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I would have absolutely loved a manual (was planning on reading it during the install) but I also sincerely enjoy getting lost and slowly learning the deep intricacies of the game on my own without help as time goes on, so I don't mind in terms of the actual gameplay. I just like reading real books and getting more chances for little lore details or neat artwork. Perhaps the limited edition bonus books would have fulfilled that desire. Game manuals used to be the perfect toilet-reading materials back in the Golden Age...

That bit I bolded? That has traditionally been my time killer while I wait for a game to install. Hell it still is for games I haven't played in a really long time (like Fallout 3, which I just picked up for the first time in about four years).

Like you, I don't mind occasionally getting lost and having to figure things out. It's part of the fun. But only if those things are, like you said, the intricacies. To use a quick Halo example: The weak spots on the Ghost and Wraith, and how to steal an occupied Wraith without causing undue damage. That's not in any manual, you just figure it out, and it's fun when you do.

The basics of the game and the world, however, should be given to me up front. It's my job to figure out how to take those building blocks and use them to the fullest extent possible. The fact that whomever thought shipping Destiny without a guide that explains anything was a good idea actually angers me. In game tutorials for a game of this complexity are insufficient. Unless things have changed from the beta, it tells you how to move, shoot, level up, and shop. That's it. For anything else I have to consult a third party. I should never have to consult a third party to figure out how to play your game.

I agree with you up to here:

At the very least, publish a compendium of knowledge on the game's website. Make a pdf and have it publicly available so I can be a horrible person and kill a tree printing it out. Hell, utilize the APP FOR YOUR GAME to deliver it!

Fuck that, it goes with the game, this is how it works, this is how it's worked for almost 40 years. Maybe if it was included within the game-- not on a web page you have to find, not behind a URL that's listed even, right in the game-- that might be OK. This is not OK. This isn't some glorified arcade game, it's huge. People are telling me games don't come with manuals now-- the first game I got new with no manual was Halo 4, and there was a stink raised about that; I don't know if it's statistically true, but I don't accept it as something to just be-- and frankly I don't care if no one reads them, I read them.

I don't disagree. But if someone who makes the decisions is gonna be all "NOPE." about delivering a quality manual that explains the game I just spent money on, based solely on the fact that "It isn't environmentally friendly to print, and it adds weight to every box, making it not environmentally friendly to ship!" then those are the alternatives, and I can't think of any excuse they haven't been used.

Especially in Destiny's case. Bungie has made a huge deal out of their companion app, and rightfully so, it's a fantastic thing to have access to whether you're playing or not. The fact there isn't anything in it resembling a manual when the game doesn't ship with one is an absurd omission. If there was ever a place for it that wasn't tucked inside the case, it's in that app. It isn't like it's without precedent either. GTA V has both a companion app and a separate manual app, because what came inside the case didn't adequately cover everything they wanted to tell the player.

The fact there isn't a manual in the box is stupid, and bad, and dumb. The fact there isn't a manual available at all is even worse. Especially when there is such a fantastic alternative delivery method at their disposal.