Destiny 2 - Place your bets on how many $40 DLC packs we'll get this time.

[I-chi]

So the gameplay reveal trailer for Destiny 2 released yesterday.

I hesitate to even call it that because let's all be honest; they're not even trying to pretend this shit isn't scripted as fuck anymore. Looking forward to the remarkably well-acted live demonstration they do for E3.

Talking shit aside.

As somebody who personally got out of it before they started dropping the fully priced expansions, I'm still fairly surprised the first game is still alive given the sheer lack of content and support they've put into the game past initial release; but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make a strong start. Considering Bungie has been pushing for years to make this their next Halo, however; it wasn't quite strong enough. It was a game I recall most people picked up for a year and then left to gather dust on their shelves when the endgame became basically the same grind against endless waves of increasingly spongier enemies for meaningless and incrementally more powerful weapons just to have some kind of an edge.

So lo and behold, three years later and now we've got a full sequel coming out. Thoughts, Kiwis?

 

[Puukalikka]

Wait, didn't they speak about Destiny 1 having 10 year plan or something, like DLC/story updates and support for the game for that time? Or did I miss something?

 

[I-chi]

Wait, didn't they speak about Destiny 1 having 10 year plan or something, like DLC/story updates and support for the game for that time? Or did I miss something?

It was either that or the ten year plan was referring to a succession of games.

Edit: Turns out that interpretation came from leaked documents; but Bungie went on record later to elaborate that it was referencing a partnership deal or the like with Activision.

 

[Burned Man]

So the gameplay reveal trailer for Destiny 2 released yesterday.

I hesitate to even call it that because let's all be honest; they're not even trying to pretend this shit isn't scripted as fuck anymore. Looking forward to the remarkably well-acted live demonstration they do for E3.

Talking shit aside.

As somebody who personally got out of it before they started dropping the fully priced expansions, I'm still fairly surprised the first game is still alive given the sheer lack of content and support they've put into the game past initial release; but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make a strong start. Considering Bungie has been pushing for years to make this their next Halo, however; it wasn't quite strong enough. It was a game I recall most people picked up for a year and then left to gather dust on their shelves when the endgame became basically the same grind against endless waves of increasingly spongier enemies for meaningless and incrementally more powerful weapons just to have some kind of an edge.

So lo and behold, three years later and now we've got a full sequel coming out. Thoughts, Kiwis?

I had with the game when it first came out. Then I ran out of things to do and grew bored but kept playing waiting for something new to happen and when some new content finally came it turned out to be replaying the same missions for a different currency. That's when I stopped playing altogether. Then I started hearing about the expansions giving gear that was better then the raid gear people worked hours to get and knew I made the right call.
I liked the setting and gameplay of Destiny. I liked exploring the environments they built like Mars. I liked how the multiplayer worked where you'd just run into other players and could help them or ignore them as you saw fit. The grind just became too much for too little and burned itself out. I could see myself getting Destiny 2 if it wasn't for the fact I knew there was gonna be like $80 of DLC to go with it.

 

[Quijibo69]

Who the hell cared about the first Destiny so much to make a Destiny 2? I think you can by the first game for less than a dollar anymore.

 

[JoyfulDarter]

I played the beta of the first game and enjoyed it. It felt like a decent mix of Halo with Diablo sensibilities. Unfortunately, the DLC schemes killed any interest I had in it after a point.

Luckily, they confirmed that even on PC, there will be no dedicated servers so I can safely skip this one.

 

[Jaimas]

I played up until about 5 months into Taken King. Here is a general Meta synopsis:

Destiny (Weeks 1-4):
"Wow, this is all right. It's kinda grindy and sort of shit at times but there's a lot to like."

Destiny (Weeks 5-Onward):
"Wait, so I need to raid to get the highest possible level, which I need to raid, which I need to get more levels. That's fucking retarded. Ah well, at least I got fucking Fatebringer out of this and the hunter Vex armor looks fantastic. I can deal with this."

Crota's End:
"Ok, there's tons of new gear, a vastly easier raid, and no reason whatsoever to ever do the Vault of Glass anymore? That's dumb. The new gear is pretty sweet though. Oh, cool, I got a rocket launcher that shoots napalm firestorms? This actually almost makes up for the lack of Gallajhorn, the meta-breaker. Now if only you didn't make the grind a thousand times worse for everyone."

House of Wolves:
"Oh shit. You fixed it. I can't fucking believe it! You fixed it! Everything is usable. You can upgrade anything now. Wanna use Vault of Glass gear? Go for it, you magnificent faggot. Want to use Crota Raid gear? Totally viable. What's that? You want to use the stuff from this raid? We can do that too. It's all viable now and you have a new raid-equivalent that isn't complete AIDS. What sorcery is this? This is such a good expansion that even Brianna Wu got in on it. You done good, Destiny. You done good."

Taken King (First Month):
"Wow. This seems almost competent so far. can't wait to see how you fuck this up.

Taken King (Month 2 Onwards):
"You motherfuckers. You blew it. Only gear from this new expansion is viable, paired with making it so you can ONLY get this gear through gameplay, completely removed elemental primary weapons, made the Raids basically worthless due to how the new game mechanics work, fucked over absolutely everyone who set-grinded in the last expansion, screwed over everyone who got the Necrochasm, and decided that you were going to horse-fuck everyone who actually spent time playing Iron banner modes, so even the dipshits like me who breathed the PVP mode won't have any reason to give a shit after they get their goodies. And then, just to drive home the fail, you made the grind 100 times worse. For everyone. Because fuck common sense. And the new classes completely outgun the old ones, too. Great. And your community manager can't give good explanations why we've never gotten basic quality-of-life fixes? Beautiful. Tell you what, Destiny: I have limited hard drive space. Let me know if you fuckers ever go back to House of Wolves and unfuck yourselves."

Rise of Iron:
"Oh really. After your last 2 expansions drove off half the fucking playerbase, you're coming crawling back with this shit? You still never fixed the dozens of problems from the last one, though you've taken some serious steps. I'm almost interested. There's just one problem: I'd rather be playing Warframe right now, and you guys have proven about as reliable as a condom at a pozzer orgy. I'll be staying right here playing a better game, thanks."

Destiny 2:
"Wow, your intro sequence starts with every single item you ever got being destroyed and completely invalidating claims that you'd have some of your shit from the previous games. Dodged a bullet on this shit. Back to Kubrow raising."

 

[Erida]

@Jaimas, I'm :late: but you nailed it. I think we must've stopped at a similar time and I know other people who all abruptly stopped and finally moved on to other games. It was around the time Tomb Raider, Fallout 4 and other big titles finally lured them away.

That said, I do have friends that are still playing but with much less frequency and just killing time for the sequel. I'll play the beta before 100% ruling it out but I might be Destiny'd out. Plus I know it's not a simple £45 investment but much more, with no guarantee of how decent the DLC will be.

I'd hoped RDR2 would be my winter timesink but, to the surprise of no one, that won't be happening now

 

[Jaimas]

@Jaimas, I'm :late: but you nailed it. I think we must've stopped at a similar time and I know other people who all abruptly stopped and finally moved on to other games. It was around the time Tomb Raider, Fallout 4 and other big titles finally lured them away.

That said, I do have friends that are still playing but with much less frequency and just killing time for the sequel. I'll play the beta before 100% ruling it out but I might be Destiny'd out. Plus I know it's not a simple £45 investment but much more, with no guarantee of how decent the DLC will be.

I'd hoped RDR2 would be my winter timesink but, to the surprise of no one, that won't be happening now

Warframe's my poison of choice in that regard.

Of course, we'll always have TF2.

You know, come to think of it, the only reason I tolerated Destiny as hard as I did was because Mass Effect 3's multiplayer and the continually-evolving clusterfuck of EA nerfing farming methodologies rather than fix anything burned me so badly. Compared to that shit, the Skinner Box was preferable.

 

[OwO What's This?]

Blizzard is essentially adopting this game into its family by putting it on their Blizzard Launcher.

Destiny is an extremely shitty game that got popular because it did something no other game was doing. Find a nice niche. There's reason to be optimistic they'll improve on the formula.

I would not be surprised if I like it.

 

[Some JERK]

You know that spawn-cave on the Dreadnaught near the crashed Cabal ship? The one that just vomits out an entire army of Hive when 'The enemy forces are moving against each other"? I quit playing when my gear and class perks allowed me to hold the entrance to that place by myself indefinitely.

 

[NumberingYourState]

No dedicated servers, Bungie and Activision, what the fuck are you doing.

 

[Erida]

I remember when Destiny first came out and I thought each DLC would be an exciting new planet with a different environment, activities and enemies. How naive I was back then

 

[Jaimas]

Every new expansion cut the playerbase by fucking half, because each one was mandatory to even play the game beyond gawking at things, and cost as much as a full-fledged game.

Only the ones that were proven winners (read: House of Wolves) wound up turning this tide. The Taken King suckered a lot of the old guard into coming back - even cross-platformed this time - but the new gear system wound up chasing away the old guard again in short order.

It used to be that if you ever wanted to see one of the simultaneously funniest - and most horrifying - things ever, you could check out Bungie's official Destiny forums; they were a complete bloodbath since Dark Below and got worse with every expansion. Sadly, Bungie's new admins fucking sanitize the entire forum and criticism is fucking expunged now, so the fucking amazing posts of old are now gone.

The short version is that Destiny's design team are fucking morons who removed some of the best gear in the game (Gjallahorn, Elemental Primaries, Ice Breaker) because "it was all anyone was using," with the results being LFG raid lobbies demanding you have a 310 Touch of Malice and Black Spindle or you're kicked. Which is a nice reminder that two and a half years later, Destiny fucking still doesn't have an LFG option or Raid lobby completer.

Oh, and they're getting rid of the codex, too, so if you're one of the fucks who liked the game for its lore, tough shit.

 

[NumberingYourState]

I wish Bungie brought back Marathon but after Destiny I have no hope it'll be a good time.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Every new expansion cut the playerbase by fucking half, because each one was mandatory to even play the game beyond gawking at things, and cost as much as a full-fledged game.

Only the ones that were proven winners (read: House of Wolves) wound up turning this tide. The Taken King suckered a lot of the old guard into coming back - even cross-platformed this time - but the new gear system wound up chasing away the old guard again in short order.

It used to be that if you ever wanted to see one of the simultaneously funniest - and most horrifying - things ever, you could check out Bungie's official Destiny forums; they were a complete bloodbath since Dark Below and got worse with every expansion. Sadly, Bungie's new admins fucking sanitize the entire forum and criticism is fucking expunged now, so the fucking amazing posts of old are now gone.

The short version is that Destiny's design team are fucking morons who removed some of the best gear in the game (Gjallahorn, Elemental Primaries, Ice Breaker) because "it was all anyone was using," with the results being LFG raid lobbies demanding you have a 310 Touch of Malice and Black Spindle or you're kicked. Which is a nice reminder that two and a half years later, Destiny fucking still doesn't have an LFG option or Raid lobby completer.

Oh, and they're getting rid of the codex, too, so if you're one of the fucks who liked the game for its lore, tough shit.

Which, coming from someone who still raids in World of Warcraft, is completely psychotic. How did Bungie expect people to put together functioning groups with 3rd party clients? Reddit is a shitshow, their on-site clan page barely worked, and the only other place I remember seeing a group finder was on a blog that people weren't guaranteed to know about. Are they worried about baddies ruining other people's run? Just make a theme park version of the raid like WoW lfr difficulty; or have a premade group tab where you can see general power levels in a queue of people actively seeking out the content. I never got a chance to even try the raids in Destiny because I thought trying to do pve content in an established game, with in-game options, where you can control exactly who and what's in a group of pugs already has enough of a chance go wrong. They're bound by contract to The MMO company and didn't think to ask about issues they dealt with almost a decade ago.

 

[OwO What's This?]

they're probably gonna replace mandatory expansions with overwatch-style lootboxes if being adopted by blizzard-activision is any indication

 

[tehpope]

Having played the first destiny, I just enjoyed it for the deathmatch modes and the RPG mechanics. Hopefully they won't gimp the PC port.

 

[CIA Nigger]

So Destiny 2 came out on the PC and it's banning people for merely starting the game. Reports claim that apparently popular apps every PC gamer runs, including Discord, MSI Afterburner, Mumble, Teamspeak, Fraps, Xsplit, OBS, and more are responsible.
https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/25/16544760/destiny-2-pc-bans-third-party-software

Destiny 2 finally launched on Windows PC yesterday, and there’s already a controversy surrounding that version of the game: Dozens of people are finding that they’ve been banned from playing, and they don’t know why.

The initial culprit was thought to be the use of third-party software that interacts with the Destiny 2 game client by inserting code into it, which Bungie explicitly forbids. The studio explained earlier this year that this draconian policy is intended to maintain the security of the PC version, and to prevent players from hacking or cheating. “We [...] believe that this is a necessary measure in bringing you a great gaming experience in Destiny 2 on PC,” said Bungie.

This restricts some features of apps that handle game capture and livestreaming, such as OBS and XSplit, as well as software that employs screen overlays. Under that umbrella are voice chat apps like Discord and Mumble, and hardware monitoring software such as EVGA Precision XOC, MSI Afterburner and Fraps. To be clear, Bungie says that players should still be able to use those kinds of apps alongside Destiny 2 — it’s just that the game will block any software overlays.

“Should” is the operative word there. Ever since Destiny 2 went live on PC yesterday, players have been reporting on Bungie’s forums, Reddit and elsewhere that they’ve been banned from playing the game. It remains unclear what’s causing the bans, although players quickly began to assume that third-party software was the reason, since Bungie previously announced that it wouldn’t be allowed. On Bungie’s support page about account bans, the studio lists a wide variety of behavior that may result in a restriction (which is temporary) or ban (which is permanent), including “using an external program to modify the operation of the Destiny game software.”

However, people are saying they’ve been able to use Nvidia’s GeForce Experience — which employs a screen overlay — without issue, even with the program’s frames-per-second counter enabled. (As many chagrined players have pointed out, it would be ironic if Nvidia software caused problems, since the company partnered with publisher Activision to promote Destiny 2.) And even those who say they have nothing installed on their computer except the game and the Battle.net app are being banned.

Bungie has not yet commented on what’s causing the bans, although community manager Chris “Cozmo” Shannon said on the studio’s forums yesterday that third-party software isn’t the issue. “Third-party applications that aren’t compatible with Destiny 2 may cause the game to not run but won’t result in a ban,” said Shannon.

Regardless of whether that’s true, plenty of Destiny 2 players are still left in the lurch for now, unable to play a game they paid at least $60 for (and unable to easily get a refund). What’s particularly galling is that bans are permanent, and that banned players have no recourse: They can’t dispute the situation, and Bungie says it won’t overturn bans. “Permanent account bans are only implemented with rigorous checking to ensure that the innocent are not punished alongside the guilty,” the studio notes.

We’ve reached out to Bungie for more details, and will update this article with any information we receive. For more on Destiny 2, read our review and check out our comprehensive guide.

 

[NumberingYourState]

So Destiny 2 came out on the PC and it's banning people for merely starting the game. Reports claim that apparently popular apps every PC gamer runs, including Discord, MSI Afterburner, Mumble, Teamspeak, Fraps, Xsplit, OBS, and more are responsible.
https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/25/16544760/destiny-2-pc-bans-third-party-software

welcome to gaming in 2017