Sounds awful.

by thebruce , Ontario, Canada, Friday, March 08, 2013, 12:04 (4061 days ago) @ Malagate

You could certainly choose to look at it that way. Or you could look at it as a method for a true cross-platform experience without actually having a live cross-platform gameplay session. Again, the idea is to enhance the game, not restrict functionality to a totally separate venue. Just imagine if all Destiny players, regardless of platform, experienced events in the game world together, truly impacting their own story in a joint effort. The same world is accessible to anyone, it would just be the BMA users that have an additional layer of agency that benefits everyone. It's an accessory, not a requirement. And the app is free. Are you suggesting Bingle shouldn't even try such a thing because some players feel it would be some kind of injustice?

I think the problem that some people (not including myself) think that if there is a "game" (let's call this purchase of the 'entity') then ALL elements associated with the entity should be contained in that single purchase and/or single platform; like, you buy "the game" and you then should have rights to all content henceforth associated with the purchase of that entity (unless sufficiently self-supporting, or something, like an expansion pack). eg, if it's on a CD, then all content should be available and unlocked without further purchase... or in this case, if the "game" has linked/playable content not on the purchased platform, then it should be accessible by default or just not exist... that the idea of providing content along with a purchase which isn't immediately accessible (through a paywall or hardware requirement) is somehow purposefully crippling the game.

Or you know, something like that*... but I digress

I'd love the idea of having related gameplay content extend to another platform. It shouldn't be required to complete the initial game or to have the full intended experience on the original platform, but most definitely it would be a 'value added' accessory to the gameplay for those people who can access it or those who desire it enough to buy what's necessary in order to do so. I think it'd be really cool to have, say, missions that are available for those who've linked their mobile device to their profile, or even live events for such people where they team together, as per your comment, to complete a task co-operatively.

Heck, if there are multiple accessories, you could have some epic enormous event where all these various player-groups having various capabilities work together to accomplish a major goal. Like Kinect-enabled players working with smartphone-enabled players at home, and with smartphone/gps-enabled players meeting at some real world location at a specific time, and...and...

It's all pipe dream though, and the liklihood of it happening (at least at that scale) is slim to none I'd wager. Mainly because it could feel like it's taking people "away" from the game (is "Destiny" just a video game? or is it by nature an experience that also happens away from the platform's screen in the living room or desktop PC?)

*shrug*

I definitely digress... on the simplest, smallest scale, having smartphone 'second screen' required missions would be pretty cool, especially if somehow those missions also provide rewards for players without that capability... or require those with and without to work together. The argument about balance and fairness is still a good one in this context, I think.

* I'm not calling anyone out, just being cynical about some of the general opinions expressed in the forums recently :P