Twice - to pick up bounties and check vendors, then to drop off bounties.

I went there pretty often. It was fun interacting with all of the things in the tower. Hitting the button on the balcony to activate the fan on top of the building, causing people to freak out was really fun.

Playing impromptu games of soccer was also a lot of fun.

I also spent a lot of time getting out of the map. Just like the Halo 2 days, I LOVED getting out of the maps.

I also went there to reveal my encrypted engrams, to select and cash in bounties, to buy things from various vendors, and to get my daily reward for completing a gold tier event. I spent tons of time in the tower.

Did anyone meet up there before going off doing other stuff together? How does that work?

Yes. Quite a few times. It was a useful meeting place when we all had some prep to do before rolling into Russia, be it grabbing ammo packs, checking the inventory, turning in a quest, or collecting a bounty.

Unfortunately the Tower has like, a 16 player cap. If it's already at capacity, the game tells the people you've invited your Fireteam is full. In instances like that, we had to meet up in Orbit before heading back to the Tower.

It isn't a perfect system, and I totally feel a lot of the complaints (I share more than a few), but I like it.

And the bottom line for me is that encrypted stuff is a PITA. If encryption was removed from the game I would be a happier camper.

I'm not sure I'm opposed to it as a mechanic, but I don't exactly like it either. Perhaps if it wasn't telling me type of thing the encrypted item was upfront? Right now it tells you it's an encrypted special weapon, or a helmet, or gauntlets, or a class item. If encrypted items were more rare, and the game didn't announce what you should expect when you picked it up, I'd probably like it a bit more.

Once I hit 8 though, encrypted items definitely became more of an irritation. It was either going to be something common and under powered I'd never use, something I already had, or something I couldn't use because of the cap. 9 times out of 10, I was decrypting items to immediately turn around and turn them into Glimmer.

On that note... Guns and armor are pretty expensive, why am I only getting 5-10 Glimmer out of them when I tear them apart? I wouldn't say that was something that bothered me, it was just... weird.

• I played footy for a few minutes.
  
• I jumped onto the roof of the kiosk with a friend.
  
• I did some dancing

I never bothered showing off my gear; is that even a thing?

I'd rather do all my shopping online. (Via web browser or tablet app)

What does that leave for the tower?

Social hub? Wat? We can't even talk to other players. I suppose that Bungie could add some lounges where proximity chat is enabled.

Did anyone meet up there before going off doing other stuff together? How does that work?

And the bottom line for me is that encrypted stuff is a PITA. If encryption was removed from the game I would be a happier camper.

I ended up going to the Tower usually at the beginning and end of every session. If there were no encryptions, I might have put it off once or twice is all. Just like any RPG, or Skyrim for a recent example, once I gain enough money or marks, I'd head back to a town (in Destiny it's simply the Tower). I'll explore a bit (like find a soccer ball or a bouncy ball, or perhaps a nice viewing spot in the tree), buy new equipment, and sometimes just take in the view, relax, and plan my next expedition.

It's a good place to meet friends before battle as well, since you can see what they're looking like at the moment. Furthermore, you can plan your destination while you kick a ball around or goof off, too, which I find much more enjoyable then sitting in a static lobby trying to figure everything out for an extended time.

I don't quite understand the special need for encryption - but it doesn't bother me that it exists, but with the same token, I wouldn't be sad if it went away. Since I still go to the Tower a lot, like I said, it isn't a hassle.

What I would like to see is encryptions become multi-part or somehow challenging. It it took multiple encryptions to build an item, maybe the Cryptarch could give you clues as to where the next piece is located. Or maybe you could decode encryptions yourself as some sort of puzzle mini-game, and if you weren't interested or couldn't figure it out, THEN you'd see the Cryptarch and pay to bypass the mini-game. Or.. some other... better idea.

I would go when it's idle time. I found that when a group of us were together but one of us maybe needed to do something or we wanted a break, we'd all go to the Tower to do random things and mess around since, you know, only three of us at a time can go down to Earth. So yeah. The Tower is mostly just a way to waste time, and in my opinion is a waste of time.

[snip]

I never bothered showing off my gear; is that even a thing?

Not yet, I don't think. In the normal view I can't even really distinguish good gear from bad. Perhaps over a longer period of time this will become more apparent.

I'd rather do all my shopping online. (Via web browser or tablet app)

What does that leave for the tower?

Social hub? Wat? We can't even talk to other players. I suppose that Bungie could add some lounges where proximity chat is enabled.

I expect there may be more options in that area, yes. Perhaps chat would be enabled on a clan-wide or faction-wide basis, or something similar-- at the very least, since fireteams are only 3, presumably there could be an option for friends-only proximity chat.

Did anyone meet up there before going off doing other stuff together? How does that work?

I didn't. In fact, it was much easier to meet up in orbit. When the game was busy, people would have trouble joining a fireteam from outside the City if the leader was in the city and the city was full.

And the bottom line for me is that encrypted stuff is a PITA. If encryption was removed from the game I would be a happier camper.

For me it wasn't that much of a PITA. In fact, it provided the necessary justification for short breaks between missions, strikes, and explore sessions.

I spent literal hours in the Tower at one point, switching between characters and organising my vault so I had a nice range of weapon options for PvP. Then I only used 2 guns the entire time I spent in the crucible. Oops.

I realise thats not for everyone though.

I sat on crates, I sat on floors, I sat on struts, I sat on spikes, I sat on tents.

I sat so many places.

I like that the tower gives you a visual representation of everything in its place - the postmaster, the cryptarch, the vanguards, the factions, the outfitter, the speaker, etc. Plus it's a nice place to see other guardians. Tower visits give a sense of narrative continuity. It helps me feel like my guardian and their missions don't exist in a vacuum. The cryptarch and everything else existing in the tower and gaining levels isn't a strictly necessary aspect of the game, but then neither is face customization. I suppose it would be nice if they gave you the option of just buying stuff from a menu, if you didn't feel like loading the tower. To me, the tower is a welcome part of my Destiny experience. The whole idea behind Destiny is that you're a guardian of the last safe city of humanity, so it would be kind of weird if that city wasn't actually a part of the game.