Destiny - Let's Roll!

[SPCTRE]

Definitely not a good deal if you don't plan on doing the new lvl 30+ raid, it's by far the main attraction here.

Even if you're extremely into the multiplayer (not a ton of people are), 3 new maps would still be kind of a bad value.

The story missions are okay in terms of gameplay, but they are a joke in terms of, well, story - not a single cutscene in there. Not a single one.

 

[Servo]

Wow. Sounds pretty grim. I don't play Crucible matches, and even though I have a 28 Titan and a 24 Warlock, I've mostly played solo, and haven't even run Vault of Glass yet. Doesn't sound like it's worth the money for me at the moment then.

Cheers for the heads-up.

 

[SPCTRE]

Sure thing.

I think it's a mistake that they're calling this DLC an "expansion pack", as that brings with it a certain expectation as to its breadth and density of content. It's DLC, and (at least slightly) overpriced. 12-15 bucks would probably feel a lot more easy to justify for what's on offer here.

 

[SPCTRE]

MiamiWesker over on GAF ranted a little about the vanilla raid (VoG), and I have to say I agree.

The whole raid thing is maddening to me. The vault of glass, and I assume the new one based off impressions and the first room which I played, is one of the greatest online FPS experiences I have ever had. The design of that raid is so unique and interesting, the complete opposite of the rest of the game. So why in the hell is the best part of the game locked away from a huge chunk of the users.

There are a ton of people that don't have enough friends or time to coordinate a raid. Many have no clue about those matchmaking sites, why would they, it's the games job to provide the content. A bunch of destiny owners will never play the raid which is a huge shame.

The raid should be the entire game. I can see the amazing level design, it's proof right there that Bungie can make amazing gameplay content and yet 90% of the game is basic almost horde mode like stuff. Imagine if Zelda was mostly an open world fetch quest game, the worst kind of MMO garbage and then there was one Zelda dungeon at the end. Wouldn't you be confused as to why the whole game wasn't built around the dungeons?

The raid mechanics and that style of mission could be done in normal story missions. It could even be done in single player. Raid gameplay doesn't need to be 2 hour long gauntlets with a perfect 6 team squad. There is so much they could do with that kind of game structure, having very specific unique goals, puzzles to solve, new gameplay mechanics to discover, bosses which require unique strategies. That's should be the game!

 

[FPAlpha]

That's what happens when you make strategic mistakes early on in the game design and don't notice it until it's much too late.

Some companies pull the plug at the last minute and try to save what can be saved, others close their eyes and pray for the best.

I haven't touched Destiny in weeks because i was bored out of my mind once i had completed the "story" (of which i barely can recall anything). Go there and shoot some stuff up until you reach the area boss and then shoot him too.

Well.. it's not the 90s anymore and that won't fly with today's casual gamers (who still make up the biggest part of the sales).

As that guy said the Raids, supposedly the best part, are closed off to a great part of the gamers and that includes me too.
I know exactly 4 guys who own a PS4, one even has Destiny but is not a hardcore gamer so raiding is out of the question for me (unless i actively start browsing boards to arrange such a thing which doesn't sound like a good idea if the Raids are as difficult as they appear to be).

So a much touted feature is unreachable for me and there's not much else to do but grinding for gear which i find horrible.

I can't even sell the game because i wanted to try out the download feature of PSN

Destiny 2 has to really knock it out of the park if they want my money again and i certainly won't be a first day buyer again.

 

[SPCTRE]

The Dark Below DLC highlights the worst parts of Destiny

Thin content and baffling, inexcusable changes, all yours for $20.

[...]

When I discovered this (and after hundreds of hours of playing on a daily basis) Destiny finally clicked for me. It has all the trappings of the most abusive, microtransaction laden mobile game: time gated content, infuriatingly random drops, and multiple currencies that change in importance on a whim.

I will say, the article is a bit harsh, but not undeservedly so.

 

[martok2112]

Much as I enjoy Destiny, I haven't been arsed to wanna get the new content since I've been playing CoD:Advanced Warfare.....which seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from Destiny, but has executed it much better.

I remember when I first started playing Modern Warfare....I said "this is the FPS that all other FPS's wanna grow up to be". So far, the same can be said now about Advanced Warfare....imvho.

 

[SPCTRE]

There are certainly parallels to be drawn in the gameplay department, especially with the movement, overall they're very different games with very different design ambitions though.

AW is a great game, but it's not trying to be more than a traditional CoD game/contemporary FPS. Destiny is trying (and failing in many if not most respects) to marry contemporary FPS design with MMORPG elements.

 

[Kemaiku]

I found AW's campaign to be one of the best in years though, a solid story from beginning to end and about as ambiguous as CoD gets. I mean really, Call of Duty actually questioned America's continued war mongering and drone use, everyone take a minute.

Destiny...well one of the most consistent complaints levelled at it is that it essentially has no story, certainly not an interesting one, which is sorely needed in an RPG.

 

[Servo]

I'm in a very similar position to FPAlpha. My PS4 friends list is 90% real life friends, and a few people I've played DCUO with. None of them seem to have bothered with Destiny, so I'm shit out of luck when it comes to getting a raid party together from my friends list, and I can't be bothered having to trawl fan sites to get into a group. A couple of my Xbox One friends play Destiny, but I'm not buying another copy of the game and starting from scratch for the sake of half a raid party.

I think Bungie have dropped the ball on this one, to be honest. It's needlessly restrictive, and feels like they're basically saying that if I'm not best buds with the five other people in the group, we won't complete the raid. I mean, it's not like we're experienced gamers with mics who can talk to each other, right?

They need to add matchmaking for raids. Or at the very least, some kind of in-game communication, like a shoutbox, for getting groups together. If Bungie are worried about trolling, or the shoutbox being abused, then add a profanity filter, restrict the number of characters you can post, and only allow people to post one message every 60 seconds or so. Like the LFG channel on DCUO. Simple.

 

[SPCTRE]

Basically, it comes down to this: Luke Smith (one of the lead designers) is a huge fan of Vanilla WoW . He wants Destiny to be a lot like that. Which is kind of impossible, as Destiny is - by design (!), fully intentionally - not actually an MMORPG. There isn't even a looking for group chat or any form of ingame clan/guild tools or channels.

So, you either use external tools, play with a group of friends, or you don't play the most interesting and arguably best content in the game.

 

[SPCTRE]

It's time to return to the Reef, DLC II (HoW) is here!

 

[martok2112]

I had really backed off of Destiny, being rather pissed off at them for fucking up the exotic weapon quests.

I was in the middle of questing for yet another Exotic weapon, when they suddenly seemed to decide that now, missions that I used to be able to play on my own suddenly had to be done with other players. I didn't care for that. I prefer to play solo, and Bungie frakked that up.

I am thinking about getting back into it, just to see what House of Wolves is all about....but I ain't holding my breath.

 

[martok2112]

Well, I got back into Destiny, bit the bullet, and played the Weekly Challenge with two other players. We accomplished the mission quite well, and I got my new Exotic... the Invective shotgun. (Now, I'm just trying to grind it up for its regenerative ammo abilities....like my Fire and Ice sniper rifle, which came with the ability right out of the box. )

 

[SPCTRE]

"Finished" DLC II last night (i.e. completed "story" missions [still kind of a joke], the Shadow Thief strike, and the PoE [28]). Only thing we haven't tried yet is ToO since we're lacking a third player and can't be arsed to manually matchmake someone at this point

Overall, it's a great piece of content, with a nice variety of stuff to do on a daily basis, which so far simply wasn't there, and a vast set of subtle but very sensible smaller changes.

If the game would have launched at its current state, feedback likely would have been a lot more positive across the board.

Oh, and No Land Beyond dropped from the key chest in PoE, super fun and ridiculous to play around with.

 

[martok2112]

Niiiiiice!

 

[martok2112]

On a playthrough with Prison of Elders, I got both an Exotic and a Legendary shotgun.
Exotic: The Fourth Horseman.
Legendary: Her Courtesy

WOW! I don't think I've ever fared that well before.

 

[SPCTRE]

Cool! I'll play around with NLB a bit more, then shard it to ascend my Pocket Infinity. NLB is a fun, silly weapon, but not a keeper (bad for PvE, mediocre for PvP).

Overall really satisfied with the DLC, I could definitely see playing daily now as there is enough variety in activities. Alas, I don't have the time

 

[martok2112]

Cool! I'll play around with NLB a bit more, then shard it to ascend my Pocket Infinity. NLB is a fun, silly weapon, but not a keeper (bad for PvE, mediocre for PvP).

Overall really satisfied with the DLC, I could definitely see playing daily now as there is enough variety in activities. Alas, I don't have the time

I'm still trying to grind up my Invective shotgun for the self-regenerative ammo.

I'll tell you something. Fire and Ice, a sniper rifle that comes with regenerative ammo right out of the box is probably the handiest weapon I have for PvE. It's saved my bacon a couple of times in PvP, but not that often.

Now, if there was a fusion rifle with self-regenerating ammo....

 

[Rincewiend]

Saw the Destiny - Vanguard Edition at my local games/toy store for €18 for the PS3 version...
€20 for the PS4 version...
Hefty pricedrop...