Some clarification.

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Thursday, May 23, 2013, 21:52 (4211 days ago) @ HiredN00bs

I guess the point I'm trying to get at is that whatever platform on which we prefer to play Destiny, it would help, at least while the franchise is in its infancy, to have a common place we could go as a community to connect within the game.

Agreed!

So while I might primarily play the Xbox 360 version of Destiny and therefore also have an Xbox LIVE Gold account, person B might primarily play on the Xbox One which is incompatible

We don't know that yet at all. While we know the Xbox One is not backwards compatible, binary-wise (meaning it can't play 360 games, and of course the Destiny disc for the Xbox One will not play in a 360) that is entirely different from saying there is no cross-platform play on Xbox Live between 360 owners and Xbox One owners. That has certainly not been confirmed, but I have also not seen it ruled out. Theoretically it should be possible. This, I think, is just the first time that a transition between two console generations has occurred while online multiplayer is such a huge focus, while at the same time, a third party developer is releasing a multiplayer-centric game simultaneously on both old and new versions of two competing platforms.

We know the Sony and Microsoft platforms don't talk to each other, and we know that Halo games on Windows didn't talk to Xbox versions, but if MS really wanted to make the new platform a hit right away, being able to play online with 360 owners on games that exist on both generations could be a big advantage.

Or else, who knows, they didn't think about it or just can't implement it for whatever reason.

, and person C might play on the PS4 and have a 360 but not have a Gold account. By the time Destiny releases, it would be possible for us all to play and chat together on the PS3 version for no more than a couple hundred bucks a piece from scratch. It's a backup plan for finding common ground in a splintered community. It is the lowest cost starting point for playing Destiny that includes the PS3 newcomers we will soon welcome into the Bungie family.

$220 for a PS3 plus $60 for Destiny is $280. That doesn't work out for a 360 silver owner, as you can easily buy 4-5 years worth of XBL Gold for the price of the PS3. If you already have a 360, it's cheaper to get gold than buy an additional old platform. By the time you've saved money on Gold by getting a PS3, Destiny 2 will be out and probably won't be released for either Xbox 360 or PS3, and you'd have to get a new console anyway.

Right now I'd say the best platforms for the Destiny community would be:

1) PC/Mac if it existed
2) Xbox 360
3) PS4
4) PS3
5) Xbox One

I'd jump the Xbone up a spot or even into a third place tie if MS would confirm online play works between the 360 and Xbone versions of Destiny or other games released on both platforms.

Hopefully Bungie can work out cross-platform play for the sequels. PS3 <-> PS4 network play would also make Destiny on PS a better choice, IMO, but we have to wait and see on that.

I'd still put either the 360 or the PS4 ahead of the PS3. The PS4 has the advantage that it'll be getting future Destiny games, and presumably Sony will be keeping PSN free while continuing to improve it, perhaps someday reaching performance and feature parity with XBL. Neither the PS3 nor the 360 will be getting those future games, and at some point, XBL support for the 360 will be dropped.