Destiny: The Jillybean Verdict

Before we start, a disclaimer.

Destiny is not a bad game. Bungie are not bad people. If you enjoyed Destiny, that does not make you inherently bad or in some way a loser.

But you are wrong.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Mostly

Less Than The Sum of Its Parts
Cody said the Destiny was less than the sum of its parts, and I almost agree. You know what game I was reminded of the most when playing Destiny? It wasn't Halo, or even Mass Effect, it was Remember Me. Nothing to do with the promising (but ultimately frustrating and repetitive) gameplay, nothing to do with the weak, confusing storyline - all to do with the fact I was really excited for both. The new IP, something different, and both disappointed me. Because that's the thing - I'm disappointed by Destiny.

The Beautiful Game
Let's start with the positives - the game is gorgeous. Unbelievably beautiful in places. Dem skyboxes, dat score, they compliment each other so well. There are moments in Destiny that evoke a resounding 'rule of cool'. Confronting the Primeval Minds in the Garden - the cocked hip and flowing longcoat on my warlock was just so awesome I had to smile. Destiny does these cool things a lot, and I find myself saying "XBox Record That" almost every cutscene (lucky for my cloud storage they are few and far between).

I really have to highlight the music again because it's so good.

There are also little gameplay elements that I love - I had killed a bunch of Fallen, leaving their Captain, somewhere on the Moon. I stalked behind him, sneaking round corners, shotgun at the ready, while he tried to find me. I loved that organic little moment. Another one, getting too close to a Legionaire while bouncing around the place and I was launched clean across the map by a backhander, but with my glide still activated it was a gentle soar that took me out of harm's way. I felt like a total badass. That stuff is all great, like I say, Destiny is not a bad game.

The Stranger
Unlike most people, it seems, I don't have much problem with Dinklage's voice acting. I think he does the best he can with the downright awful dialogue he's been given.

By encouraging me to use multiple screens while playing, Destiny screws the final nail in its own story's coffin. I've already moaned about the Grimoire, but why should I pay any attention to cringeworthy scripts when I could be watching YouTube channels on the side, or even better, reading a walkthrough so I can grind as much XP from a level as possible - what's that? A YouTube video teaching me how to farm from the Murder Cave? How wonderful. I only need to use one trigger for that, I can even write my students emails while I do so.

This kind of hints at another problem I have with Destiny - I have the wealth and ability to play this game because I'm a young professional - my little sister, still a student, needs to wait until her loan comes through. I don't have enough people to play this game with, even with all of you guys. I'm behind most of you already, and I'm still a liability even at level 20. I'm shit. Grinding will never interest me because it can't help - I just want to look cool and be entertained. Destiny doesn't really do enough of that for me.

If I'd played this five years ago, I would have written so much fic. The world has a lot of promise, but the previously alluded to story issues means it needs a lot of fixing. The thing is, I don't have the time to repair a story any more. Especially not one as broken as Destiny's. My Warlock may be the Queen's warrior concubine, but no one will ever know, and this is ironic in a world meant to be so social.

Ten Years
This is supposed to be a game we'll be playing for ten years. This game makes me feel old. I had to stop a mission (and climb up a ledge to sit out of the way in case anything spawned) to deal with a worried student via email. In theory, in ten years I'll have kids (or at the very least a number of cats). Is Destiny the game I'll be choosing to play in between school runs? I highly doubt it. This may seem like a strangely specific gripe, but it's horribly true. This game is not designed for the casual player, and the casual player gets very little from it. I feel horribly frustrated that I have the ability and lifestyle right now to play awesome games, and then I'm given something where I stand outside a cave and shoot red bars until I can by a badass longcoat.

Just a Game, Standing In Front of a Girl, Asking Her To Love It
How can Destiny win me back?

More story, quickly and cheaply (I am not paying £15 on top of this game for a new skybox, and if that locks me out of playing with my friends, meh). Open up a library in the Tower, like I previously suggested, or just give me some way to care about any single person in there.
Script writing. Dudes, if you need me to, I'll do it.
Give me some way of naming and saving a gun if I've got it the way I want it. A rare Regulator Hand Cannon I'm running with right now is just EPIC and I love it.
Perhaps give me an armory or something in the Tower where I can test my guns out and above all - HAVE SOMEONE EXPLAIN THESE FRICKING NUMBERS TO ME. I finished the game and I still don't know what strength or discipline is (and for fuck's sake no, I will not go and look it up elsewhere on the web. I don't give enough of a shit).
Design your levels so I'm not tempted to climb that dune over there not to immediately die from the soft barrier of doom. Seriously. That is Fable level shit right there.

I've realised in writing my list that I have a lot of suppressed rage about Destiny. That's not fair. Mistakes happen. As I keep repeating - Destiny is not a bad game. In fact I even had fun playing it.

But it's nowhere near my top ten list :(

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More story, quickly and cheaply

Script writing

Design your levels so I'm not tempted to climb that dune over there not to immediately die from the soft barrier of doom.

I totally agree with these points, even though I seriously am loving Destiny.
Also, to this point:

I finished the game and I still don't know what strength or discipline is

If you hover over the icons that show how much of each you have in your gear menu, it explains what they do. Just trying to be helpful. :)

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You know what game I was reminded of the most when playing Destiny? It wasn't Halo, or even Mass Effect, it was Remember Me. Nothing to do with the promising (but ultimately frustrating and repetitive) gameplay, nothing to do with the weak, confusing storyline - all to do with the fact I was really excited for both. The new IP, something different, and both disappointed me. Because that's the thing - I'm disappointed by Destiny.

Ooooh! Destiny and Remember Me actually both had embarrassingly bad dialogue with infamous lines! Remember Me's "basket full of kick ass" is Destiny's "Moon Wizard".

If you are on PS4, I will make sure you get through the raid. At some point. Who knows how far down the line, but it'll happen. Because it's mega fun.

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I don't have much to add, the game itself and how I feel about it are muddy and uncertain.
I agree with pretty much all you had to say, and I try to justify or understand certain aspects [the narrative being an easy problem most agree on] and fail to.

The level 20 / level difference issue is a big one for me personally right now. I work late, have played less than my friends, and they're all a good bit ahead of me. It creates an awkwardness / divide that's frustrating. Especially that what awaits me in terms of catching up is not new content but grinding for engrams, that going by the chatter can be frustrating mixed with rare joy.

Edit: And yet I am still playing and trying to advance. I do enjoy the game & feel that sense of addiction. I just know it could be much better.

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These posts make me so sad. Not because you feel this way, but because of how badly Bungie messed up. They pretty much have just under a month and a half to fix their stuff before CoD and Halo permanently wreck their game population. At this rate Bungie's 10 year plan might end up highly, highly cut short.

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I swore to give Destiny at least a month to gestate - and I still intend to do that - but as of right now, I think I'll be leaving after that month is over.

I'll come back for occasional PvP matches and that's it.

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That's unfortunate. I'm still coming back nearly daily as time permits me, and when time does permit, I'm on Destiny for a long, long time. I get it, though. This game isn't for everyone, and has oh so much wrong with it (much of which I'm unwilling to forgive). I can be patient, though. Plus I need something to play come December when 343 releases their joke Beta game and everyone else goes to that without me. :P

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Plus I need something to play come December when 343 releases their joke Beta game and everyone else goes to that without me. :P

U wot m8?

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That's unfortunate. I'm still coming back nearly daily as time permits me, and when time does permit, I'm on Destiny for a long, long time. I get it, though. This game isn't for everyone, and has oh so much wrong with it (much of which I'm unwilling to forgive). I can be patient, though. Plus I need something to play come December when 343 releases their joke Beta game and everyone else goes to that without me. :P

That when the same 3-4 people here shit-post about Destiny everyday, people call them out on it and ask them to tone it down (and it seems that they do).

But when the people shit-post about 343 on HBO and *I* call them out on it and ask them to tone it down (and you would be one of those people, Av) no one cares.

This is a rhetorical post that needs no reply (just muse on it to yourself)- it's just something that I see that seems silly to me.

DBO version:

"Destiny is a crappy game, way to go Bungie, this game is crap because blah blah blah but I'm gonna keep playing it and posting on these forums because reasons"

or the HBO version:

"Halo 4-5 is a crappy game, way to go 343, this game is crap because blah blah blah but I'm gonna keep playing it and posting on these forums because reasons"

I guess what I'm saying is, for people that aren't happy with game\company 'X' , you don't need to inject that sentiment into 90% of your posts- the regular forum members get it. Stop raining on everyone else's picnic.

I'm done now.

>_>

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Because this is a Bungie fan forum and you're not allowed to bitch about Bungie, but it's totally cool to bitch about other developers because they're not perfect like Bungie.

Oh no, I forgot to take my cynicism medication today...

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Because this is a Bungie fan forum and you're not allowed to bitch about Bungie, but it's totally cool to bitch about other developers because they're not perfect like Bungie.

Oh no, I forgot to take my cynicism medication today...

Oh I know cynicism- I'm one of the most cynical people you'll ever meet!

But even I know when to call it a day, at a certain point, dude. That's all.

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That's unfortunate. I'm still coming back nearly daily as time permits me, and when time does permit, I'm on Destiny for a long, long time. I get it, though. This game isn't for everyone, and has oh so much wrong with it (much of which I'm unwilling to forgive). I can be patient, though. Plus I need something to play come December when 343 releases their joke Beta game and everyone else goes to that without me. :P

That when the same 3-4 people here shit-post about Destiny everyday, people call them out on it and ask them to tone it down (and it seems that they do).

Destiny has a soul with many problems that hopefully can and will be fixed. Also apparently the Raid is awesome.

But when the people shit-post about 343 on HBO and *I* call them out on it and ask them to tone it down (and you would be one of those people, Av) no one cares.

I'm sorry that Halo 4 has no soul and lost all its population like Destiny is dangerously close to doing. 343 has acknowledged all of this with H4 and will hopefully be fixing it big time for Halo 5.

This is a rhetorical post that needs no reply (just muse on it to yourself)- it's just something that I see that seems silly to me.

You say that like it means that I shouldn't reply. It totally worked!

DBO version:

"Destiny is a crappy game, way to go Bungie, this game is crap because blah blah blah but I'm gonna keep playing it and posting on these forums because reasons"

No, you're spot on here. The fact is, they are still playing it and posting on the forums, and that's kinda weird. lol

or the HBO version:

"Halo 4-5 is a crappy game, way to go 343, this game is crap because blah blah blah but I'm gonna keep playing it and posting on these forums because reasons"

I stopped playing Halo 4 a long time ago, so if this is directed at me, you're pretty funny. It even got uninstalled from my 360 entirely a while ago. Real talk homie.

As for posting on those forums for reasons, I'm actually looking forward to the Master Chief Collection and very much plan on dropping my money on it! I'm giving 343 my money dude. Just calm yourself down. You should see what GAF looks like. Wasn't HaloGAF turned off because of how horrible it got? Just because their Halo 5 Beta decisions are hilarious and Halo 4 sucks hard doesn't mean anything as far as their next big release. :D

I guess what I'm saying is, for people that aren't happy with game\company 'X' , you don't need to inject that sentiment into 90% of your posts- the regular forum members get it. Stop raining on everyone else's picnic.

Maybe they're hoping that Bungie sees it and gets it and fixes it instead of going 343's route of taking six months to fix it, the population was nearly all gone by that point, and 343 themselves seemed to have mostly moved on to H5 (thus making H4 a generally lost cause)? :P

I'm done now.

_>

Be happy. 343 might get Halo 5 right because of all the backlash, and maybe Bungie will make Destiny something that people will truly stick around for for 10 years because of all of this backlash!

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Don't ever change man.

Hit me up on PS4 someday.

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Destiny has a soul with many problems that hopefully can and will be fixed. Also apparently the Raid is awesome.

Literally all Bungie has to do is make an 'easy' level 20 version of the raid. That would solve so much. You could play the game casually till level 20, then play the raid, and never have to grind.

That's really the only reason I did the grind, was to get suited for the raid. I spent many mind numbing hours to be able to do one of the coolest challenges I've ever played in an FPS. If it were accessible without grinding, that would be ideal. Obviously it could have lower rewards, but if you play Destiny casually that wouldn't matter.

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Destiny has a soul with many problems that hopefully can and will be fixed. Also apparently the Raid is awesome.

Literally all Bungie has to do is make an 'easy' level 20 version of the raid. That would solve so much. You could play the game casually till level 20, then play the raid, and never have to grind.

That's really the only reason I did the grind, was to get suited for the raid. I spent many mind numbing hours to be able to do one of the coolest challenges I've ever played in an FPS. If it were accessible without grinding, that would be ideal. Obviously it could have lower rewards, but if you play Destiny casually that wouldn't matter.

This confuses me. Why does the Raid require a high level? You unlock most movement options pretty quickly, so it seems like it would have to be a combat level thing. But if that was the issue, why put such an astronomical gap between "the start of the endgame" and "able to do Raid"? I haven't been able to play the Raid (I'm still only level 21 and I've been having garbage luck with items), but it seems entirely artificial.

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This confuses me. Why does the Raid require a high level? You unlock most movement options pretty quickly, so it seems like it would have to be a combat level thing. But if that was the issue, why put such an astronomical gap between "the start of the endgame" and "able to do Raid"? I haven't been able to play the Raid (I'm still only level 21 and I've been having garbage luck with items), but it seems entirely artificial.

Forget getting gear randomly. Buy everything and eliminate luck. Buy your legendaries from the factions or vanguard, and whatever exotics you need from Xur. Relying on drops sounds awful, and that's why you are 21.

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It's true. I haven't farmed for engrams at all in this game. I've farmed for Spinmetal and Helium and all that other garbage, but otherwise I've just played and played with friends and completed bounties so that I could buy my Legendaries and things.

Edit: Speaking of not farming for engrams, shortly after this post I found myself in a public event on Venus. I happened to get a Legendary engram from one of the Vex I killed, and it just gave me an Exotic Auto Rifle. Cryptarch, finally, be praised!

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Forget getting gear randomly. Buy everything and eliminate luck. Buy your legendaries from the factions or vanguard, and whatever exotics you need from Xur. Relying on drops sounds awful, and that's why you are 21.

I'm level 21 because I'm relying on drops? What? I'm level 21 because the RNG hasn't been giving me anything while I try to get enough rep and marks to buy things through Vanguard. But it turns out that takes a while, and I'm not even vanguard rank 2 yet.

Me complaining about the RNG isn't because I've been farming a cave for several hours (the 15 minutes I mentioned in the other thread are the ONLY 15 minutes I've spent, I was mostly just curious about it), but because I've watched people regularly get better gear than myself in like-for-like circumstances. I still don't have a chest piece with any light; don't tell me "to stop relying on the RNG and buy something else", because I CAN'T buy something else. I wish I could, and that's why once I reached level 20 I started paying more attention to Vanguard bounties.

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Me complaining about the RNG isn't because I've been farming a cave for several hours (the 15 minutes I mentioned in the other thread are the ONLY 15 minutes I've spent, I was mostly just curious about it), but because I've watched people regularly get better gear than myself in like-for-like circumstances. I still don't have a chest piece with any light; don't tell me "to stop relying on the RNG and buy something else", because I CAN'T buy something else. I wish I could, and that's why once I reached level 20 I started paying more attention to Vanguard bounties.

Pick a faction you like and wear their item. Do all the bounties you can, both Vanguard and Crucible. That seems to be the fastest way to get points. The armor is available at level 2, so split between your faction choice and the vanguard, since you have the two different currencies and can buy two pieces per week. Strange coins for Xur make 3 per.

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Pick a faction you like and wear their item. Do all the bounties you can, both Vanguard and Crucible. That seems to be the fastest way to get points. The armor is available at level 2, so split between your faction choice and the vanguard, since you have the two different currencies and can buy two pieces per week. Strange coins for Xur make 3 per.

Yeah, I know. The reason I'm not juggling things is that I don't have the degree of playtime that makes it matter. You don't need switch out vanguard and crucible and faction points if you're not even making it through the vanguard bounties many days. I don't WANT to power-level; even if I had all day, I wouldn't bother doing all the Crucible bounties because I'm not a huge fan of crucible. Ideally, I just play exactly what I feel like playing, although unfortunately due to my low level the game encourages me to do other things (i.e. complete vanguard bounties). Hopefully at some point that stops being an issue. If it doesn't, I'll probably have to get rid of the game, because that'll be having a detrimental effect on me after a while; unfortunately, Destiny's loot system has a strong enough direct impact on gameplay that I don't think I'll be capable of learning to ignore it if it wants to be heard.

I'll almost certainly hit vanguard Rank 2 tomorrow; I was considering saving marks for a pistol, but armor first might be better, especially in terms of replacing this zero-light chest piece.

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Yeah, I know. The reason I'm not juggling things is that I don't have the degree of playtime that makes it matter. You don't need switch out vanguard and crucible and faction points if you're not even making it through the vanguard bounties many days. I don't WANT to power-level; even if I had all day, I wouldn't bother doing all the Crucible bounties because I'm not a huge fan of crucible.

Welcome to post level 20 Destiny. This is the game now. Nobody believed me when I said it sucked, but now you are all starting to see.

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Me complaining about the RNG isn't because I've been farming a cave for several hours (the 15 minutes I mentioned in the other thread are the ONLY 15 minutes I've spent, I was mostly just curious about it), but because I've watched people regularly get better gear than myself in like-for-like circumstances. I still don't have a chest piece with any light; don't tell me "to stop relying on the RNG and buy something else", because I CAN'T buy something else. I wish I could, and that's why once I reached level 20 I started paying more attention to Vanguard bounties.

Pick a faction you like and wear their item. Do all the bounties you can, both Vanguard and Crucible. That seems to be the fastest way to get points. The armor is available at level 2, so split between your faction choice and the vanguard, since you have the two different currencies and can buy two pieces per week. Strange coins for Xur make 3 per.

Yea, but if you are wearing a faction item, you don't get rep to level your Vanguard rank anymore, do you? If not, doesn't that effectively make Vanguard marks useless?

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Yup. Faction rep is useless unless you play crucible since they only take crucible marks. Vanguard marks are useless if you're wearing faction gear and don't have your vanguard rank up. I really don't understand why they had the factions only take crucible marks if you can gain reputation in PvE and PvP. What was the reasoning?

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I really don't understand why they had the factions only take crucible marks if you can gain reputation in PvE and PvP. What was the reasoning?

More grind, keep you playing longer.

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I really don't understand why they had the factions only take crucible marks if you can gain reputation in PvE and PvP. What was the reasoning?

More grind, keep you playing longer.

The cap would still be 100 a week for each. If I wanted a new helmet that cost 120 crucible or Vanguard marks I would still have to hit the cap for either one and then wait for the weekly reset. No different than now. The only time advantage I could see is if you wanted gloves and boots that cost 65 each, you could buy one with crucible marks and the other with vanguard marks in the same week. Of course that also means that you're playing more to get both vanguard and crucible marks.

I don't think they gain anything in terms of required game time. The only thing now is stretching your purchases out over an extra week due to the cap. It's aggravating for me because I have a character I love using in PvE but not PvP, and his armor purchases are limited to Vanguard.

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If I'd played this five years ago, I would have written so much fic.

I like Grizzlei's idea that the reason the speaker knows so much about what the children are talking about is that he is a perv. That should jumpstart some quality fanfic.

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