Mailsack March 1, 2013

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Some tidbits:

When asked his favorite alien race:

I fell in love with the Fallen all the way back in 2009. Partly because there’s just >something wonderful about the idea of a nomadic race of once noble houses now >scattered to the solar winds. Partly because there’s something primordial and >instantly terrifying about squaring off against an unpredictable Fallen Captain, his >tattered crimson cape draped over a set of four splayed and angular arms that bristle >with sleek firepower. That said, now that all of the enemy combatant races have been >fleshed out more deeply, I’m harder pressed to call out a single enemy as a >frontrunner. It’s become too difficult to play favorites. The amount of visual variety >has become mind boggling, and our writers have been in overdrive to give each race >rich and meaningful motivations that don’t just create distinctions between enemy >races, but within them.
Urk, Classified

About Lone Wolfs enjoying Destiny:

Madness: Is everything in Destiny made so "lone wolves" like me can enjoy the game as >much as the guys who like to play cooperatively?
You won’t be required to partner with strangers to achieve your goals in Destiny. >You’ll have all the freedom you need to blaze your own trail.

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By far my favorite question/answer:

Mandroid: Will there be grinding? I hate having to grind for stuff.
Destiny is an action game, so you’ll grind your enemies into dust.

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The (yet to be named) “Space Zombies.” I love their mythos and how it’s communicated through the art direction of the characters and the environments.

Joey Gibbs, Broducer

Call them the Glarg.

It's the first thing I thought of.

Or - The Vermic

The the makes it work. :P

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The (yet to be named) “Space Zombies.”

Call them the Glarg.

How about ‘The Doolf’?

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I just go out to kill stuff for the shiny loot.
Ben Thompson, Engineer

This seems significant. Loot? What might that mean in an FPS game? Whether or not the monicker fits, there seem to be a growing number of concepts in common with an MMO.

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- No text -

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There has been no confirmation on the ability to pilot the jets seen in the leaked concept art, but I think a loot system would be great for a customizable spacecraft suite in Destiny. The motivation to go on quests would be to get loot (Cash, Guns, Armor, ect...) to build up your spacecraft. Once you've attained the optimal setup to get to other planets/moons, you can continue your adventure.

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I feel like thinking too much. So… here I go.

There has been no confirmation on the ability to pilot the jets seen in the leaked concept art, but I think a loot system would be great for a customizable spacecraft suite in Destiny. The motivation to go on quests would be to get loot (Cash, Guns, Armor, ect...) to build up your spacecraft. Once you've attained the optimal setup to get to other planets/moons, you can continue your adventure. (by ODST VII)

Based off a speculative yet probable thought of mine, I would like to think that we would be able to pilot the jets/spacecraft. For the sheer sake of spewing my madness of context, I have a hunch that in pieces of Halo:Reach and the "Rookie" Model gameplay is/was in-fact a production test of ideas put into the wild.

As for the "loot system", while what you have mentioned is the standard norm of loot systems I personally hope for a different route. Even if the loot system if more a point-of-view-how-you-play-the-game type thing, the problem I find with “loot is the reason for playing quests” is that such an idea is a very fine line between grinding/fun. At the risk of simple verbiage - It becomes the singular reason for playing. An addict looking for the next hit. I would hope that the game not be so materialistic. Drop an enemy – search ‘is pockets. Repeat. Ugh – how droll. I just want to kick ass in the universe - not go pocket shopping. (Or worse - loot management)

The customisation is one of the things I'm looking forward to most, and therefore the loot too. I'm guessing a lot of it will be armour and weapons (not to mention cloaks and capes), left behind by the Golden Age of humanity, before we got cut down. Named weaponry is getting me so excited too, especially since I love the flavour Bungie gives such things.

But then, I say all this and I wonder if that'd make sense, to find and use old guns? It depends, really. There's also the concept art of the Vault, filled with gold and metallics. I love the idea of finding pieces from an old ship and those being just as valuable, while also teaching us more about what may have happened to humanity.

Ahhh, I'm just super looking forward to official confirmation of what loot entails, ahah! (by SigbiasSilva)

One the other side of the coin I like the use of loot as part of the story – since every scrap has a story anyway. Customization is always nice as well since it helps with the immersion factor of “If I was/am here what would I do?”.

SigbiasSilva brings up an interesting point too - will “the old stuff” still work? Would you still want it if there is better stuff out in the wild? We humans obviously got pretty advanced – but apparently something was abit more. Whether the more is of Tech or Tactical is only of speculation at this point. I look forward to those respective threads of thought.

Well I feel better now.

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The customisation is one of the things I'm looking forward to most, and therefore the loot too. I'm guessing a lot of it will be armour and weapons (not to mention cloaks and capes), left behind by the Golden Age of humanity, before we got cut down. Named weaponry is getting me so excited too, especially since I love the flavour Bungie gives such things.

But then, I say all this and I wonder if that'd make sense, to find and use old guns? It depends, really. There's also the concept art of the Vault, filled with gold and metallics. I love the idea of finding pieces from an old ship and those being just as valuable, while also teaching us more about what may have happened to humanity.

Ahhh, I'm just super looking forward to official confirmation of what loot entails, ahah!

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This is going to be a long one.

Duardo: What's the scariest part about creating a new universe?
The best sci-fi/fantasy blows people’s minds, while still resonating with them on a deeper, universally relatable level. The entire team at Bungie has spent years figuring out how to best marry these two ideals into one wholly compelling experience. It’s been daunting, to say the least. But releasing it to the wild – that is the terrifying part. --Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

sci-fi/fantasy... I can't honestly say I'm surprised or enthusiastic :/

tyalka93: How much backstory and lore can we expect in Destiny?
Prior to joining the writing team on Destiny, Eric Raab painstakingly helped guide the Halo fiction as part of an external team at Tor Books. He has a wealth of experience curating deep volumes of fiction for other franchises and a stable of supremely talented authors, as well. When we asked him your question, we expected a digital tome overflowing with carefully wrought prose. Instead, he wrote the following.

Generations worth. Good luck uncovering it all. --Eric Raab, Managing Editor

well that's good, or at least it sounds good-- that applies to several other answers so I'll skip those

Dark Delta 6: What is your favorite alien in Destiny?
There are many to choose from. Let’s learn about the preferred targets of our panel.

snip

I fell in love with the Fallen all the way back in 2009. Partly because there’s just something wonderful about the idea of a nomadic race of once noble houses now scattered to the solar winds. Partly because there’s something primordial and instantly terrifying about squaring off against an unpredictable Fallen Captain, his tattered crimson cape draped over a set of four splayed and angular arms that bristle with sleek firepower. That said, now that all of the enemy combatant races have been fleshed out more deeply, I’m harder pressed to call out a single enemy as a frontrunner. It’s become too difficult to play favorites. The amount of visual variety has become mind boggling, and our writers have been in overdrive to give each race rich and meaningful motivations that don’t just create distinctions between enemy races, but within them. --Urk, Classified

That does sound good. Also now we know the concepts for at least some of the factions go back to 2009-- that makes sense given the "Destiny awaits" poster giving an impression of the Traveler, but they could've come up with that really early; now we know the game's story was at least partly figured out then. I wonder if there were any other hints about Destiny in ODST or Reach.... We still don't understand the circular code things on a bunch of things in Reach or the dot signs in ODST (I'm kind of disappointed the geomantic figure stuff didn't relate to them at all), and I think some of the license plate numbers in ODST still don't have anything definite associated with them....

ll ManBean ll: What's Bungie's favorite thing to do in Destiny?
With so many things to do, we’ll need our panelists to scratch the surface.

snip

I just go out to kill stuff for the shiny loot. --Ben Thompson, Engineer

I don't think I like the sound of that.

Sit on the Shores of Time on Venus and watch other Guardians run through, leaving behind a body count. --Nate Hawbaker, Associate Technical Artist

This actually has me kind of intrigued.

Dramatic entrances. --Josh Markham, Associate Artist

hmm...

Camp out in the social areas helping people get to their next destination. --Kevin Hart, Associate Artist

I'm not sure if I like this response or not. Helping people can be nice but it can also be one of the most difficult and frustrating things you'll ever do.

Madness: Is everything in Destiny made so "lone wolves" like me can enjoy the game as much as the guys who like to play cooperatively?
You won’t be required to partner with strangers to achieve your goals in Destiny. You’ll have all the freedom you need to blaze your own trail.

That's good to hear (er, read).

LLamuh: Will competitive gamers have a home in Destiny?
Yes. The most competitive guys at our studio are having a damn good time playing Destiny. --Josh Hamrick, Senior Designer

hmm :/
I'm not exactly convinced of anything. I remember a lot of Bungie not being great at games even their own, but that might be outdated now. I know they're not the best at finding glitches, bugs, exploits, etc. IDK, maybe I'm being paranoid.

Mandroid: Will there be grinding? I hate having to grind for stuff.
Destiny is an action game, so you’ll grind your enemies into dust.

Do you notice how he didn't say no? :\

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…maybe I'm being paranoid.

Yes. :)

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Mandroid: Will there be grinding? I hate having to grind for stuff.
Destiny is an action game, so you’ll grind your enemies into dust.

Do you notice how he didn't say no? :\

I am pretty sure the "Destiny is an action game" was supposed to be a "no it's not a grinding game."

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I am pretty sure the "Destiny is an action game" was supposed to be a "no it's not a grinding game."

Which, considering that "grinding" is a negatively-connotated term, is probably the response that you'd receive even from some grind-heavy MMO marketing staff.

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I am pretty sure the "Destiny is an action game" was supposed to be a "no it's not a grinding game."

Which, considering that "grinding" is a negatively-connotated term, is probably the response that you'd receive even from some grind-heavy MMO marketing staff.

that's what has me a little concerned-- I'm pretty sure I remember something about confirmation of no grinding last week, but I didn't read a source on that, so I really don't know

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They choose their own questions, so if it had grinding and I didn't want to say it, I wouldn't answer the question. Obviously I'm still speculating, but it's seems illogical they'd answer the question if it had grinding since they don't have to.

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They choose their own questions, so if it had grinding and I didn't want to say it, I wouldn't answer the question. Obviously I'm still speculating, but it's seems illogical they'd answer the question if it had grinding since they don't have to.

Also, I'm pretty surprised that nobody has (publicly) interpreted the 'shiny loot' comment as a wry commentary on the paranoia of the internet...

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They choose their own questions, so if it had grinding and I didn't want to say it, I wouldn't answer the question. Obviously I'm still speculating, but it's seems illogical they'd answer the question if it had grinding since they don't have to.

Also, I'm pretty surprised that nobody has (publicly) interpreted the 'shiny loot' comment as a wry commentary on the paranoia of the internet...

I don't get the connection, so that might be a reason.

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LLamuh: Will competitive gamers have a home in Destiny?
Yes. The most competitive guys at our studio are having a damn good time playing Destiny. --Josh Hamrick, Senior Designer

I remember a lot of Bungie not being great at games even their own, but that might be outdated now. I know they're not the best at finding glitches, bugs, exploits, etc.

I think really what this question is asking is whether the game supports a strong player vs. player gameplay environment, and whether it will be fun. People who work at Bungie enjoying themselves within this environment speaks to it being fun rather than being balanced and exploit-free; the latter is more an issue for large scale testing and QA rather than for individual devs. Either way, an always-online game like this surely means they'll be able to address exploits very rapidly.

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About Lone Wolfs enjoying Destiny:

Madness: Is everything in Destiny made so "lone wolves" like me can enjoy the game as >much as the guys who like to play cooperatively?
You won’t be required to partner with strangers to achieve your goals in Destiny. >You’ll have all the freedom you need to blaze your own trail.

That is actually good news, but if that's the case why can't we go lone wolf offline, then go online to play with others? Sorry to keep going back to this, but I'm just generally confused as to why a game which isn't actually supposed to be an MMO (or so Bungie says) needs to connect to the internet all the time.

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From what I understand about the game from what's been said, missions and events will take place every day and at random times, even if you are playing by yourself. So it'll tell you something is happening in an area and you can go fight alien scum by yourself if you want.

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From what I understand about the game from what's been said, missions and events will take place every day and at random times, even if you are playing by yourself. So it'll tell you something is happening in an area and you can go fight alien scum by yourself if you want.

If this is how it's designed, this is why I wouldn't get this game. I want to be able to play when I want, not schedule my life around events in the virtual world.

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If this is how it's designed, this is why I wouldn't get this game. I want to be able to play when I want, not schedule my life around events in the virtual world.

That's actually what I assume the quote about it being for the impatient and distracted is about, yeah it'll be fun for the people who want new content all the time, but it'll also be fun for the people that only have a couple hours a week or can't play everyday. Which both apply to me, sometimes I can play everyday for hours and sometimes I can only play on the weekends for 3-4 hours.

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That's actually what I assume the quote about it being for the impatient and distracted is about, yeah it'll be fun for the people who want new content all the time, but it'll also be fun for the people that only have a couple hours a week or can't play everyday. Which both apply to me, sometimes I can play everyday for hours and sometimes I can only play on the weekends for 3-4 hours.

You're situation sounds like mine, except I probably have less time overall. Given the presence at Bungie of grizzled ancients who tend to have family responsibilities, I'm hopeful those guys are making a game that they can enjoy playing, too. By that I mean that limited time involvement doesn't translate into a limit on your exposure to cool stuff.

Kerm

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I also wonder what it means for the long term playability of the game. I still like picking up Halo 1 from time to time and playing it. How much of the game is built into the disc, and how much is time sensitive? If I want to play it again 12 years from now, how much of the game will I be able to play, and can I play it at all?

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I also wonder what it means for the long term playability of the game. I still like picking up Halo 1 from time to time and playing it. How much of the game is built into the disc, and how much is time sensitive? If I want to play it again 12 years from now, how much of the game will I be able to play, and can I play it at all?

Bungie themselves have historically been good about supporting their games after their 'core life.' They said the MM and stats of Halo 2 moved into a corner of the servers that were for Halo 3 after that game launched, for example.

Like with Reach, that Daily/Weekly Challenges continue to update, I imagine any time-sensitive events in Destiny will simply loop after they've stopped making/releasing new stuff.

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I have to say Cody I understand your points a lot better after listening to the podcast on r.net. So I have to say I apologize if you were ever frustrated by me not understanding a lot of your points. I can't say I agree with many of your perspectives, but I respect them a lot more.

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I have to say Cody I understand your points a lot better after listening to the podcast on r.net. So I have to say I apologize if you were ever frustrated by me not understanding a lot of your points. I can't say I agree with many of your perspectives, but I respect them a lot more.

Me, too. Less prickly in voice.

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From what I understand about the game from what's been said, missions and events will take place every day and at random times, even if you are playing by yourself. So it'll tell you something is happening in an area and you can go fight alien scum by yourself if you want.

If this is how it's designed, this is why I wouldn't get this game. I want to be able to play when I want, not schedule my life around events in the virtual world.

There can be cool things about this, though, difficulties aside.

I have fond memories of Planetarion, for instance.

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Mailsack March 1, 2013