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Destiny: How Vast Will Our Adventures Be?

Yeah, that is true. I very much enjoyed the Alpha and Beta. I got 6 characters to level 8 but since the cap is 20? in the release version, I am not sure how long this game will keep me hooked. Hopefully there are ways to advance or stuff to do at level 20. Either way, this game is worth the money even if I get bored after a month or two.

Bungie has said they didn't want to make a game that made players grind for levels. That's why they chose such a low cap. Bungie sees progression from the upgrades, and unique weapons and ships.

They didn't want a huge grind for this players just starting out to be so far behind the veterans. So now...it's all about finding the best gear.
 
Not vast enough to make us not want the DLC in one year and the next version in 2 years.
this.

I hope it has a lot of strike missions because that seems to be the only custom replayable content on the PVE side. But then again I don't really have a firm handle on how you replay strike missions either if they're tuned to a particular power level.

So, I'll get a run through the campaign, and then what? I'm actually happy for the low level cap as it'll make it easier for me and my buddies on different schedules to group up without worrying about level differences. But once we're all level 20, what will we be doing together - outside of PVP?

So, my expectations right now? A campaign pretty much in line with Halo games, but one that feels more disconnected. Strike missions, but not nearly enough. And what is there, one raid?
 
Speaking of PvP, am I the only one who has difficulty recognizing who are friends and who are foes until it's too late? I'd often encounter a player and try to figure out if it's enemy or friend and by then it's too late since he/she already shot me. There has to be a better way of identifying your enemies other than thin colored border around the characters.
 
Speaking of PvP, am I the only one who has difficulty recognizing who are friends and who are foes until it's too late? I'd often encounter a player and try to figure out if it's enemy or friend and by then it's too late since he/she already shot me. There has to be a better way of identifying your enemies other than thin colored border around the characters.

Nope.

Whenever I see my radar pinging in close quarters and tunnels, I aim to shoot first ask questions later.
 
As vast as my butt.

But on a serious note: I'm not so much worried about the content, as I am about the seemlessness of story content. It's one thing that bums me out about no actual space travel. The worlds just end up feeling like (very large) zones. Still going back and forth on whether I should invest in the game. But I'm hoping Destiny 2 addresses my concerns.

Holy shit. First post of the forever.
 
If the full game is the same thing as the beta but multiplied by 4-6 times the planets i will be satisfied. That's plenty for 60 bucks, of course the more the better!
 
Locations on Earth

European Deadzone
The Last City
Mumbai Push
Old Russia
Old Chicago
Twilight Gap

I hope all of this ends up being in the game rather than just abandoned concepts or future expansions. Several zones on each planet with 5-6 story missions and a strike in each zone is what I'm hoping for. PvE content needs to be plentiful.
 
Bungie has said they didn't want to make a game that made players grind for levels. That's why they chose such a low cap. Bungie sees progression from the upgrades, and unique weapons and ships.

They didn't want a huge grind for this players just starting out to be so far behind the veterans. So now...it's all about finding the best gear.

I'm not sure what the difference is between grinding for levels and grinding for gear except that since there are no level restrictions, grinding for gear lets players do it in the same zone. The concern people are having is that there might not be enough unique experiences to enjoy the loot you are getting. Players will just be running the same strike missions/raids over and over again.
 
Bungie has said they didn't want to make a game that made players grind for levels. That's why they chose such a low cap. Bungie sees progression from the upgrades, and unique weapons and ships.

They didn't want a huge grind for this players just starting out to be so far behind the veterans. So now...it's all about finding the best gear.

Loot grind is boring as all hell, honestly, but I guess that's a way of doing things.
 
It's not so much giving us massive land masses to explore it's the content in it. Fallout 3 is a great example. Decent sized map but it had tons of buildings and sewers to explore. I put 200 hours into Fallout 3 and it had zero MP. Lots of weapons and perks to keep me busy for hours. I don't want to just run around vast expanses with similar random baddies peppered in, all leading to a room with a boss who is a bullet sponge and minions who appear and charge every 2.36 minutes.

I enjoyed the beta a lot but Old Russia was pretty samey everywhere you went. Lots of open spaces with the same enemies spawning again and again. No real buildings to enter that you could get lost in for a couple hours. Just in and out.

Bungie are top tier devs so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but at this point I'm not day-oneing this. I'm gonna watch some LPs and wait for final verdict on size and scope. Problem is, I'm not going to touch the MP/Crucible. SP and coop only. Here's hoping. ...
 
I really wish they would make it so you don't have to go to orbit between each mission it works between areas but in the same area you should be able to stay there...
 
It's not so much giving us massive land masses to explore it's the content in it. Fallout 3 is a great example. Decent sized map but it had tons of buildings and sewers to explore. I put 200 hours into Fallout 3 and it had zero MP. Lots of weapons and perks to keep me busy for hours. I don't want to just run around vast expanses with similar random baddies peppered in, all leading to a room with a boss who is a bullet sponge and minions who appear and charge every 2.36 minutes.

I enjoyed the beta a lot but Old Russia was pretty samey everywhere you went. Lots of open spaces with the same enemies spawning again and again. No real buildings to enter that you could get lost in for a couple hours. Just in and out.

Bungie are top tier devs so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but at this point I'm not day-oneing this. I'm gonna watch some LPs and wait for final verdict on size and scope. Problem is, I'm not going to touch the MP/Crucible. SP and coop only. Here's hoping. ...

I agree with pretty much all of this. Exploration in something like Fallout was rewarding because of the discoverable items and situations. Old Russia is very visually interesting and atmospheric, but I gave up in exploring corners and hidden rooms because there's just nothing really there.
 
All of the concept art shown has been really early on discussions. I'd set my expectations conservatively. Locations aren't cheap to make.

Just saying...

Edit: Level cap is higher than 20.
 
The one thing I find most interesting skimming over all the Destiny threads is all the people proclaiming "It's just a beta!!" as if they expect the game to meaningfully change between now and the 5 weeks until its on store shelves or those surprised that the alpha and beta are near identical. Here's some next gen translation for you:

alpha test = stress test demo of finished product
beta test = demo

Obviously you have limited access to content in the demos, but beyond that expect what you're seeing today to be 100% indicative of what the finished product will be, because it is effectively the finished product aside from very minor tweaking and tuning.
 
All of the concept art shown has been really early on discussions. I'd set my expectations conservatively. Locations aren't cheap to make.

Just saying...

Edit: Level cap is higher than 20.

The cap is 20 with an overleveling system

Qmn42Wj.jpg


Edit: That being said, this is the main thing that concerns me. If Old Russia is the only place on Earth, then yea, I'm gonna be mad.
 
I think the question that most concerns me is the longevity of the game. If people will come back after finishing the campaign. The amount of content and incentives that will require.
 
I think the question that most concerns me is the longevity of the game. If people will willingly come back after finishing the campaign. The amount of content and incentives that will require.

Incentives would have to be pretty good for me to stick with it. I pretty much finish a game and move on, so I'll do the main story and probably a good chunk of the side quests, as long as they are interesting.

Speaking of side quests - anyone else find it odd there doesn't seem to be any of them in the beta? Aside from those little objectives you can pick up scattered around. Like, there's no NPCs or anything out there giving you things to do.
 
I'm really enjoying this beta but I can't shake the feeling that this is the sort of game that will be be completely outclassed by its sequel in terms of scale.
 
Bungie has said they didn't want to make a game that made players grind for levels. That's why they chose such a low cap. Bungie sees progression from the upgrades, and unique weapons and ships.

They didn't want a huge grind for this players just starting out to be so far behind the veterans. So now...it's all about finding the best gear.

Grinding for gear instead isnt exactly a wonderful alternative
 
Locations on Earth
European Deadzone
The Last City
Mumbai Push
Old Russia
Old Chicago
Twilight Gap

Please keep in mind that beyond one concept image for each, we have absolutely nothing on Old Chicago or Mumbai Push.. maybe even others in this list.

It is my understanding that recently some people in the press have received Destiny promotional material like informational booklets and art books. Here is the link and the list of zones shown (starts at about 4:05):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9pqaEolyY&list=UUTTx-gTU-ePcxHLpF15l8hA#t=250

The video seems clear enough that you can make out the descriptions of the zones if you would like.

Earth: Old Russia & The Tower
Moon: Accelerator
Venus: Citadel & Academy
Mars: The Exclusion Zone
The Reef

What is worse is that some of these are no more than social/NPC hubs. The Tower being the starting hub and The Reef being an endgame hub.

If I had to guess, based on the bite sized missions in the beta, I'd say that each zone will have many missions, possibly 20+. I am thinking that it's unrealistic to expect more than 2 strike missions and 1 raid per zone. So overall my guess is you get:

5 open areas to explore
2 social hubs
100 missions
10 strikes
5 raids

I think the concept images they released include many zones that are planned for sequels/expansions. You can tell the DLC was planned very early because one of the first images we have from them is Hellmouth, which is confirmed to be one the expansion packs included with their season pass, screenshot below:

Hellmouth_desktop.jpg
 
I really hope there will be lots more content, more locations on Earth, not just one map per planet, lots of secrets (finding a hidden cave and then finding out there is absolutely nothing in it is super disappointing)
Already not happy with the low level cap, but it's not a deal breaker and DLC will fix that
right?
I played the story missions and strike with a friend which was awesome but after that I got bored really quickly.
 
Grinding for gear instead isnt exactly a wonderful alternative

Except you can level your gear faster by completing bounties. Though higher-level gear will require materials in some of it's upgrade paths.

Besides, I'd rather grinding my gear to upgrade them than grind levels to be able to play some high-level dungeons.
 
As vast as my butt.

But on a serious note: I'm not so much worried about the content, as I am about the seemlessness of story content. It's one thing that bums me out about no actual space travel. The worlds just end up feeling like (very large) zones. Still going back and forth on whether I should invest in the game.
Same here, was really hoping for some space travel/dogfighting :(
Does anyone know what the different ships do?
But I'm hoping Destiny 2 addresses my concerns.
I'm hoping they can implement new mechanics through Updates/DLC, since Destiny is supposed to run for ca 10 years (-development time?).
 
Same here, was really hoping for some space travel/dogfighting :(
Does anyone know what the different ships do?

I'm hoping they can implement new mechanics through Updates/DLC, since Destiny is supposed to run for ca 10 years (-development time?).

Cosmetics. Also they look cool as hell. Why would you rather have a tin can ship that you get from the beginning of the game when you buy newer ships that look more badass?
 
Honestly I'm a bit worried based on what I've seen in the Beta. I can't put my finger on it but the entire thing just feels a lot smaller in scale compared to what I expected.

Not saying that is Bungie's fault - I just had this image of my head of exploring massive vistas and planets and so far it feels mostly like I'm just running around empty grounds and through small corridors and buildings.

Holding out hope that the final product surprises me.

This, I don't think it's going to have the amount people are expecting.
 
The one thing I find most interesting skimming over all the Destiny threads is all the people proclaiming "It's just a beta!!" as if they expect the game to meaningfully change between now and the 5 weeks until its on store shelves or those surprised that the alpha and beta are near identical. Here's some next gen translation for you:

alpha test = stress test demo of finished product
beta test = demo

Obviously you have limited access to content in the demos, but beyond that expect what you're seeing today to be 100% indicative of what the finished product will be, because it is effectively the finished product aside from very minor tweaking and tuning.

The "just a beta" thing in this case applies because people are saying there'll be more content in the full game, not that we'll see a completely different game in September.

But, they can get the entire fuck outta here with that because like I said before FFXIV had a fuckton of content in its beta.

True, they need time and money... Two components this project seemingly had enough of.

Also this. Five years for a handful of maps? I'm honestly thinking of canceling my pre-order and waiting to hear from people on whether this has enough content to be worth it.
 
What's more important to me is the kind of end-game content they will have. I'm sure the game will be an acceptable length, but there need to always be a new challenge.
 
Same here, was really hoping for some space travel/dogfighting :(
Does anyone know what the different ships do?

I'm hoping they can implement new mechanics through Updates/DLC, since Destiny is supposed to run for ca 10 years (-development time?).

On some level, what we're seeing with this first game is because of support for weaker systems. So Destiny 2 (presumably next-gen exclusive) in 2016 would probably be the first sign of fixing any major errors that are attributed to memory issues.
 
Except you can level your gear faster by completing bounties. Though higher-level gear will require materials in some of it's upgrade paths.

Besides, I'd rather grinding my gear to upgrade them than grind levels to be able to play some high-level dungeons.

First you have to grind for the gear to actually drop. Then you have to grind for the gear xp to level up. Then you have to grind for ingredients..?

Again, not a wonderful alternative.

At least with a path to level 50 or 60 they would be compelled to make new zones for you to experience.
 
They *really* need to jam-packed every nook and cranny of each location with something interesting. Secrets, loots, mystery characters, bosses, or maybe even something unexpected. At the moment it feels a bit empty.

This is the biggest thing I've noticed so far. I don't feel there's any point to explore, so even if the areas were bigger the game isn't designed around exploration. It still has the same point A to point B, hallway to open set piece game play of the Halo series. This isn't bad per se, because Bungie is quite good at delivering these kinds of experiences, its just not particularly unique I guess.
 
I'm really worried about how much content we will get at launch. I'm starting to get the feeling we will be sucked dry with DLC.

I think what's going to happen is we will get just enough content to make us want more, then they will start to add areas to Earth, Mars, ect in the form of dlc. They will also introduce a new character to level up every once and a while. Along with new enemies, weapons, loot ect.

The part that makes me mad about the possibility of Bungie sucking us dry with dlc...

Bungie has been working on Destiny for quite a while with a pretty big team. There's no way all they have is an area as big as old russia on each planet. More than likely, many areas are done and ready to be sold to us, and the thought of that maddens me.

I'm not saying Old Russia is all we will get on earth, just that IF that's the size we can expect for each planet, we can expect to be sucked dry with frequent dlc.

Hopefully in the end each planet will have a few areas to explore and leave us with a good chunk of content to run through at launch. Time will tell..
 
First you have to grind for the gear to actually drop. Then you have to grind for the gear xp to level up. Then you have to grind for ingredients..?

Again, not a wonderful alternative.

At least with a path to level 50 or 60 they would be compelled to make new zones for you to experience.

When I play Destiny, I wanna focus on my character and how can I shape him/her with gear and weapons, not gaining experience levels that gonna take me weeks to get to the fucking cap.
 
I was really into the beta day 1, although coming back to it I've been kinda bored with the samey enemy types. There doesn't seem (at least in the beta) do be much diversity between the various enemies you face. You have the guys who attack you with swords and the guys who shoot at you. Even the more niche enemies (big floating orbs/ huge tank on that one map) seem to be merely cosmetically different from the other enemies. It'd be cool to see enemies that try and flank you or sneak behind you.

edit: I also think the lack of enemy vehicles in the beta contributes to this. I'm sure there will be tons more variety in the full-retail game...at least I hope! Haha
 
Where the hell is the loot?

Maybe other games like Diablo and Borderlands have spoiled me but I'm maybe only seeing one loot cache a mission.
 
I'm more concerned about how the current locations have little encouragement for going off the beaten path, something that I sorely miss from Guild Wars 2 or ArcheAge. That is probably why some feel constrained like they are in a corridor, because it doesn't actually want you to go outside of that box.
 
And frankly, I'm starting to think that some people just want an excuse to hate on Destiny and we get some cynical posts and concern trolling that makes me sick to my stomach.

"Concern trolling" for video games? lol. This is a difference of opinion. Destiny was a game I wasn't sure I wanted, so I tried the alpha. The alpha sold me, so when the beta came I was super hyped because I figured I'd get to see more of the game and what they were going for, only to find out that I'm still flying around Old Russia, with a level cap that's the same as it was in the alpha only you get to experience the first four levels which are honestly kinda dull. And of course, then they tease you with a Moon you can't even access unless you want to do PVP.

I don't want "an excuse" to hate on Destiny. I wanted Destiny to be interesting but it's seeming like it may not deliver.
 
All of the concept art shown has been really early on discussions. I'd set my expectations conservatively. Locations aren't cheap to make.

Just saying...

Edit: Level cap is higher than 20.

Pretty much this.

I'm treating concept arts for what they are... Concept art.

Unless I see actual game assets of an ice world, Europa doesn't exist to me.

If I'm judging Destiny's size by the amount of concept art they've shown, that is effing huge in ways that's borderline impossible to make in only 3 years with all the other stuff like building a new engine, new IP challenges, etc.
 
Not that Old Russia is small but there isn't all that much to do there. The beacon missions aren't very compelling or rewarding (just Vanguard XP) and the way loot caches work, if you see some treacherous path with hard ass enemies everywhere there's no guarantee you'll be rewarded. I don't see myself jumping into explore mode very often.
 
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