[Megathread] Destiny

[Belize]

Well lets leave out the entertaining game bit and just settle for decent match making in a 100+ dollar game in 2018/19.

Cant believe bungie cant even do that, amateurs

I know you're just negative Nancy, but D2 does have a pretty good matchmaking system.

It just simply isn't used everywhere that it should.

[Bugg]

would you say it's finally worth picking up for a PC player who mostly solo plays? I'm not adverse to using matchmaking to jump into group runs, but I don't have many online friends who are into shooters.

Depends on how much enjoyment one gets out of it. There are tens of hours of gameplay for a solo player.

I don't think matchmaking would work for raids in Destiny, since it's not like in WoW where you could have 1-x players slacking. Here everyone has one job do to. Check youtube and you will see what I mean

Personally I play every other day with 2-3 friends from work and in weekend I often go to a raid. Our clan is pretty big , with members from NA and EU, so there's always someone who can help with anything. Let me know if you want to know more.

[dope_danny]

https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/47630

Well this is interesting in terms of post activision changes. Trials is dead. "Indefinite Hiatus" specifically. While iron banner is sticking around for now the pvp crowd -that exists in destiny for some reason- are getting pretty upset at the pvp equivalent of "raids are on hiatus" in terms of high end endgame content for people not into pve. Apparently some of the devs have mentioned some stuff about "the current climate for pvp is too competitive", which i guess is a little ironic, but it does make you wonder about the state of pve, pvp and balancing in the future. I mean you would assume buying their freedom and the ip rights back meant the game is going to get another major update or release instead of stagnate with seasons forever like diablo 3 does but it just seems surprising to see the halo company start to give up on pvp as a competitive idea.

[Onikaroshi]

https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/47630

Well this is interesting in terms of post activision changes. Trials is dead. "Indefinite Hiatus" specifically. While iron banner is sticking around for now the pvp crowd -that exists in destiny for some reason- are getting pretty upset at the pvp equivalent of "raids are on hiatus" in terms of high end endgame content for people not into pve. Apparently some of the devs have mentioned some stuff about "the current climate for pvp is too competitive", which i guess is a little ironic, but it does make you wonder about the state of pve, pvp and balancing in the future. I mean you would assume buying their freedom and the ip rights back meant the game is going to get another major update or release instead of stagnate with seasons forever like diablo 3 does but it just seems surprising to see the halo company start to give up on pvp as a competitive idea.

Isn't the point of pvp to like.... be competitive? Or am I missing something here.

[dope_danny]

Isn't the point of pvp to like.... be competitive? Or am I missing something here.

Part of the reason Destiny 2's pvp changed so harshly from the first in terms of team size, balancing and even map size was the intention to "balance for esports and make it more enjoyable for people watching streamers" which kind of conflicts with the 'no fun allowed' strict balancing of hardcore pvp. You can go back to the MLG Halo days and the preference was maps as bare as possible with as little 'bullshit' like gravity lifts or vehicles. Just players, some lanes and bridges and the most basic weapons.

It kind of feels like mobas in a way in hindsight. The userbase wanted league of legends and destiny 2 gave them heroes of the storm instead.

[nekobaka]

Isn't the point of pvp to like.... be competitive? Or am I missing something here.

Personal view in general complaints from the more casual playerbase over the state of competitive and trials not being fun and unwilling to participate in them like previously leading to such modes drying up. This was also a problem with trials in late D1 so D2 balancing was just another added point to a decaying system. The more RNG nature of match making was also a point of complaint vs a more typical rank based system. Devs have been getting a lot more flack for having exclusive rewards behind such activities and even the more accessible ones also drawing a lot of hate. So putting more rewards to get players to run it was not going to work. Much of the community drama is more of players both PVP and PVE over lack of better communication regarding this and other issues. At least vocally the portion of the playerbase that actually gives a shit about trials is small in comparison.

I think it is a big problem with Bungie's usual behavior of remove a complained about feature while they can figure out how to revamp it like factions for example. In the state of trials though there had already been so much complaints about devs letting it rot before its removal that I dont mind.

[Edge-]

"the current climate for pvp is too competitive"

Wait...didn't they make a whole bunch of unpopular design decisions specifically to try to turn PvP into more of an esport?

This strikes me more as them looking where they can cut resources now that they don't have High Moon/Vicarious Visions helping them anymore, that or they're realizing that their efforts to make PvP a "thing" and turn it into an esport have gone nowhere so far and aren't going anywhere in the future.

I mean you would assume buying their freedom and the ip rights back meant the game is going to get another major update or release instead of stagnate with seasons forever like diablo 3 does but it just seems surprising to see the halo company start to give up on pvp as a competitive idea.

It's reasonable to expect there to be some slowdown/bumps during the transition - they're losing access to the support studios they previously had helping them, lost access to additional publishing support/money from Activision, and need to figure out how they can support the game on their own moving forward.

It's not looking like D3 at all, there's still shit coming around the bend it's just going to likely be a bit slower/smaller scale than initially planned.

[nekobaka]

Wait...didn't they make a whole bunch of unpopular design decisions specifically to try to turn PvP into more of an esport?

This strikes me more as them looking where they can cut resources now that they don't have High Moon/Vicarious Visions helping them anymore, that or they're realizing that their efforts to make PvP a "thing" and turn it into an esport have gone nowhere so far and aren't going anywhere in the future.



It's reasonable to expect there to be some slowdown/bumps during the transition - they're losing access to the support studios they previously had helping them, lost access to additional publishing support/money from Activision, and need to figure out how they can support the game on their own moving forward.

It's not looking like D3 at all, there's still shit coming around the bend it's just going to likely be a bit slower/smaller scale than initially planned.

At least context from the devs comments I have seen as it was more of a hopeful dream and not a direct this is what we are shooting for like Blizzard did with WoW arenas.

The support studios from what I see are in regard to PC and outside of that in comparison of D1 dont seem to have any impact to overall produced product content. I could be incorrect at which point Bungie is even slower than previous. I do not really see the state of trials as a result of the split. The issue as I see is with Bungie and their ability to redesign trials into something the current PVP player base want to play. They just do not know how. Bungie has competitive mode that is somewhat tooting along that I would say is far from esport ready. Much complained weapon system changes was revered along with ability cooldowns reduced and still PVP interest diminishes. Id say feels a lot like WoW now.

[Bugg]

There were no 'good news' about Jokers wild so far. The silence from Bungo can be interpreted (and it is by me) as a 'well we got nothing exciting to say'.
If they had something Exciting (NEW exotics like in Black Armory, new catalysts for non-D1 exotics, new game mods, dungeons, pvp map and mods, raids, etc) I think we would have heard something by now. We will know more in the following weeks.

Regarding Trials and PvP: I agree with this opinion.

Anthem and The Division 2 will be (are?) strong competitors. I hope this competition will force all of the three players to get better.

[Edge-]

At least context from the devs comments I have seen as it was more of a hopeful dream and not a direct this is what we are shooting for like Blizzard did with WoW arenas.

I dunno, IIRC their justification for a lot of things like dropping down teamsizes, increasing TTK, and a whole bunch of other unpopular decisions were more driven by a desire to turn the PvP into an esports thing. There were a bunch of interviews on this ahead of launch and it seemed like something they were hot on pushing...and then the game happened and they had to spend the first full year desperately trying to dig out of a hole.

I mean this is good in that it gives them a tighter focus, but it's also kinda embarrassing when a big initiative for them gets put to sleep less than a year and a half after launch, having gone precisely nowhere to begin with.

The support studios from what I see are in regard to PC and outside of that in comparison of D1 dont seem to have any impact to overall produced product content.

Vicarious Visions handled the PC port, but they were also apparently largely responsible for Warmind (the far better of the 2 DLC's). They did the bulk of the heavy lifting with that DLC while Bungie worked on other projects. High Moon also apparently worked extensively on Forsaken. Both were definitely far more than just simple porting studios, and the loss of those teams will most likely be felt.

I do not really see the state of trials as a result of the split. The issue as I see is with Bungie and their ability to redesign trials into something the current PVP player base want to play. They just do not know how.

I think this may be part of it, you're very right. They've never seemed to have a great handle on PvP, and even their much lauded plans that would have given them far more control over PvP balance (no RNG drops with guns, all guns have static rolls) ended up being literally nothing as there was next to zero weapon-specific balance. All we saw was the same kinds of sweeping balance changes from Destiny 1 - all auto-rifle damage dropped, all hand-cannon accuracy increased etc. etc. - shit that completely undermined the entire point of doing away with random rolls on weapon for the sake of PvP balance to begin with.

Bungie has competitive mode that is somewhat tooting along that I would say is far from esport ready. Much complained weapon system changes was revered along with ability cooldowns reduced and still PVP interest diminishes. Id say feels a lot like WoW now.

Yeah, I can't be too harsh on Bungie for this given that PvP has never taken off and been a continual source of problems as they struggle to achieve some form of balance and fun. I know I didn't last long at all when I played : /

[YellowCake]

I am lvl 10 and my friend lvl 20 or so - Can he join me with my story missions?

[Witchblade77]

so.. forsaken is on sale again and this time the sale is slightly more decent and I'm thinking of actualy picking it up. the question is though.... is the season path worth it? like... I know that there are a total of 3 quests you get with it, but what kind of quests are they? as strange as it may sound - I have zero interest in Destiny's formal group content, I just like playing completely solo, like actual solo. and the price difference between season pass bundle and just Forsaken is steep enough to make me wonder. what exactly a full on solo player who is extra casual when it comes to gear grinds and such - would be getting out of that? if anything at all? thanks in advance. (yes I'm using wow gold, but I have been playing sporadically at best, my gold generation has slowed down to a crawl, so I don't have as many disposable funds and I kinda would rather not pay completely out of pocket)

[Bugg]

It's for you to decide if it's worth it or not. The Forsaken DLC has gorgeous landscapes / zones (Dreaming city), an awesome huge dungeon (The Shattered Throne) and story missions, but no idea how long they take.
There are weekly and daily activities that you can solo, in the Dreaming city and all over the star map.
Do some youtube digging and decide for yourself if it's worth your money and time.
Here's a review .

[Ergar]

so.. forsaken is on sale again and this time the sale is slightly more decent and I'm thinking of actualy picking it up. the question is though.... is the season path worth it? like... I know that there are a total of 3 quests you get with it, but what kind of quests are they? as strange as it may sound - I have zero interest in Destiny's formal group content, I just like playing completely solo, like actual solo. and the price difference between season pass bundle and just Forsaken is steep enough to make me wonder. what exactly a full on solo player who is extra casual when it comes to gear grinds and such - would be getting out of that? if anything at all? thanks in advance. (yes I'm using wow gold, but I have been playing sporadically at best, my gold generation has slowed down to a crawl, so I don't have as many disposable funds and I kinda would rather not pay completely out of pocket)

The Black Armory pretty much only has group content (the forges and the raid). If you just want to solo i wouldn't buy the annual pass.

[dope_danny]

so.. forsaken is on sale again and this time the sale is slightly more decent and I'm thinking of actualy picking it up. the question is though.... is the season path worth it? like... I know that there are a total of 3 quests you get with it, but what kind of quests are they? as strange as it may sound - I have zero interest in Destiny's formal group content, I just like playing completely solo, like actual solo. and the price difference between season pass bundle and just Forsaken is steep enough to make me wonder. what exactly a full on solo player who is extra casual when it comes to gear grinds and such - would be getting out of that? if anything at all? thanks in advance. (yes I'm using wow gold, but I have been playing sporadically at best, my gold generation has slowed down to a crawl, so I don't have as many disposable funds and I kinda would rather not pay completely out of pocket)

Thus far? hard no.

[NightZero88]

so.. forsaken is on sale again and this time the sale is slightly more decent and I'm thinking of actualy picking it up. the question is though.... is the season path worth it? like... I know that there are a total of 3 quests you get with it, but what kind of quests are they? as strange as it may sound - I have zero interest in Destiny's formal group content, I just like playing completely solo, like actual solo. and the price difference between season pass bundle and just Forsaken is steep enough to make me wonder. what exactly a full on solo player who is extra casual when it comes to gear grinds and such - would be getting out of that? if anything at all? thanks in advance. (yes I'm using wow gold, but I have been playing sporadically at best, my gold generation has slowed down to a crawl, so I don't have as many disposable funds and I kinda would rather not pay completely out of pocket)

Honestly, not to sound rude, but you're playing the wrong game for solo content. There is hardly any content in this game that is solo. Either way, no, basically everything in Forsaken is group content (Raid, Gambit, forges).

[Witchblade77]

It's for you to decide if it's worth it or not. The Forsaken DLC has gorgeous landscapes / zones (Dreaming city), an awesome huge dungeon (The Shattered Throne) and story missions, but no idea how long they take.
There are weekly and daily activities that you can solo, in the Dreaming city and all over the star map.
Do some youtube digging and decide for yourself if it's worth your money and time.
Here's a review .

its not the DLC that i'm wondering about though, its the season path which is separate. mini raids it comes with are useless to me, i don't much care for loot in destiny (yes I know, looter shooter, but I'm a dirty casual and play it too sporadically to care about loot or group content), but it does also seem to advertise a total of 3 extra quests? just how extensive is the quest they released so far (I know the other 2 are not out yet) is it the size of a planetary side missions, or is it something more robust?

edited - thank you to everyone else that replied. so that's a definite no on a season pass

and yes, i know bulk of the game, especially end game is group content. but i'm a weirdo that kinda enjoys Destiny's main story anyways, so I play for that and occasional planetary event things because its one of the few first person shooters where i genuinely enjoy the gameplay. normally fps is NOT my preferred genre, so kudos to destiny on that. combat really does feel nice.

[Bugg]

I can't recommend the season pass for the story/quests: so far the quests that were needed to unlock the first three forges and the quest for the Last Word were mediocre.
If you enjoy the story / lore of Destiny, check this out.

[Bugg]

Bungie ViDoc – Season of the Drifter.

[dope_danny]

The "boost everyone up to 640 in hours" stuff is interesting. I wonder if that means the drop off was more significant than expected and they are trying a mechanic to cover for the 'im coming back but 300 power behind' crowd?
The rest kind of reminds me of rifts in diablo. Constantly repeatable content that for some will give them a hundred hours, for others they will try once and not touch again. Personally its not that exciting since i got bored of gambit pretty quick but private matches and not one mention of 'yo bro watch streamers play and go i cant believe they pulled that off' bunkum is a good sign.