful snippet of music... I darn near started crying.

Here here!

- No text -

So what if people are making wild assertions based on nothing? It's the internet - that's how it works! I guarantee you that by the time the game launches, you'll have enough information to make the decision for yourself whether it's a buy or not. Until then... have fun. Speculate. Peoplewatch. Eat popcorn.

Popcorn? This forum really is better than the old one!

Oh god, I remember those halcyon days of Halo speculation. We all thought it was going to be just crazy weird. It was going to be massive, feature hand based communcations. The worlds would go on for ever

The reality was so different, and still so great.

Is it weird that for Destiny, we've seen far less of the game, but we know far far more than with Halo. The overall feature set seems far more locked in this time around.

Not sure if you were here in the really early days of Halo - but this is how Bungie operates. We knew almost nothing - and in fact, by the time it actually launched, what we DID know in those early days was all wrong.

Not sure why this is doing the game a disservice - it's absolutely the first time they've talked about it, but it won't be the last. Activision's press release made it clear that launch almost certainly won't be this year... so you have plenty of time to get more information and learn new things, and change your perspective.

If you're going with the assertion that first impressions are everything... well, Bungie has ALWAYS disagreed with that. Like it, hate it, that's their opinion, and they're as entitled to it as you are to yours. (Personally, I'd say they've done reasonably well for themselves over the years - enough for me to cut them some slack at this stage.)

Six months ago, people screamed that the leaked contract proved that Destiny would be a subscription-based MMO, and that they were walking away and not coming back. Bungie kept their mouths shut, and let that rumor fester.

It got blown out of the water on Wednesday - and for folks who are actually paying attention, just that little fact should be enough to make them think twice about assumptions and what it means when they're not refuted by the company.

So what if people are making wild assertions based on nothing? It's the internet - that's how it works! I guarantee you that by the time the game launches, you'll have enough information to make the decision for yourself whether it's a buy or not. Until then... have fun. Speculate. Peoplewatch. Eat popcorn.

Enjoy the circus. :)

Yup. This.

I think it's been so long since Bungie had to flog something completely new that they've lost their reputation for being secretive. After all, once Halo 1 was released, the only secrets left to keep were the plot and what new features might get added. Release dates were almost a given, MS held them to such a tight schedule.

Bungie is not at all afraid to let people make fools of themselves saying ridiculous things that don't turn out to be true, or even relevant. In fact, I'd say most of the speculation that's really negative and/or off base seems to be coming from the "it isn't relevant if it isn't on PC" crowd. The vitriol I'm seeing spewed in Jason Jones' direction for stating something that I thought was not only innocuous, but fairly obvious at this point, is truly staggering.

Not sure if you were here in the really early days of Halo - but this is how Bungie operates. We knew almost nothing - and in fact, by the time it actually launched, what we DID know in those early days was all wrong.

I wasn't on HBO back around the time of the Macworld demo, but I do remember it well (and for oddly different reasons: I was always very interested in Apple's keynotes, so it was just weird coincidence that Jason Jones happened to present there). But this is the first time since then that Bungie has done a completely greenfield presentation. Times have certainly changed, and I'm sure Bungie think about how to do a reveal differently, but the Halo reveal gave us several minutes of in-engine footage. A lot changed subsequently, but it's a lot easier to pin down a game when you can see something moving in-engine like that. (Although I'm still sad we never got to get Covenant to surrender by holding a gun to their head).

Not sure why this is doing the game a disservice - it's absolutely the first time they've talked about it, but it won't be the last.

Bungie's reveal doesn't exist in a vacuum. As you mention, the previous leaks led people to draw some conclusions about the nature of the game which have now apparently turned out to be false, and yet … they're still not clarifying certain points related to the gameplay mechanics. Lots of the press coverage makes unsubtle reference to the fact journalists asked for clarification there, but Bungie wouldn't comment. I find it odd that press would be invited to an event and then when they ask questions most of them Bungie aren't prepared to be drawn on (in fact, my experience of the tech industry is that this usually happens only when a company starts to court the press before they're really ready to).

If you're going with the assertion that first impressions are everything... well, Bungie has ALWAYS disagreed with that.

I'm not sure where you got that from. My own opinions and impressions were absent from the original post above. I'm curious but I also feel I don't know enough to conclude anything, yet. Knowing nearly nothing about gameplay mechanics for a game tends to inhibit that.

Six months ago, people screamed that the leaked contract proved that Destiny would be a subscription-based MMO, and that they were walking away and not coming back. Bungie kept their mouths shut, and let that rumor fester. It got blown out of the water on Wednesday - and for folks who are actually paying attention, just that little fact should be enough to make them think twice about assumptions and what it means when they're not refuted by the company.

I would comprehensively disagree that they blew it out of the water; they said ‘It's not an MMO’, and yet almost every article written about it centred on the word. In fact if you read Eurogamer's preview you'd be forgiven for thinking they had said the game was an MMO. And this is from people who were at the press event! This is probably my central issue with how they've approached the reveal: this very important distinction about how the game works is still a source of contention and speculation, and Bungie have done very little (besides the refutation) to guide people in the direction of what it actually is. The impression I've formed is of an action game with MMO-like gameplay, but rather than large realm-based populations it uses matchmaking and (say, Xbox Live) friends-based party to populate the gameworld. But maybe that's wrong, too? I've more questions than answers at this point.