Those articles sum up the feelings that have kept me from playing for the last couple days. With 2 of the three "end game activities" removed form the game for the time being . . .

Yup, a whole week at a time. It's murder, I tell ya.

I really don't have anything interesting bringing me back. I have already felt shafted throughout playing because I don't own a PS3 or a PS4 and now I have to feel more shafted for not buying this new chunk that is getting roasted by reviewers?

If you stopped playing because you'd done everything and got bored, then the expansion adds some new things. If that wasn't why you stopped playing and you don't intend to get the expansion, then no, the other changes I think aren't dramatic enough to warrant a 2nd look.

Some systems were fixed, and drops seem to be more plentiful and take into account what you've received before (I was on a long string of getting only Ascendant Shards and hardly ever getting Energy until the expansion, and that trend has reversed) and I've gotten two whole playerloads of the new legendary armor as rewards or drops on only 1.5 runs through the expansion story missions, two strikes, and zero raids.

Their complaint boils down to the same thing we've been hearing since Halo 2 multiplayer: that some people feel the game functions insufficiently as a metering device for determining how good everybody is at the game and then displaying it to everyone else.

Sheesh.

Agree 100%.

I feel like this game really punishes min/max people focused on consuming/acquiring loot. Not sure I mind either.

This isn't a decent review aside from a few points about mission length (although they fail to mention that the default game's first mission is short and also cannot be repeated, but whatever).

It's just the same whinging that comes from the same quarters over and over again-- I did X and Y and only got this lousy t-shirt. I did A and B and didn't get anything, and then somebody else got lucky and got that thing without even doing A and B!

These people need to be whacked upside the head with the parable of the talents.

Honestly, what did anybody expect was going to happen? It seemed obvious from the way Destiny's design is expressed in the first portion that the floor would be raised, and so would the ceiling.

So if you spent a lot of time in the raid because you thought it was fun, and got enough gear to be level 30, great! You don't lose that because now other players can get there without doing that. It doesn't take away your achievement, and it doesn't even make it invisible, as people can see what kind of armor others are wearing.

Their complaint boils down to the same thing we've been hearing since Halo 2 multiplayer: that some people feel the game functions insufficiently as a metering device for determining how good everybody is at the game and then displaying it to everyone else.

Sheesh.

Though I guess the counterpoint is that Bungie made their bed with this because they made such a big deal about how cool it is to get loot. Pro-tip everyone, trying to make yourself happy with having/acquiring "stuff" won't turn out as well as you think it would.

This isn't a decent review aside from a few points about mission length (although they fail to mention that the default game's first mission is short and also cannot be repeated, but whatever).

It's just the same whinging that comes from the same quarters over and over again-- I did X and Y and only got this lousy t-shirt. I did A and B and didn't get anything, and then somebody else got lucky and got that thing without even doing A and B!

These people need to be whacked upside the head with the parable of the talents.

Honestly, what did anybody expect was going to happen? It seemed obvious from the way Destiny's design is expressed in the first portion that the floor would be raised, and so would the ceiling.

So if you spent a lot of time in the raid because you thought it was fun, and got enough gear to be level 30, great! You don't lose that because now other players can get there without doing that. It doesn't take away your achievement, and it doesn't even make it invisible, as people can see what kind of armor others are wearing.

Sheesh.

I get your frustration with the other crowd that plays Destiny but their complaints aren't unfounded or unreasonable, because Destiny is a loot drive game.

An appropriate subtitle for Destiny would be Destiny: The quest for stuff.

Awhile back, PetetheDuck lamented about how he wasn't having any luck getting the last of the raid gear he needed, despite running the raid regularly and on multiple characters to boot. I don't play with Pete, but going by his posts I'll assume he's a pretty balanced guy since I don't see him bashing the game, or being a crybaby about things all the time, in fact he's more likely to post the positive things he like (which is a rarity on gaming forums these days) so when he complains about the randomness and frustration that is Destiny: The quest for stuff, I'm inclined to listen, as opposed to someone else who works "Destiny is Lame" into every post they make.

Destiny is a fun game, and the fundamentals are A+ work. It handles great.

But it's also random, temperamental, and arbitrary when it comes to it's own progress and reward system.

I don't get mad if someone gets the same item as me in a random loot drop where I had to chase it via a bounty or something, but I CAN empathize the frustration of it.

It does suck.

I can also empathize the frustration of pouring lots of time into something you really like in this game, only to have the ceiling raised and that work be essentially nullified.

Don't forget, this is a lot of people's first experience with an MMO\RPG.

The complaints you lament may be grating on you, but they're perfectly valid.

If Destiny we're a meal, it would be the kind where they keep serving you lots and lots of rice and then eventually, the main course FINALLY is served, but you're not hungry anymore.

Is it getting better?

Absolutely.

But it's still very transparent that aside from conquering the Raid, there still isn't much to do that doesn't get repetitive quickly.

Their complaint boils down to the same thing we've been hearing since Halo 2 multiplayer: that some people feel the game functions insufficiently as a metering device for determining how good everybody is at the game and then displaying it to everyone else.

Um....no? That's not how I read it at all. I don't see people complaining about "metering", I see people complaining about lack of narrative, artificial speed bumps, "the grind" (which is real, btw, in areas of the game. Not the WHOLE game, but it's there) and feeling shafted by how random the game can be.

Just like in Halo 2, we'll all eventually be chasing that 50 (and higher), it just means something different.

I mean, there is a big fucking number over my head where ever I run to give people an idea on how much time I've sunk into the game, and for PvE that's great, but in PvP it doesn't really do much to showcase an individual's skill. In Playstation MM when I'm dragged into crucible I have no idea if my opponents are evenly matched to my ability, I just have to hope MM does it's job, and honestly, it seems to about half the time.

So, I can see that being a legitimate complaint, for those who enjoy playing competitively in Destiny's PvP. Perhaps Halo 3's solution of a MM rank and an XP rank next to your tag might be the solution to that problem, but if you think that "metering" in Destiny is the crux of these complaints, I think you are woefully misguided.

We just need more variety in objectives, more vehicle segments, and a narrative that really engages you the whole time. All of my favorite parts of the story were when characters interacted - but that needs to happen a whole lot more than two or three cinematics to really explode the events into excitement and connect them more succinctly. I hope House of Wolves does these things (and hopefully add a new hub to one of the planets). If it doesn't, I think the DLC will probably still be a good package - it'll just be a slight bummer that the campaign, my biggest interest of Bungie games past, is the weakest (though still decent) section of Destiny.

#nailedit

Speaking of, the Art of Destiny is available now, just in time for the hoildays. (I haven't logged in in a few days, so this may have been addressed already).

You can still get old items from engrams and they will be on par with the new items, I believe.

...are hideously ugly.

Except for the Cloak of Flies. That one is really cool.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/12/10/destiny-must-truly-expand-if-it-wants-to-survive/

I miss the hope I had for this game at launch.

I said to myself, oh the Queen's event will add new story and open up new areas

I am so stupid.

EDIT: Dang, Raga beat me to it

This guy I think intuitively understands and idea I've been saying for a while: You can do more creatively with large chunks of content than you can with many smaller ones. A game that's a certain size is going to be better than another game that starts smaller, but expands to the same size via content packs.

DLC is the worst since it can't hit that critical mass. Expansions certainly can, and have in the past. The best bet is simply a full on sequel.

One could eat a bowl of soup a drop at a time, but you wouldn't have as good an experience as someone using a proper spoon.