Breathing new life into the Open World (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Monday, November 03, 2014, 14:51 (3472 days ago)

I was messing around at the Forgotten Shores a couple days ago, looking for spinemetal, killing time until the next public event, when I saw something I'd never seen before. A message popped up on my HUD saying a patrol of enemy pikes was nearby. A few minutes later a pack of Fallen riding pikes came around the corner. I had a fun little battle against them, claimed one if the pikes for myself, and drove off with it.

I've put about 160 hours into Destiny so far, and this was the first time I'd seen this particular event. While part of me was excited to be finding content that I haven't seen after so many hours, the louder voice in my head was asking:

"why isn't there more stuff like this in this game? Way more? Way WAAAAY more?"

If there's 1 element in Destiny that is fading fast for me, it's the joy of exploring the open world. In the early days after launch, Patrol mode was by far my favorite activity in the game. I loved the sense of discovery that came from exploring the beautiful environments, looking for treasures, meeting other Guardians and participating in public events, etc. Over time however, the lack of things to see and do in the open world has drained much of its appeal. I adore the public events, but they are far too sparse. As I spend more and more time farming for materials (an annoying late-game requirement), I've found myself wishing the worlds felt more active and alive.

I've posted before about the idea of having Sparrow Races added as an activity in the open world, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm thinking of more dynamic events involving enemy factions. Just a few ideas; we could have

* Packs of Ogres stampeding across the surface of the moon.
* Fleets of Fallen drop ships that swoop down and drop off a large troop deployment.
* Sand storms that sweep across the surface of mars

These are all "pie in the sky" ideas off the top of my head, but you get where I'm going with this stuff. Even something as simple as seeing a couple Fallen troops riding around on Pikes was enough to get me excited. We need more things like this, and they need to happen far more often.

Thoughts? Other ideas of events that could add more life to the open world?