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[Great Poster]

I still think they should have gone with the early "episode" nomenclature, and expansion for TTK.

I think it was mentioned before, but TTK is a "comet" release. I actually took a look at this today in the Activision lawsuit:


http://documents.latimes.com/bungie-activision-contract/

(paraphrasing):

The release plan for the Destiny Games is currently comprised of 4 major retail destiny game releases tentatively scheduled for 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 and 4 comet releases schedule for release in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020

DLC will be produced in an "agreed upon" manner between games and comet releases.

So basically each year we get either a new game or a comet release for the current game...with any number of DLCs being released between game X & comet X.

 

[Bold One]

It's still bizarre to me that people were so insanely hung up on the Light system, or that this change is the thing that makes them want to come back.

The best details about the expansion are actually buried in the Game Informer print article:

-- gain weapon upgrade materials by dismantling old weapons (sounds like an enchanting/jewel-slotting type system, or maybe just the replacement of Ascendent Energy)
--No more class based armor materials (Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating, etc). There will be one armor material that can be used by all classes
--Special vendor that lets you pick up any shader or emblem you have already acquired on your account (no more wasting vault space on shaders). Further vault/storage solutions on the way
--Green/white weapons will be more powerful than your current legendaries
--Details about Exotic Weapons -- auto rifle that shoots chain lightning, sniper rifle that blinds enemies on a headshot, pulse rifle that reloads magazine when you land precision shots, fusion rifle that counts as a heavy weapon and acts as a portable rail gun
--Exotic items now have their "defining perk" immediately unlocked (eg You can do a blinding bubble as soon as you acquire Helm of Saint 14, no need to level it up)
--Crucible will have questlines that introduce you to Shaxx and the various faction leaders

oh god Yes!

 

[gatti-man]

I think that estimation is a bit liberal. My first character took about 2 weeks of daily grinding to get to max level, much more than it should have. I got burned out and it took me about a month of a break to renew my interest enough to try the raids.

Was that at vanilla or now? I said now. During vanilla yes it took a while to get a character to max level. I think I was 2 weeks as well.

 

[BobTheFork]

It's still bizarre to me that people were so insanely hung up on the Light system, or that this change is the thing that makes them want to come back.

Don't know what to say..I despised it. I hated the idea the my ability to level up was tied to random loot and that getting that loot or loot upgrade items may require me to grind a raid or mission daily with a chance of no progress being made. There was quite a bit I liked about the game but once I got to lvl 26-27 I felt like the things I like were replaced with my least favorite parts of an MMO.

I will very likely play some more because of this.

 

[Kyoufu]

Was that at vanilla or now? I said now. During vanilla yes it took a while to get a character to max level. I think I was 2 weeks as well.

I got my alt to 33 in 8 hours about a month ago.

 

[ChanMan]

If I pick this up I'll be looking forward to finally give that Hunter class a run.

 

[Z3M0G]

So will there be value to starting the game over from the beginning? A changed experience?

 

[Number45]

So will there be value to starting the game over from the beginning? A changed experience?

Sounds like just a new voice for the ghost, I'm not sure the experience will be different until you hit those levels that required light.

 

[carlsojo]

So hypothetically if I picked up the Taken King PS4 bundle, is it.. hard to like transfer your data/saves over? God I can't believe I'm considering this.

 

[SpecX]

So hypothetically if I picked up the Taken King PS4 bundle, is it.. hard to like transfer your data/saves over? God I can't believe I'm considering this.

Saves are linked to your PSN account, so install digitally or insert the disc, logon to your account, and enjoy.

 

[Temujen]

So did I get this right after reading all these articles?

Light is no longer connected to your level, you can level up to the maximum level of 40 normally just by earning XPs?

BUT your level has become pretty much meaningless, because there still is an additional "light level" that is calculated by your attack and defense statistics and it is the "light level" that determines how powerful you are and what activities you can start?

So armor and weapons are the only factor that decides what you can do? And the best armor and weapons are still something that you can only get via loot drops during special activities like raids?

So nothing changes, they only render the actual levels meaningless and include weapons (instead of just armor) into the hunt to get to the highest "light level"? Meaning they made the worst aspect of the game even worse?

This article sums it up pretty well:

http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/07/destiny-the-taken-king-still-includes-light-levels/

 

[Trace]

So did I get this right after reading all these articles?

Light is no longer connected to your level, you can level up to the maximum level of 40 normally just by earning XPs?

BUT your level has become pretty much meaningless, because there still is an additional "light level" that is calculated by your attack and defense statistics and it is the "light level" that determines how powerful you are and what activities you can start?

So armor and weapons are the only factor that decides what you can do? And the best armor and weapons are still something that you can only get via loot drops during special activities like raids?

So nothing changes, they only render the actual levels meaningless and include weapons (instead of just armor) into the hunt to get to the highest "light level"? Meaning they made the worst aspect of the game even worse?

This article sums it up pretty well:

http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/07/destiny-the-taken-king-still-includes-light-levels/

It sounds like they are doing it more like WoW has done it. In WoW, getting to level 100 isn't the end of the game, you need to increase your gear score through getting better gear to do the harder stuff. It makes more sense to do it like that to make a level 110 you can only get through gear for instance.

Honestly its not a problem, just hitting the max level does not mean you're ready for all the content.

 

[Apt101]

So experience level is used to gate content, and gear makes one more powerful? Yea, like WoW. Sweet! And here I was on the fence about getting TKK. I am now pretty sure I shall.

 

[Temujen]

Well, technically speaking the experience level is gateing content, but in reality it's the light level.

So the dependence on RNG is made worse. You used to do the same activitites over and over and over again in hope of getting the armor to get to the highest level. Now you have to that for armor AND weapons to reach the highest light level.

So instead of luck deciding when you get your four armor pieces, you know have to do that for four armor pieces and three guns.

I'm really disappointed. I went to level 32, then stopped playing after the first expansion. After hearing that the light level was gone (which was said at first), I reinstalled the game and preordered The Taken King. But now... Instead of fixing a bad system, they doubled down on it.

 

[Diablohead]

never winter is the same, hitting 60 just allows you to finish the story so far, raids and dungeons need a gear score to enter it because the mobs are a lot stronger.

I'll hold judgement until we get to play it, hitting those light levels might be as simple as owning a full blue set.

 

[hank_tree]

Well, technically speaking the experience level is gateing content, but in reality it's the light level.

So the dependence on RNG is made worse. You used to do the same activitites over and over and over again in hope of getting the armor to get to the highest level. Now you have to that for armor AND weapons to reach the highest light level.

So instead of luck deciding when you get your four armor pieces, you know have to do that for four armor pieces and three guns.

I'm really disappointed. I went to level 32, then stopped playing after the first expansion. After hearing that the light level was gone (which was said at first), I reinstalled the game and preordered The Taken King. But now... Instead of fixing a bad system, they doubled down on it.

Well they have been pretty clear in saying that there are tonnes of end game quests that will lead to specific loot rewards. My assumption is they've taken most/all the RNG out of gearing for the raid and that you get the gear you need from those quests.

 

[geordiemp]

So did I get this right after reading all these articles?

Light is no longer connected to your level, you can level up to the maximum level of 40 normally just by earning XPs?

BUT your level has become pretty much meaningless, because there still is an additional "light level" that is calculated by your attack and defense statistics and it is the "light level" that determines how powerful you are and what activities you can start?

So armor and weapons are the only factor that decides what you can do? And the best armor and weapons are still something that you can only get via loot drops during special activities like raids?

So nothing changes, they only render the actual levels meaningless and include weapons (instead of just armor) into the hunt to get to the highest "light level"? Meaning they made the worst aspect of the game even worse?

This article sums it up pretty well:

http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/07/destiny-the-taken-king-still-includes-light-levels/

Not really...but the only thing you need to understand about Taken king is changes to the RNG so that you less likely to get repeats.. This is the most important line in the whole of the article and lists for TKK.

Bungie did a bit of better RNG for Crota raid, and within a few raids both normal and hard I had boots, chest, helment and the main raid guns. Crota loot drop was infinitely better than VOG.

If they are strengthening this even further, it should be more enjoyable to do end game for rewards without getting that 10 th Patience and time.

 

[hank_tree]

So experience level is used to gate content, and gear makes one more powerful? Yea, like WoW. Sweet! And here I was on the fence about getting TKK. I am now pretty sure I shall.

This is exactly how it was in vanilla Destiny. Nothing has changed.

Edit: light level is the same as item level in WOW, FfXIV etc.

 

[Demoskinos]

Huh, well shit. I might actually care about Destiny again?

 

[nOoblet16]

We just need to pay for it... They heard us loud and clear.

This will most likely be applicable to the base game itself regardless of whether you own DLC or not. As was the case with previous DLCs where the people without DLCs were able to access reef and have the new economy.

I am wondering if the changes made to the old content will be available to people without new DLC as well (so like Nolanbot instead of Dinklebot and Taken enemies in patrol areas.)

 

[hank_tree]

am wondering if the changes made to the old content will be available to people without new DLC as well (so like Nolanbot instead of Dinklebot and Taken enemies in patrol areas.)

I'm 100% certain that the changes to the old content will be available to everyone as well as the shader vendor in the tower and that kind of stuff.

 

[bachikarn]

This update seems like a farce. Seems like the system hasn't really changed. There was definitely an issue to get to level 30 in the original Destiny, but you only needed to get to 30 if you wanted to do hard mode raid. In HoW, it really isn't that hard to get to level 34.

I also think the RNGness of the light level is over blown. There were enough deterministic things to get higher level light. The game doesn't do the best job of explaining those things though. RNG is definitely part of it, but if you do the night falls and heroic strikes, you will be able to grind enough stuff to buy exotics or legendary gear. You can also create multiple characters of the same class to do this even faster.

 

[Glendemonium]

Probably a non issue, but they should let you change your character's appearance for say 10k glimmer. I was an Exo titan since creation, but I kind of want to be an awoken, and don't feel like grinding 1-20 and subclasses again, especially now that we're so close to TTK.

 

[Seventy_X_Seven]

People need to stop claiming the only way to get light armor is through RNG. There are 5 different tower vendors that all still max potential light level armor that is really easy to get. I assume they'll sell new armor in TTK, and it'll be even easier to purchase since Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks are combining into one Legendary Marks.

Probably a non issue, but they should let you change your character's appearance for say 10k glimmer. I was an Exo titan since creation, but I kind of want to be an awoken, and don't feel like grinding 1-20 and subclasses again, especially now that we're so close to TTK.

Every copy of TTK comes with a free item you pick up from the tower that when consumed bumps that character to "the minimum level to play TTK." One time use. Just wait for that.

 

[Temujen]

Not really...but the only thing you need to understand about Taken king is changes to the RNG so that you less likely to get repeats.. This is the most important line in the whole of the article and lists for TKK.

Yeah, and they have promised exactly that how many times before without changing anything noticeable?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game. Grinded to 30, grinded to 32. But at that point I just quit. And the only thing that could have brought me back would have been the end of the whole light business and a clear way to reach the real highest level without having to rely on luck.

Changing the chase for level 34 to the chase for light level xyz changes nothing. 40 is just the new 20, everything else is RNG.

 

[Seventy_X_Seven]

Yeah, and they have promised exactly that how many times before without changing anything noticeable?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game. Grinded to 30, grinded to 32. But at that point I just quit. And the only thing that could have brought me back would have been the end of the whole light business and a clear way to reach the real highest level without having to rely on luck.

Changing the chase for level 34 to the chase for light level xyz changes nothing. 40 is just the new 20, everything else is RNG.

See above, you can get max light with 0 RNG, it's always been that way. RNG just gives you a slight chance of speeding up the already fairly quick process.

 

[gatti-man]

Yeah, and they have promised exactly that how many times before without changing anything noticeable?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game. Grinded to 30, grinded to 32. But at that point I just quit. And the only thing that could have brought me back would have been the end of the whole light business and a clear way to reach the real highest level without having to rely on luck.

Changing the chase for level 34 to the chase for light level xyz changes nothing. 40 is just the new 20, everything else is RNG.

They already did that with etheric light lol. I was level 34 the first week the house of wolves dlc was out. Second day even if I recall.

 

[hank_tree]

Yeah, and they have promised exactly that how many times before without changing anything noticeable?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game. Grinded to 30, grinded to 32. But at that point I just quit. And the only thing that could have brought me back would have been the end of the whole light business and a clear way to reach the real highest level without having to rely on luck.

There's no RNG in getting to 34. Complete prison of elders level 32 every week for four weeks and you will have a full set of 34 armor. 3 weeks if you have an exotic armor piece.

And if you do level 34 PoE you can get an etheric light to level up any existing gear you have. Those are guaranteed rewards every week.

 

[Zocano]

Yeah, and they have promised exactly that how many times before without changing anything noticeable?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game. Grinded to 30, grinded to 32. But at that point I just quit. And the only thing that could have brought me back would have been the end of the whole light business and a clear way to reach the real highest level without having to rely on luck.

Changing the chase for level 34 to the chase for light level xyz changes nothing. 40 is just the new 20, everything else is RNG.

Except they have been slowly phasing out the need for RNG.

In Dark Below, they attempted to give me a more general lenient loot system. It "sorta" worked with a few exceptions here and there.

In House of Wolves, you simply do runs of Prison of Elders or Trials for tokens that let you buy the pieces you want at the Reef shop.

___

That said, yah this "phasing out of light levels" means almost nothing. For some reason people had it in there head that it was somehow a bad thing to make your gear check literally transparent and easily noticeable. Not it'll just be like every MMO where you don't really know. In both cases you still have to grind for better gear so I don't get how it's something "praise worthy".

I prefer the light level system anyway.

 

[Lemondish]

It was one of the most asinine decisions involved in the game.

Massive insult to injury with the anemic content of the base game and both DLC, considering they're both more expensive than Shivering Isles was a decade ago.

But the positive is that each release has gotten progressively better, where HoW was almost worth the price of admission, had interesting characters and storyline, good upgrade system, fantastic encounter design (still think of the Ember Caves area in the first mission), and TTK seems like it's going above and beyond the original vision to make up for the missteps leading to here.

I understand your argument when bringing up Shivering Isles, but I can't agree considering I've spent far more time and had much more fun with destiny in comparison.

 

[Dubz]

Time to play Destiny again. Good for them for getting it right.

 

[blackjaw]

All these changes are great but if it takes me 10-15 hours to see all content in new xpac....I just can't.

 

[todd360]

All these changes are great but if it takes me 10-15 hours to see all content in new xpac....I just can't.

You get 1 consumable that levels you instantly to what you need to be for taken king.

 

[SeanR1221]

The light system was dumb, but not impossible to level up with.

I made a new character yesterday, got to level 20 in 6 hours.

Grab an exotic from xur and armor piece with an armor core at the reef and you'll be at 26

 

[Hedge]

I have never played Destiny, but Warframe got me interested in shooters.
I am mostly interested in playing solo/with one friend, and I heard that the story mode can be playd online, is that true?

Also, how does the expansion work on the ps4?
Is it a DLC code? Because technically you can't upgrade games like on a PC, I assume, so physically releasing an expansion makes little sense to me.

 

[Orayn]

I have never played Destiny, but Warframe got me interested in shooters.
I am mostly interested in playing solo/with one friend, and I heard that the story mode can be playd online, is that true?

Also, how does the expansion work on the ps4?
Is it a DLC code? Because technically you can't upgrade games like on a PC, I assume, so physically releasing an expansion makes little sense to me.

1. The entire game (minus the first tutorial level) can be played co-op.

2. The expansion is DLC that requires the previous two DLC packs. If you own both of them, you can buy The Taken King digitally for $40. There's also going to be a physical edition for $60 that comes with a copy of the base game and codes for both DLCs and the expansion.

 

[Hedge]

1. The entire game (minus the first tutorial level) can be played co-op.

2. The expansion is DLC that requires the previous two DLC packs. If you own both of them, you can buy The Taken King digitally for $40. There's also going to be a physical edition for $60 that comes with a copy of the base game and codes for both DLCs and the expansion.

Thank you very much. I might just try this, then!

 

[robotrock]

When The Taken King comes out, will my level 34 character be level 20, and then once I get to level 40, will my character be level 54

 

[Orayn]

EDIT: nvm

 

[hank_tree]

Light and light levels are going away.

Light is not going away.

Edit: Also you aren't going back to 20 when the taken king comes out.

 

[blackjaw]

You get 1 consumable that levels you instantly to what you need to be for taken king.

Already max light level, just talking about new content.

Took me 15ish hours to see all content in HoW (not counting pvp). If that is what we get in TKK, I'm out until it gets discounted, regardless of changes to the base system.

 

[Latvian Hitman]

Light is not going away.

Edit: Also you aren't going back to 20 when the taken king comes out.

Yep. If you're a 34 now, you'll be a 34 at the start of TTK.

 

[Kor of Memory]

When The Taken King comes out, will my level 34 character be level 20, and then once I get to level 40, will my character be level 54

You will be the level of your highest light level.

34 for most people.

 

[gypsygib]

Already sold the game after TTK announcement. So did my friends (fireteam). It's too little too late now even if I did want to get back in.

Besides, too many interesting games are on the way.

I enjoyed at least 50% of my 200hrs but I'm done.

 

[Johndoey]

I own Destiny but neither of the two available DLC are either worth it?

 

[Ingueferroque]

I own Destiny but neither of the two available DLC are either worth it?

Yes, very much so.

 

[magetf]

That said, yah this "phasing out of light levels" means almost nothing. For some reason people had it in there head that it was somehow a bad thing to make your gear check literally transparent and easily noticeable. Not it'll just be like every MMO where you don't really know. In both cases you still have to grind for better gear so I don't get how it's something "praise worthy".

I prefer the light level system anyway.

The XP based level isn't a replacement for light level, it's a replacement for the ascendant/radiant shards/energies and etheric light/armor-weapon cores. It's the progression metering mechanic and one that won't have to be replaced every time the game introduces new content.

 

[Clunker]

I own Destiny but neither of the two available DLC are either worth it?

YMMV. I think your best bet if you're okay with a disc is to wait a few weeks and pick up the $60 regular edition of Taken King - it will have the $40 Taken King expansion and the two DLC episodes (essentially buying 1 and getting the second free).

I think that House of Wolves is the better DLC of the two, in any case.

 

[Buzzman]

So I've never played Destiny, if I pre-order the legendary edition that has everything included, can I play now or do I have to wait untill TTK releases?

 

[Wolvesinthebathroom]

I own Destiny but neither of the two available DLC are either worth it?

The Dark Below... not so much. House of Wolves is pretty good though.