Discussion thread: private/custom games (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Saturday, July 11, 2015, 20:56 (3523 days ago) @ Schooly D

On balance, has Destiny's lack of private/custom (multiplayer) games helped or hurt it so far?

Two issues there: private matches and custom game types.

- I wouldn't mind doing DBO v DBO nights from time to time. The Bungie Bounty game was great because we knew each other. I do enjoy playing with friends more than against friends though, so the lack of private matches hasn't lowered my enjoyment of Destiny's multiplayer in any significant way.

- I do not usually like custom game types. I enjoy playing the base game in multiplayer and often custom game types either skew towards the silly or towards removing game features to the point I'm almost playing a different game whose rules I'm not at all used to. Frankly, it has been nice playing with friends without worrying about disappointing them that I don't want to play their experiential or stripped down game type.

Speaking more generally, I suspect most of Halo's multiplayer population (or that of any other multiplayer game's) played and enjoyed the stock multiplayer experience of that game and only rarely branched out even to first party playlists offering differing experiences. Assuming that's true, then it's likely that the lack of private matches and custom game types has had very little effect on Destiny's multiplayer popularity or longevity. Much much less than the idea of allowing players to bring in vastly different classes and weapons and powerful Supers vs something like Halo's more uniform multiplayer experience.