So, to be clear, with the physical XBone copy if Destiny will have have to download/install anything before playing? If so canni preload said thing?

ALL XBone games install from disc to HDD as far as I'm aware. So, yes. However, most games allow you to start playing when the install's only partway done. You should see something like "ready to play" on the indicator once it reaches that point.

I don't see any reason you couldn't do that install ahead of time, if you somehow had the disc. It's unlikely you'd run into any trouble until you actually launched the game (and even then, it would likely just be an error due to the servers not being up yet).

Note: I've heard rumors of the servers going up today, so it's possible you wouldn't even have that trouble.

Can I install on an external hard drive, or does it have to be on the internal hard drive like the beta needed?

Can I install on an external hard drive, or does it have to be on the internal hard drive like the beta needed?

Strange, I didn't know you had to use the internal hard drive for the beta. As long as you have a USB 3.0 external it should allow you to play any game off the external.

That was my understanding, too. Perhaps it's because they built the beta before that update? It was pretty recent, I think.

Full games from before the update are supposed to work, but perhaps they've all been patched to accommodate?