New OXM with Destiny cover story hits shelves today! Mostly a recap of the February reveal, but also exclusive interview with Joe Staten. Here are some interesting tidbits worth mentioning:

“Bigger than Call of Duty? More epic than Halo? This isn’t hyperbole; it’s the studio’s clear goal.”

OXM may clarify Vanguard issue: “Jason, who’s currently using his Titan character, a bigger breed of Guardian wearing tough Vanguard armor.”

In-game currency earned: “in competitive multiplayer” and from “bounties completed for a mysterious character called the Queen of the Reef.”

“Bungie claims travel will be ‘fun, compelling, and timely.’”

New classes/types of Cabal mentioned – Legionnaires and Centurions.

“It’s eerie, otherworldly, and beautiful; we recall our awe of first exiting a Halo dropship or scouring a new Mass Effect planet.”

“[Marty] O’Donnell noted that new tunes that more directly reflect what’s happening on screen will be crafted.”

“We spent a lot of time looking at episodic television…any show that’ve managed to sustain a universe for many years…” –Joe Staten

“Destiny is choice, it allows you to buck fate and carve your own path through the world.” –Joe Staten

Also, if you want to see the May issue for free, you can get it by starting a 1-month trial of OXM on your iPad or iPhone. Go here: http://goo.gl/4pYBp

Awesome! This game keeps sounding cooler and cooler. Thanks for the heads up, I might get that Trial Membership you mentioned as well.

In-game currency earned: “in competitive multiplayer”

I hope they have more than just getting a payout after every game. I would like something with a little more suspense, like a FFA playlist that is pay to play. Every player puts some money on the pot and the top three players split the pot. The same would go for team games, especially if we have clan support.

Kinda like wager matches in CoD. I like it.

Maybe make it like a gladiator tournament. You stake what you want. Winner takes all.

I hope Bungie is able to capture the sense of distance traveled. One thing I can't stand about games it how fast travel eliminates the sense of scale of the world.

I hope Bungie is able to capture the sense of distance traveled. One thing I can't stand about games it how fast travel eliminates the sense of scale of the world.

Totally. I love the Elder Scrolls games, but I still hate the fact that I could fast travel anywhere, anytime, even though I choose not to. I actually go into the initialization file and remove the option just to add immersion.

Older JRPGs that I've played in the past usually nailed that sense of a larger world with their world maps.

Totally. I love the Elder Scrolls games, but I still hate the fact that I could fast travel anywhere, anytime, even though I choose not to. I actually go into the initialization file and remove the option just to add immersion.

I'm guessing you haven't played Daggerfall, or else modified your decision-making practices when you did. :)

The magazine described Jason's ship as a carrier: "Jason's carrier is a sleek scout-class ship he earned through winnings in competitive multiplayer..."

Now from the context it sounds like they are just using it as a synonym for ship, but what a strange word to describe a space ship unless maybe he can carry fellow players or drones?

I hope Bungie is able to capture the sense of distance traveled. One thing I can't stand about games it how fast travel eliminates the sense of scale of the world.

"fun, compelling, and timely" seem to say it'll definitely be more than fast travel. Unless they are going to put in a puzzle game or something during fast travel I can't really imagine them using that description for a feature that is "click, you're there!'

Fast travel has its purposes, I'd hate for long travel times to be a barrier between friends wanting a quick play session.

I like it when the fast travel option has a penalty - you can get there quick when needed, but it might cost you extra credits (or something like that).

Totally. I love the Elder Scrolls games, but I still hate the fact that I could fast travel anywhere, anytime, even though I choose not to. I actually go into the initialization file and remove the option just to add immersion.

I'm guessing you haven't played Daggerfall, or else modified your decision-making practices when you did. :)

I only ever watched people play it. :) I'm referring to Oblivion and Skyrim. Morrowind did fast travel well with boats and silt striders.

"[Destiny] will include lower level interactions... with a type of communication called 'emotes.'"

Interesting...

I just want to get in my cool ship and fly right into the action with my crew.

Maybe you fast tavel (warp) to certain sectors or points of interest (planet, moon, space station) and those sectors have expansive areas to explore via spaceship or pike. I don't think fast travel or ways of quickly meeting up with friends should be eliminated, but why have a badass spaceship or hover bike if you can't use it...

Can you imagine having your own Starfleet?!

They talk about in the article that a lot of their inspiration came from the great TV shows they have been watching, especially the episodic ones. I like the idea of having episodic missions in games, and I can imagine that means there will be more content too. That is one thing I always loved about RPG's, even MMORPG's, the side-quests! Give me lots of missions, let me save some guy's daughter from a space dragon!

"[Destiny] will include lower level interactions... with a type of communication called 'emotes.'"

Interesting...

The question is, in practice, how far will it really go beyond creative application of the left analogue stick?

...Should be interesting. :)

My god...

Kinda like wager matches in CoD. I like it.

Maybe make it like a gladiator tournament. You stake what you want. Winner takes all.

While I find the idea interesting, you could easily exploit it if some of the people are working together in "FFA".

Maybe if you could only fight other people in other clans? An "honor duel" type FFA fight where there are actual stakes on the line sounds pretty awesome.

I only ever watched people play it. :) I'm referring to Oblivion and Skyrim. Morrowind did fast travel well with boats and silt striders.

I was about to bring that example up.

Sure, Fast Travel made the other games progress more quickly, but I found myself missing the feel of going to places on foot, or having to go to the sparse waystations for fast travel.

If such a thing as Scrolls-esque fast travel were to be implemented somewhere in Destiny, maybe a middle ground could be met? Something like, you CAN fast travel around for speed's sake, but you'd be missing out on *important* events that *can only* come up if you're out "in the field."

To be honest though, I have a feeling Destiny won't work like that. :)

"[Destiny] will include lower level interactions... with a type of communication called 'emotes.'"

Interesting...

I imagine they'd be like the ones used in Demon's Souls or Dark Souls.

EDIT: And if that is the case, they'd better be putting in a "Well! What is it?" Cabal be shaking in their space walrus booties when they see me busting that sucker out.

http://youtu.be/Hznb8eSGn_I?t=57s

If I can't pull off a team mate's head and hold it out of their reach I have no interest in this.

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There was a lot of clarification on some topics that I had been wondering about, so that's good. I really do hope that travel is something that is important, it would be really cool if you could run into a couple of Fallen ships and have a dog fight. Or maybe have some competitive multiplayer in space. Also, Sci Fi Jousting needs to be a multiplayer gametype.

If such a thing as Scrolls-esque fast travel were to be implemented somewhere in Destiny, maybe a middle ground could be met? Something like, you CAN fast travel around for speed's sake, but you'd be missing out on *important* events that *can only* come up if you're out "in the field."

To be honest though, I have a feeling Destiny won't work like that. :)

What makes you say that? That's pretty much exactly what I'm expecting, until we hear otherwise.

~M

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If such a thing as Scrolls-esque fast travel were to be implemented somewhere in Destiny, maybe a middle ground could be met? Something like, you CAN fast travel around for speed's sake, but you'd be missing out on *important* events that *can only* come up if you're out "in the field."

To be honest though, I have a feeling Destiny won't work like that. :)

What makes you say that? That's pretty much exactly what I'm expecting, until we hear otherwise.

~M

Well, Elder Scrolls games are set up as one big world map that you fast travel around. I get the impression that Destiny is going to be more like Phantasy Star Universe's handling of hubs and mission areas, then the big open world thing.

In PSU you would go to multiple hub cities on different planets. Then you could travel to different areas of the hub to access different mission areas. Also, a great deal of mission areas were only accessible from *other* mission areas. There was fast travel between hub worlds, but not between mission areas, if that makes sense.

But only once. And it's not nearly as satisfying.

I used to love the whole "gear up in town before heading out" in old-school D&D sessions, but fast-travel and Town Portal scrolls kill that a bit. I've made a rule never to fast travel in Bethesda games (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, etc) in order to preserve the world scale.

Limiting access to a location sets context. It adds that "let's go on a quest" or great journey state of mind. I'm open to the "fast travel between hub" method you describe.

I want space travel to be meaningful.

I just want to get in my cool ship and fly right into the action with my crew.

Maybe you fast tavel (warp) to certain sectors or points of interest (planet, moon, space station) and those sectors have expansive areas to explore via spaceship or pike. I don't think fast travel or ways of quickly meeting up with friends should be eliminated, but why have a badass spaceship or hover bike if you can't use it...

Would they ever make travel time a real thing? Would there be playable content way out there? How many people would actually go if that's what it took? Can I elect to fly my ship to another galaxy even though I'd never get there? The solar system is an awesome way to have borders without borders (think Silent Cartographer island).

Let's just say that with the basic ship it'll take 16 hours of real time to get to Pluto. But then, what if I dedicated all my assets to upgrading my ship so that I could fly you there in 15 minutes...would people pay me to bring them out there?

Eh, I guess that really doesn't work - what the hell would you be doing while I flew you there...offline? Staring at a bulkhead? But the basic idea is a bit intriguing as a way to "soft-barrier" more difficult areas, and to keep the "what the hell else is out there" sort of wonder.

Limiting access to a location sets context. It adds that "let's go on a quest" or great journey state of mind. I'm open to the "fast travel between hub" method you describe.

I want space travel to be meaningful.

I definitely get the vibe that's what it's going to be like. (And I'll be so flippin happy if that's what it indeed is.)

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Fast travel has its purposes, I'd hate for long travel times to be a barrier between friends wanting a quick play session.

This, This, This.
There has to be a middle ground. I hate clicking on a map and watching a loading screen and poof, but I don't have the time I had a few years ago, when I could walk across Oblivion on foot, stopping at every dungeon on the way.

I like it when the fast travel option has a penalty - you can get there quick when needed, but it might cost you extra credits (or something like that).

I think what I really want is a really fast slow-travel. I'd like to see the scale, have a lot of control over my ship, and yet do it in under a minute or so, so I can get to where I want to go feeling like I got me there. I would kill to see something like gates, with tolls, that I'd actually fly into (Cowboy Bebop anyone?), watch the solar system screaming past, and then navigate the small distance to the planet from there still having it take a very short time. Then, maybe there'd be the option to skip the gate, and the toll, and hit an asteroid or two.

I can dream, can't I?

Also, do we think we can even meet up at a location, or will we always start together at a hub?

Make it happen Bungle.

You're right, that would not make sense. I mean, I'm sure they're trying to talk everything up as much as possible, but it seems unlikely they'd describe a static load screen in those terms.

Still, what IS it? Argh!

You're right, that would not make sense. I mean, I'm sure they're trying to talk everything up as much as possible, but it seems unlikely they'd describe a static load screen in those terms.

Still, what IS it? Argh!

It is going to be a Star Fox clone.