The recent thread about the Destiny Companion App made me wonder: Why is it that Destiny is so reliant on 3rd party apps, websites, and features? It's the first console game I can think of that practically requires a player to use a 3rd party site or app in order to get full use from the game. I'm talking about these features:

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

I think a huge amount of my frustration with the game is how much of "the game" isn't actually included in the game at all, and requires me to navigate many disparate interfaces, outside of the actual game. I have an entire bookmark folder dedicated purely to websites which provide features that I'd prefer were just a part of the game. The app that Bungie has provided is not as effective or efficient as 3rd party apps for the primary thing I use it for: Moving gear.

So why is this the case? Why didn't Bungie put these features in the game? Why are they actively supporting 3rd party solutions instead of providing their own solutions (which would presumably be safer, more reliable and more trustworthy)? Why have they provided systems which greatly encourage and reward min-maxing but provided no tools whatsoever for achieving maximums or even the necessary tools for knowing what the maxes are?

In a computer MMO, these wouldn't be an issue because you could use a UI that integrated all of these features, but a console based game is a self contained entity and, as such, I think Bungie really needs to put a crapload more customization options in, as well as lots and lots and lots more data as well as more powerful means of interacting with it than physically moving your guardian to each location (especially when those locations are sometimes two loading screens apart, as when you want to go from the reef to the tower).

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

All of this, with exception of maybe Maps are very common in RPGs. *shrugs* It's just part of the way developers usually choose to do it. Also PvP performance is also more commonly on a website hosted by the company (like it is now).

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I think of it the other way around (at least in regards to DIM & stat tracking sites). How awesome is it that Bungie is providing the hooks for other developers to interface with Destiny? Pretty dang awesome.

Admittedly, some of these things (public event timers) would be nice to have in-game.

Admittedly, some of these things (public event timers) would be nice to have in-game.

Isn't the whole idea of public events supposed to be you don't know when or where one will come?

The recent thread about the Destiny Companion App made me wonder: Why is it that Destiny is so reliant on 3rd party apps, websites, and features? It's the first console game I can think of that practically requires a player to use a 3rd party site or app in order to get full use from the game. I'm talking about these features:

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

I feel like the last gen consoles are an easy place to look... Seems like Destiny presses against the technical bounds of the last gen consoles all the time in its current form. All of these other features might just melt the 360 or PS3.

The recent thread about the Destiny Companion App made me wonder: Why is it that Destiny is so reliant on 3rd party apps, websites, and features? It's the first console game I can think of that practically requires a player to use a 3rd party site or app in order to get full use from the game. I'm talking about these features:

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

I feel like the last gen consoles are an easy place to look... Seems like Destiny presses against the technical bounds of the last gen consoles all the time in its current form. All of these other features might just melt the 360 or PS3.

And by proxy, activision? Since they were the ones that chose to release for 360/PS3 (right? am I off base there?).

The recent thread about the Destiny Companion App made me wonder: Why is it that Destiny is so reliant on 3rd party apps, websites, and features? It's the first console game I can think of that practically requires a player to use a 3rd party site or app in order to get full use from the game. I'm talking about these features:

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

I feel like the last gen consoles are an easy place to look... Seems like Destiny presses against the technical bounds of the last gen consoles all the time in its current form. All of these other features might just melt the 360 or PS3.

And by proxy, activision? Since they were the ones that chose to release for 360/PS3 (right? am I off base there?).

Let's blame Activision. That's probably not too far off base... And the whole Collector's Edition Taken King stuff is on them too.

The recent thread about the Destiny Companion App made me wonder: Why is it that Destiny is so reliant on 3rd party apps, websites, and features? It's the first console game I can think of that practically requires a player to use a 3rd party site or app in order to get full use from the game. I'm talking about these features:

Forming a group or raid for high end content
Accessing World event trackers and timers
Quickly swapping gear between your characters
Examining possible perks for gear, as well as comparing items when you don't actually own or have immediate access to one or both of the items that you want to compare.
PvP performance over time and world rankings
Actual weapon stats, TTK comparisons, etc..
Loot drop locations, chances, etc..
World lore and backstory. Actually, all "story," back or otherwise.
Predictions of vendor items which will show up later that week.
Vendor locations
Vendor inventories
Actual locations of bounty targets
Maps
etc etc etc

I feel like the last gen consoles are an easy place to look... Seems like Destiny presses against the technical bounds of the last gen consoles all the time in its current form. All of these other features might just melt the 360 or PS3.

There are other games out there on 360/PS3 that came out a long time ago and are able to do all these things and more.

Displaying text and listing items are not technically demanding features.

I have the most fun with public events when they just happen while I'm doing something else.

There are other games out there on 360/PS3 that came out a long time ago and are able to do all these things and more.

Displaying text and listing items are not technically demanding features.

Do any of these games you're thinking of operate like Destiny does on a network level? I'm just curious where we could compare with other titles that have the same sort of live-world, MMOish functionality. Diablo 3's console port maybe?

It's the computer networked age. Every other form of entertainment has supplamental material on the internet that can be accessed via other devices. Buy a song on CD, look up the lyrics on a web page, watch the music video on youtube (MTV is dead, right?), and go down to your local stadium for a concert.

Maybe Bungie isn't distributing the resources around the way some would prefer, but I don't think that cramming it all into the game is what we really want for the future of games.

Side effect: The fans have more tools and abilities to do what they've always done. It used to require some real reverse engineering or be impossible to pull info out of a game, and heaven forbid you put info into it. Now I can browse my stands from the internet and set up armor sets to switch around before I even get home.

Just one mans humble opinion :)

I don't think I accept the premise of your question.

You don't need anything third-party to fully enjoy game. Bungie has long had hooks that third-parties could then use as they will, but how is that characterized as leaning heavily on third-parties?

Not gonna lie, the number of lunches at work on a Tuesday where I've decided what character to do the Nightfall with and then being able to tailor which weapons, armor, and exotics to use to it so that it's all done the moment I log in at home? All of them priceless.

I feel like the last gen consoles are an easy place to look... Seems like Destiny presses against the technical bounds of the last gen consoles all the time in its current form. All of these other features might just melt the 360 or PS3.

There are other games out there on 360/PS3 that came out a long time ago and are able to do all these things and more.

Displaying text and listing items are not technically demanding features.

We know that the Vault is pushing against the technical limits though . . . so I would assume something similar to the companion app in-game would push the limits in a similar sense. And further remember, we only ever load the vault in a small nearly deterministic area (The Tower) versus in any of the dynamic environments.

I tried out a public event timer way back when. Stripped almost all the fun out of patrol. Random encounters make for a far more interesting experience.

BF4 lets you change classes and setups from a web portal. It is much more efficient then trying to do it in game and some stuff like vehicle camo patterns wasn't in game till later.

Both COD and BF4 have other sites that datamine for weapon stats, ttk etc. WoW even has WoWhead for gear checks.

How is Destiny different?

On the one hand, I can definitely see the utility of knowing when they'll occur (mostly due to the "3 public events" bounty), but on the other hand, I have to agree it's more fun when one happens and I'm NOT expecting it.

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See Kermit - the echo chamber is just too freaking strong.

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On the one hand, I can definitely see the utility of knowing when they'll occur (mostly due to the "3 public events" bounty), but on the other hand, I have to agree it's more fun when one happens and I'm NOT expecting it.

I especially enjoy when they hit while you're on the way to a strike. That's when Destiny really feels like the Destiny demoed last summer.

In other news, I've been leveling up my final character, and I feel vulnerable on patrol now, which is a big improvement. Every public event runs the risk of failure, and it's always exciting and a relief when other guardians show up to save the day.

See Kermit - the echo chamber is just too freaking strong.

Also, they've plainly stated their philosophy--they're eager to see what we do with the game because that informs what they do with the game.

In Halo's progression, game types, theater mode, forge--all were features added that enabled fans to more easily do what they had already started doing on their own.

See Kermit - the echo chamber is just too freaking strong.

Also, they've plainly stated their philosophy--they're eager to see what we do with the game because that informs what they do with the game.

In Halo's progression, game types, theater mode, forge--all were features added that enabled fans to more easily do what they had already started doing on their own.

There's a great bit of discussion in last week's Guardian Radio podcast about the nature of the Destiny community, and how much of it probably wouldn't exist if Bungie did everything for us in game. They were coming at it specifically in terms of matchmaking for raids and other top level activities. Personally, I can totally relate to the sentiment.

If Raids had matchmaking, I might not have come here to these forums and asked for help putting a group together.

I might not have had such a great first experience with the Vault of Glass.

I might not have found such a fantastic group of people to play with every night of the week.

I might not have dedicated a month of playtime to earning the Flawless Raider trophy, which stands in my memory as one of the greatest gaming moments I've ever had.

I might not have done a 2nd flawless raider run through Crota's End, which was another amazing experience.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you all get the point I'm trying to make. It's tough, because I do often find myself sitting on the couch wishing I could quickly matchmake my way in to a raid or nightfall, but I'm equally grateful those features don't exist in game. By forcing me to go look outside of the game itself, I've found a group of friends who make this game what it is for me.

I might not have dedicated a month of playtime to earning the Flawless Raider trophy, which stands in my memory as one of the greatest gaming moments I've ever had.

I might not have done a 2nd flawless raider run through Crota's End, which was another amazing experience.

Next up is flawless PoE 35. Lol. Nope. :-p

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See Kermit - the echo chamber is just too freaking strong.

Also, they've plainly stated their philosophy--they're eager to see what we do with the game because that informs what they do with the game.

In Halo's progression, game types, theater mode, forge--all were features added that enabled fans to more easily do what they had already started doing on their own.

There's a great bit of discussion in last week's Guardian Radio podcast about the nature of the Destiny community, and how much of it probably wouldn't exist if Bungie did everything for us in game. They were coming at it specifically in terms of matchmaking for raids and other top level activities. Personally, I can totally relate to the sentiment.

If Raids had matchmaking, I might not have come here to these forums and asked for help putting a group together.

I might not have had such a great first experience with the Vault of Glass.

I might not have found such a fantastic group of people to play with every night of the week.

I might not have dedicated a month of playtime to earning the Flawless Raider trophy, which stands in my memory as one of the greatest gaming moments I've ever had.

I might not have done a 2nd flawless raider run through Crota's End, which was another amazing experience.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you all get the point I'm trying to make. It's tough, because I do often find myself sitting on the couch wishing I could quickly matchmake my way in to a raid or nightfall, but I'm equally grateful those features don't exist in game. By forcing me to go look outside of the game itself, I've found a group of friends who make this game what it is for me.

Totally agree. We've discussed it before, I think. The more investment you make going in, the greater reward you get coming out.

On the one hand, I can definitely see the utility of knowing when they'll occur (mostly due to the "3 public events" bounty), but on the other hand, I have to agree it's more fun when one happens and I'm NOT expecting it.

I especially enjoy when they hit while you're on the way to a strike. That's when Destiny really feels like the Destiny demoed last summer.

I love to hit public events that happen while I'm on a strike. It's one of my favorite things. The only time I wish the schedule was in-game is when trying to get my "3 public events" bounty done. I rarely do that now.

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