With regards to this article, I'm kind of confused as to the announcement of a full sequel. I thought they had said that they didn't want to split the player base, and that was the point of the comet packs...

A full sequel implies that they're moving on from overhauling the current game in favor of a do-over elsewhere...

I could be wrong, though...

With regards to this article, I'm kind of confused as to the announcement of a full sequel. I thought they had said that they didn't want to split the player base, and that was the point of the comet packs...

A full sequel implies that they're moving on from overhauling the current game in favor of a do-over elsewhere...

I could be wrong, though...

Whether or not they're working on comet packs, it's not at all weird that there would be people developing the sequel right now.

If they came out and said that they currently had nobody working on the sequel, my first thought would be that the series got canned until further notice.

I envisioned the sequels to be new planets with access to the previous ones in the same game. It would be weird be playing the sequel, but need spinmetal to upgrade a weapon I carried over from the first game, thus making me load the first to get spinmetal. I can't see this working well if everything is separated into separate games.

There is no way Bungie will only want to release bite sized exapansions to complete the story/gameplay arc for Destiny. Bungie understand that the presentation of Destiny was very lack luster in many regards and I'm pretty sure that they feel that the only way to remedy that is to create a full sequel.

Whether or not they will be splitting the playerbase remains to be seen, but I would put my money on them keeping it as cohesive as possible. Possibly heavily pushing digital release so that they have avoid a multiple disc situation where old planets/missions need to be played on the original disc. We'll see.

Bungie is contractually obligated to deliver sequels to Destiny at a bi-annual rate. With a timeframe like that, I'd be worried if they weren't already working on the sequel.

With regard to Bungie's plans to overhaul the current game, I think it's pretty clear that they do not intend to deviate from their established content release schedule. We haven't heard anything about the Comet packs yet, so it's possible that they will be announced at some point in the future, and it's also possible that, as I have suspected for some time, Comet packs are no longer part of Bungie's plan for Destiny, and the content that would have been included in such a release has been divided among the two DLC products that have already been revealed.

What follows is purely speculation, but I believe that Bungie have their hands tied. They are obligated to meet deadlines that Activision has set for them, which requires them to commit a lot of resources to developing future content, like Destiny 2, relatively early. I think this is why we haven't seen much of a shift in the amount and nature of the content provided in the DLC packs. Bungie simply doesn't have the time, the money, or the manpower to deviate from their game plan at this juncture. Player feedback about the lack of content and the underwhelming story can only be addressed within the framework of that plan. We're not going to see a massive overhaul of Activision's release timetable for this franchise because there's just too much riding on their ability to deliver the product at a rapid and consistent rate. And it's not like Activision to value quality or player satisfaction over dominance of the market through the systematic annualization of their franchises. (Bi-annualization in this case.)

Frankly, I'm not sure why I failed to see this coming sooner.

Per Destiny's launch plan, there are two DLCs and then another game release. They should be working on Destiny 2 now in order to support that launch timing. Thankfully it should be mostly content rather then mechanics and back end stuff.

Activation prefers the COD model of a new game every other year and DLC packs every 6 months to keep people interested. This gives a steady income they can plan around.

While we may have complaints about the game that we would like to see addressed by Bungie, it is unlikely that they will deviate from their launch plan by a significant margin. The logistics of that are difficult. The minor patches we've seen so far really don't measure up to the level of what needs to change.

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I just beat COD:AW's single player.

It had a better plot than Destiny.

I honestly don't think Bungie and Activision get how burned people are gonna be by Destiny 1 remaining a mess while D2 is made.

I really think the best thing they could do is package D2 as WOW sized Expansions. I sincerly believe that each major release should add to the original package of Destiny 1.

A 60 dollar expansion which is Destiny 2 for all intents and purposes, but doesn't replace the base game is what they should try to do.

I will be taking a wait and see approach. Destiny 1 is not the game that was advertised nor is it the game I thought I was buying. I'm definitely not pre-ordering nor will I be counting the days til D2.

It occurred to me that one of the big reasons we may be getting a full-blown sequel rather than massive expansion is because of the reviews that Destiny got. Making a "new" game opens up another shot at the reviewers, so all that Bungie would have to do would be to address the main complaints that Destiny got, eschew any exclusivity deals (or open up opportunities for new ones), and expand on their existing engine/game mechanics/AI. Better reviews, happier playerbase, more sales, more Activision bragging.

This can be both good and bad, with the bad part being that they would be splitting their playerbase, which I recall was something that they said they wouldn't be doing, but the good part is that they'll be able to make a current-gen only game, so the whole "all that you can see, you can walk to" talk would be much more feasible.

I'd hate for them to just give up on fixing Destiny's major issues in favor of moving over to a new table and setting a feast there...

I think you're absolutely right about this. Actually, it's interesting that you should bring this up, because on Bungie.net it seems that a pretty substantial number of Destiny fans believe this is exactly what Bungie intends to do. They're misinterpreting the vague "ten-year plan" line that Bungie/Activision's PR machine floated around prior to release.

And what has Bungie (or Activision, or whoever is in charge of marketing this game) done to correct that misinterpretation? Nothing. Nothing at all.

One might argue that they're intentionally keeping their customers confused so that they won't catch on to how annualized this franchise is designed to be.

I think you're correct that making a new game allows Bungie to start fresh in a way that they never could with massive expansions.

But that's not why they're making a new game.

It's in Bungie's contract that they must deliver a full-blown sequel every two years. This has been part of the plan for Destiny from the very beginning.

I think you're correct that making a new game allows Bungie to start fresh in a way that they never could with massive expansions.

But that's not why they're making a new game.

It's in Bungie's contract that they must deliver a full-blown sequel every two years. This has been part of the plan for Destiny from the very beginning.

Contract aside, Bungie said that they reserve the right to make a numbered sequel. I saw it in terms of something like Brood War, which was somewhat of a sequel, but still technically just an expansion to the original Starcraft. "Persistent World" was the term thrown about, IIRC, which implied that any "sequel" would be an expansion of the existing world that they created.

We were theorizing on what a sequel could be, as we have received info on numerous planets, moons, and regions that we ultimately never visited, and due to the apparent nature of DLC, we likely never will with the current iteration. If a $20 DLC pack is simply a few missions, a raid, and some exclusive content... What could come of free updates? Without an economy based on subscription or microtransactions, how expansive could free updates be? How many more $20 DLC packs can we expect to flesh out the already-lacking experience?

Like I said, a full-blown sequel would have the advantage of being current-gen only, which limits the current content, as it has to work well with last-gen consoles. While this may be a good thing, it does leave the current game in a state of uncertainty, and one starts to wonder about a myriad of implications that arise. Will our characters transfer over? Will it matter? Will we ever get to take our characters across platform like other games (Warframe) often let us do? Will this new content include the previous areas, or will we need to switch disks? Will our new equipment and levels transfer back to the first game?

Lots of questions...

It's in Bungie's contract that they must deliver a full-blown sequel every two years. This has been part of the plan for Destiny from the very beginning.

“Let’s say Destiny 2 [and] Destiny 3 are out, and we have new players joining the fun. [They] want to play those new games alongside those who have been playing Destiny from the beginning,”

“[We want to ensure] they won’t feel like they’re four years behind. And then, if they want to, they’ll be able to go back and pick up the old content on their same character. So we’ve done a lot of planning for how that’s going to work, to not make people feel like they have years worth of levelling up to do.”

Does work to confirm the "full-blown sequel every two years", but how would that tie in to a ten year plan? Will we have a Destiny 5, where out level 90 characters interact with level 2 characters? Also, they do heavily imply that you will be able to take your gear back with you to the first game, so we'd be seeing some pretty massive compatibility updates... And what of last-gen? I doubt they'll be getting a Destiny 2...

I just beat COD:AW's single player.

It had a better plot than Destiny.

I honestly don't think Bungie and Activision get how burned people are gonna be by Destiny 1 remaining a mess while D2 is made.

But you can mitigate it by making the game be fun. Add tons of NEW significant content, revamp the investment system, and add new features. Impossible with just DLC, but doable with an expansion pack.

*raises hand*

It's one of those things where at first I was hugely disappointed, because the world and story were hyped, and turned out to be shit. The game had a crappy investment system, but I saw that coming. Objectively, Destiny is just okay.

Still though, there's enough that's GOOD that I can appreciate. I'm still pissed I had to wade through so much bad to get there, but now that I'm here it's not so bad. Destiny just has to be one of many games played casually, rather than one game I play almost exclusively for a while (Like Last of Us was).

My experience is definitely going to impact how I approach and play a sequel.

This is where Bungie needs to pull the plug and make Destiny 2 next gen only. Better player cohesion, and fewer limitations. Better game.

To me it makes sense to start any character created in Destiny 2 at level 20 (or somewhere from 20 to 30). That way they can jump right into the new content and are even able to revisit the old (as it has various difficulty options) and not feel left out or like they have to make up 2-3 years of playing.

I am nearly positive that this (or a system with the same effect) will be what is used for Destiny 2.

I would rather get a PS4 than an Xbone at the moment but that would mean abandoning my characters and starting brand new ones. And that sucks hardcore. I'm definitely not going to let one game's items dictate my next Console purchase, but if we can't migrate characters between platforms . . . I'm going to be a really sad panda. I don't even care about cross platform play, I just don't want to lose my guy and my stuff. We got history.

Impossible with just DLC, but doable with an expansion pack.

We should get Bungie in contact with Firaxis.

i've said this a couple of times, I think part of destiny's problem (at least scope and story-wise) was previous gen holding them back. The "see that mountain, you can go there" approach was just not going to work on PS3 and 360. They said the same thing when they first showed off Halo 3, and remember how much that changed? (halo 3 was still great though).

I never once thought that there wouldn't be numbered sequels. There is not enough storage space to continue to "expand" the original game on last-gen consoles.

I think the crux of it is that there are still a lot of people that have not jumped to the current-gen. They wanted those people to buy Destiny to boost sales and support the extremely long and expensive Dev cycle of this new franchise.

They made it to where you can migrate your character from 360->XB1 or PS3->PS4, so that when they release Destiny 2 on current-gen only, you can upgrade without having to start over. They know the grind sucks. They would lost a crap ton of people if they had to grind all over to 30 when the switch to current-gen happens. And it will happen sooner or later, you can't have a 10-year plan on a console that came out in 2005.

I was meaning more in terms of sequels than Destiny 1. I sure as hell got my moneys worth out of this game anyway.

I dunno, this game makes me feel weird. I love it some days and don't others.

I always assumed that characters would carry over to the inevitable Destiny 2. You sign in and BAM, there you are.

A fast track for newcomers would be useful.

Offering it to last gen consoles was a genius business decision though.

Destiny is one of those games where it's really easy to get addicted to it. I would not be surprised when a sequel is announced, that it is enough to push the last of the holdouts to get a new console.

I was meaning more in terms of sequels than Destiny 1. I sure as hell got my moneys worth out of this game anyway.

I dunno, this game makes me feel weird. I love it some days and don't others.

It makes me feel like a guinea pig.

I always assumed that characters would carry over to the inevitable Destiny 2. You sign in and BAM, there you are.

yeah, the point was you make the game available to everyone the first time around and build in a migration process for when you force them to go next-gen. There are a lot of folks that don't have XB1's or PS4's yet. You get them hooked, and then they upgrade later.

It worked for Mass Effect (though admittedly that was all on one platform) so I assumed it'd work about the same for Destiny.

-- Steve thinks it'd even be a bit simpler since Destiny uses the "cloud" so extensively.

Hasn't it been known for quite some time that the 10 year contract includes 3 games plus expansion packs for each game?

My interest in this is so miniscule now. I'm here for the drama

As far as Bungie is concerned and has been stated in an interview with Harold Ryan, the back-end of Destiny does care which system you are playing... or something to that effect. The machinations that are keeping your from playing your guardians on Xbone and PS4 are contractural in nature, not tied to hardware or software.

Given this information I think there is a chance that you could bring a guardian from one platform to the other for a new release. It would be really nice to be able to have this option.

I'm still holding onto a smidgen of hope for the sequel, but it's definitely going to be a wait-and-see situation. Nothing Bungie says about the game pre-release will factor into my decision.

There are ways that they can salvage this concept. I don't know how likely it is that they will apply them, but it is possible.

As far as the current game is concerned, I'm done, save for the occasional PvP match. I have no interest or investment in the story. I have no interest or investment in the DLC. I simply can't force myself to continue the grind.

It is certainly a contractual / political issue. I just really hope that Bungie can manage to convince enough people that it is an essential feature.

It is going to be tough to convince Microsoft/Sony though as you basically have to say "we want to allow people to abandon your platform and be able to play their same game on your competitors system".

Same number of people lost would, in theory, be gained with jumps the other way. Not to mention they would still net additional sales for people who would play on both systems, due to varied friend groups.

My interest in this is so miniscule now. I'm here for the drama

I'm here to start drama for you then:

The only thing worse than a warlock is a female awoken warlock. They are ugly.

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No, if the PS4 is selling better than the Xbone than it follows that you may see a greater percentage of switchers moving from the 360 to the PS4 than you would moving from the PS3 to the Xbone.

Just in case you've not seen it

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DR WHO SUCKS BIG TIME. STAR TREK IS THE BEST.

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With regards to this article, I'm kind of confused as to the announcement of a full sequel. I thought they had said that they didn't want to split the player base, and that was the point of the comet packs...

A full sequel implies that they're moving on from overhauling the current game in favor of a do-over elsewhere...

I could be wrong, though...

That isn't really news. The leaked contract from years ago had 3 full games, each with two major expansions (comet packs).

Activision is just trying to make sure markets know they are striking the anvil while it's hot.