Stuff in game data is usually fair game, and it's definitely fair game if it's been acknowledged by DeeJ.

And showing off in-game areas that you aren't supposed to be able to get to is not only fair game, but a respected community pastime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hwpMMBt2TI

It's modeled. In game. Populated with enemies. Why was this not utilized? Someone from Bungie explain this. Why do we have to pay later for the privilege of accessing what's already in our game data? No really. Explain it. Seriously. Not kidding. Let me hear your side of the story. I'm open to there being some good reason.

I've got a really simple explanation for you: who says that's the end of the area? Just because part of DLC is modeled, doesn't mean all of it connected to that area is modeled.

The other part of this discussion I always disagree with is, who cares if it's done before the game comes out? Who cares if they put it in the game data?

A lot of people. I mean, obviously.

Think about it logically: if the content wasn't in the game data at all, no one would be complaining about it (obviously), and from what most people say on here they agree that the content included in the game is worth $60.

I don't know that I've seen anyone come out say it's not worth the money, but usually no one asks, and tons of people think it's less worthwhile than it should have been. As for not complaining if it wasn't there, what's your point? If problem A didn't exist, complaint A wouldn't exist, that's a given. I will add to that, though, that even if it wasn't accessible, and in fact even if it wasn't on the disk (which I'm not sure this even is), knowing that they finished it before release would have almost exactly the same reaction (not being accessible would make people slightly more forgiving, and not having it on the disk would make them slightly more forgiving than that).

So they come out with the DLC and add in the content later, where it doesn't exist at all right now, yay, we got more gameplay and more content! What is the difference between that and them putting it in the game data already? Not on a reactionary kneejerk reaction way, but in a realistic, logical way.

The difference is in making a conscious decision to cut out the playable content into chunks, sell the bigger chunk at full price, and sell the smaller chunk(s) later at a still fairly high price, when there presumably would've been negligible barriers to providing all of the content at one full game price in the first place.

Does the inclusion of SOME of the data they are going to use in DLC somehow make the game that you admit is worth $60 somehow worth less? Of course not!

It makes it feel like it's worth less. Also, if you can access it without the DLC, it makes the DLC worth less, and it brings up the question of charging extra for it.

In fact it even saves Bungie and us time downloading content for the future content.

Seriously, saving time is your argument for it?

I suspect this is an incomplete version that's undergoing testing and/or was impractical to completely remove, but I would also really like to know why it's there, and if it's tied to any DLC or will be available free (I have no expectations Bungie or anyone else will be that giving, but I have hope).

I have a simple explanation.

It's still incomplete.

Although that the content is loadable, there's no actual story content in there. Why should it be open at all if it doesn't actually serve a purpose yet?

Maybe. The fact that you don't see anything happen (I'm assuming here, I haven't watched it and won't for fear of spoilers) doesn't mean there's no data. Lots of events - audio clips, cutscenes, etc., need triggers to make them play out. You might not see anything because the player hasn't picked up a relevant quest, or hasn't traveled through the right trigger area, and so on. There were good examples of this in the Halo games, when you'd skip certain areas the enemies in the rest of the level wouldn't load.

Although that the content is loadable, there's no actual story content in there. Why should it be open at all if it doesn't actually serve a purpose yet?

"I don't even have time to explain why Bungie don't have time to put story content into the game . . ."

What, you don't want to pay $20 to get back on the tread mill? ;).

I wish I was in your shoes Avateur, I am both aware of the fact that the game I got is not the game I was marketed AND I find it aggressively boring (to steal Yahtzee's turn of phrase).

If I was still having fun with it I could live with the marketing (probably should never trust marketing anyway).

If this is on-disc content, even if in the process of being updated, I wonder if they're going to try selling me content that I already purchased just by buying the game. Will purchasing an expansion actually truly unlock new places and things, or are they all hidden away all over this game waiting for people to break in? Will buying the expansion simply just unlock this content that I actually had already paid for and has been sitting behind a wall while they continue to polish it up?

Every General Motors car sold in America has OnStar built into it. You might get some free time with it from your dealer, but in general, you have to pay for the service if you want to actually USE it.

Are you making the argument that General Motors is ripping you off by selling you a car with this capability built into it, but STILL making you pay for it if you want to USE it?

If this is on-disc content, even if in the process of being updated, I wonder if they're going to try selling me content that I already purchased just by buying the game.

Statements like this make me really angry.

You're not owed access to everything that's on that disc. You bought a copy to run it on your console the way it's meant to run. That was the bargain.

The disc and the case itself is your property, you can do what you like with it: sell it, lend it to a friend, smash it to tiny pieces. But the data on it is not yours. Never was. Never will be.

Games are not other media like books or movies. There are dozens of barriers and walls of all sorts of kinds blocking access to different stuff in the games. You're not owed access to every Exotic weapon, and you're not owed access to every room of geometry.

Sometimes, yes, one of the barriers developers can and do put up is the paywall.

Was this was new and weird and scary early on in the 360/PS3 generation? Absolutely. But it's been years already. But the DLC revolution happened. The Microtransaction happened. The Smart Phone revolution has happened. The AppStore happened. In-app purchases happened. People should have gotten used to it by now. Software is not like other media. Games are not like other media.

It is not down to Bungie to itemise every single asset that ended up on the disc and say how you can access each piece or why it's there; that's not the experience they're selling. Nobody sells that.

Oh no: the evil Bungie Corporation is using foresight and planning to make the expansion content fit seamlessly with the rest of the game and (probably) reduce download sizes later on so paying customers can get to it quicker without impacting the experience they already sold to everyone else.

Extra stuff on the disc does not diminish what they already sold to you. In fact in this case, you can even get in there and play it anyway for no additional cost! BONUS!

If you didn't think you were going to get your money's worth, you shouldn't have bought it. If you don't think you GOT your money's worth, then sell it or don't buy the expansions.

This is NOT going to change by bitching on a forum about it.

TL/DR: It's stand practice. You weren't screwed over. Get used to it.

Lots of talk and optimism about DLC and trusting Bungie and such, but it's beyond clear that the game we were marketed isn't the game we were sold. That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the game I was sold, but it makes me extremely less likely to want to drop money on their expansions and content because it already can't be trusted.

This is a great summation of how I'm feeling too. Destiny is still a ton of fun for me, but is disappointing in some ways. Most importantly though, whatever Bungie advertises The Darkness Below as, I'm not going to trust that that's what they will deliver. The only piece of hard evidence supports their inability to deliver.

They can certainly convince me otherwise though, I'll just need more evidence :)