Destiny

[Ataraxis]

I kinda doubt that. I mean, Bungie has said the budget for the game was nowhere near 500 mill, but that's the number Activision was using. With marketing budgets exceeding 100 mill for some games nowadays, and how much coverage and commercials it got, I'd be surprised if Destiny wasn't merely among them, but at the top of the list.

 

I'm also pretty sure a lot of the complaints are amplified because they directly contrast things that were said before release. When one of the more common qualms is a lack of content, it doesn't look great to have shit like "you may never finish the game" on record.

[Rachis]

Playing the game as much as I have, it's clear that there was a change in development somewhere along the way. The infrastructure exists in the game for a far more robust economy and yet the economy remains largely absent.

 

I don't think anybody knows what happened, but something changed between E3 2013 and the release of the game and it resulted in a diminished product. I'm just glad that Bungie have been working their tails off providing updates as quickly as they have been. The weekly updates help give the player base an insight into what's going on and that's always welcome.

 

Either way, the game was good enough for me to play for a solid month without much interruption. I had to take a break afterwards due to the lack of content and getting completely burned out on strikes. I have Bioware to thank for giving me a pretty solid game in Dragon Age Inquisition to play so I don't get too burned out on Destiny again. CoD AW is alright as far as shooters go, but that game is frustrating to play without a Scuf.

[Py687]

"Constant" patches is a plus for the game, and with the DLC out next week Bungie's setting in place content both for DLC purchasers and current playerbase. They also fixed all parts of the raid that would let players "cheese" through shit so raiding should be somewhat fun again.

[Shirtless Crackhead]

These mofuckers need to lrn2 outsource.

[Not-Hunter]

"Constant" patches is a plus for the game, and with the DLC out next week Bungie's setting in place content both for DLC purchasers and current playerbase. They also fixed all parts of the raid that would let players "cheese" through shit so raiding should be somewhat fun again.

This is all true, yup.

 

And someone got mad at me the other day cause I wanted to cheese the raid. Had a busy week and needed to do the raid three times, lol.

[Not-Hunter]

I tore my copy of destiny in half today. This doesn't change anything I've said about it, but I saw much of the older trailers and such, which I'd had no interest in originally. I got to see all that was planned, and now we can see how all of it was torn to absolute bits. Fuck activision. I'd leave a company too, if four years of work on story and world-building was just scrapped.

[Rachis]

The only thing that they were going to do that I'm really missing right now are the faction storylines. I have to wear a stupid class item for virtually no reason. I hope they get reworked/implemented because as of now the factions could be absent from the game and it would change nothing.

 

[Edit] Just leveled up Dead Orbit again (2500 rep points) just for a single ascendant energy. They really need to think about the loot tables.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Rachis

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

I tore my copy of destiny in half today.

 

pics or it didnt happen

[Not-Hunter]

well, i tried to tear it in half. the disc was really flexible and just kinda folded in on itself.

 

playing warframe instead now. much fun, though it's very hard to pick weapons and such before you buy them, kinda confusing.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Not-Hunter

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

i still want pics

 

also i played warframe when it first released to public and maxed almost all of the endgame weapons

 

i can say warframe is worse than destiny

[Py687]

Omg hype

 

Bungie has confirmed no raid but there is speculated to be a horde mode instead. Also, it seems like you can upgrade old gear to more relevant attack values (maybe armor too). And other stuff that's been "known" for a while.

 

I'm pretty excited as TDB died down a lot quicker than the vanilla game for me. Looks like I won't get a very long break from Destiny so I should probably marathon a couple games on the back burner.

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

horde mode?

 

u mean i gotta kill more enemy waves with dinklebot again?

[Py687]

I hope he gets new lines!

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

[Not-Hunter]

Ohais again. So, getting to see the game every day as my dad continues to play it, the first DLC seemed to very much be more of the same, which was somewhat disappointing even if it would temporarily deal with the issue of lack of content for some people. Especially as it seemed to have rather little relevance to the story and added more grind without offering much in the way of unique weapons. The old weapons from the main game were often better than those present in the first DLC due to their combination of perks.

 

The second DLC, however, feels much more like a step in a positive direction, with the ability to upgrade old equipment, a new way to get endgame equipment without doing the same level over and over again, even if it is a horde mode. Not sure why I approve of a horde mode more than replaying single player. Maybe because you can get slightly different experiences, dunno. The addition of a new weapon type is kind of small but still good, and the small changes to the upgrades for the weapons overall seems to be another small improvement. The focus on story once again interests me slightly, though I don't know if that branch of the story is any good.

 

House of Wolves interests me a little, has anyone else continued to play destiny, and if so, what do you think about the two DLCs so far?

[Py687]

Yes, I continued playing! I really hope you were exaggerating about breaking your disc because HoW is very fun. Story missions are better than those of TDB, and the freedom of choice, of being able to use any legendary armor to reach the level cap, is a good update.

 

Also other stuff, like being able to reroll perks for almost any legendary weapon, and more ways of exchanging materials. I haven't been able to get my hands on any new exotics yet but the perks sound really interesting. The weapons will all be bounty missions, but you'll need to get them to drop in horde.

 

Bungie really spiced up patrol with some bounties, afaik the expansion isn't necessary for those. Neither is it necessary for Trials of Osiris, which I've yet to try but am pretty hyped for. 3v3 elimination, best of or first to five rounds.

 

Rachis also plays, he'll probably pop in with some thoughts sometime. Fuck nob for stopping, not that I play ps3.

[Not-Hunter]

My PS4 disc is still broke, but I have access to a downloaded version on the X1 if I so choose. Though I'd probably be better off buying my own PS4 copy anyway, but, I still need money to buy a PS4 in the first place. I have like 200$ saved, and need a few months to get enough for a PS4.

[Py687]

Nah play on Xb1

[Not-Hunter]

that would require getting my bro to stop playing smite, lol.

 

EDIT:

also, the X1 controllers we have are defective and don't really work properly.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Not-Hunter

[Rachis]

HoW is definitely a step in the right direction. It gives you a more varied experience depending on what you choose to do. The weapon balancing is being worked a little bit with what perks are available with reforged weapons. Older legendaries are still going to be really good if you ascend them, but I'm certain that next year; if not later this one; will bring an end to the vanilla and DB vendor weapons. The direction the HoW weapons are taking seems to be leading that way.

 

PvE got a great boost to variability with Prison of Elders. I don't think it's going to be as random as was advertised. However, you're being shoved into a space with no options but to bring it to the enemy. It makes things interesting. Lv28 is easy as fuck, but is actually random so it's not going to be like running strikes over and over again. Lv32 will give new HoW players a little taste of what to expect later. Still pretty easy, but very very doable. Just have to remember that everything hurts. Lv34 is where it starts getting real interesting. Even with your guardian at 34, everything hurts a lot and a certain level of communication will be required. Bungie took a page out of the competitive PvP book and is forcing you to move around to complete objectives. These objectives include disarming bombs, destroying bombs, and killing key targets before they reach a certain point. You need to be coordinated and ready for just about anything. The Lv35 challenge should be a cake walk, but there was a member of my crew last night that failed to mention his Gally wasn't fully leveled. So the easy strat was not available to us and let me tell you now that completing the Lv35 challenge the hard way is by far the hardest thing you will do in Destiny.

 

https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=2601320231&characterId=2305843009244834482

 

When your stat line reads like that link, it feels impossible. Everything I did had to be on point. More balanced teams with solid players should be able to get it done. That particular group was not capable.

 

Trials of Osiris was a blast. The 3v3 elimination mode gets you amped and it makes you want to take your game to the next level. This mode is how I was able to get from 32 to 34 within a couple hours of playing HoW. You are given every opportunity to get new gear and guns via drops throughout your run as well as via vendor rewards upon achieving an increasing amount of wins. If you are able to do a flawless 9-0, then you are able to get another chance at some rewards in an exclusive weekly social space (you beeline to a chest whoopdee doo). Upon successfully achieving 9 wins, you are locked out of rewards for the week, but are able to still participate. This enables you to help out your friends as well.

 

The new missions and strike are a little more interesting than the Destiny norm, but they still are just that...missions and a strike. Nothing really fantastic there.

 

I haven't played the Lv28 strike playlist yet, but I'm assuming that engram drop rate will be increased over the Lv26 just like it has been previously with each level increase.

 

That's all I got for now. For sure a great addition to the game, but honestly nothing I wasn't already expecting from this game when it launched considering Bungie's development history. It's kept me from completely diving into Witcher 3 so I guess it's doing it's job.

[Py687]

I wish I had the chance to run PoE 35 before the reset, but last night I only had an hour left and tried and failed. One person quit and I guess post-reset players can't join pre-reset sessions, so we started over with a random, no biggie. But now Skolas is arc damage so we didn't have Gjally burn or Black Hammer stagger. We got him as low as 25% but couldn't pull through before I called it a night. Our overall group stats were slightly better than yours (haha, I recognize a few names from stream), but dreg grenades2stronk. If we had had a defender, it would've gone better I'm sure.

 

Trials is fun. The pressure to do well on a personal and a team level is missing from regular Crucible and even Iron Banner, so I'm glad ToO brings that to the game. There was a ton of salt on reddit over the weekend, mostly from whom I can only presume were PvE-centric players, about how players who went 9-0 shouldn't be able to reenter with the same character, and a pretty funny backlash of flawless runners just telling people to get good.

[Rachis]

There were a ton of guys who didn't know what they were doing. I bagged myself a few collaterals with the snipe which shouldn't be happening in 3v3. Flanking was really effective. A lot of guys never changed strategies. Out of 20 matches, my guys only dropped 2 and 1 of them was our warmup where we weren't coordinated whatsoever. Once I told them what we should be doing, it was pretty smooth sailing. We even had a match where we were down 4 to 1 and we brought it back to win. There was much excite. I'll be doing this every weekend for sure.

 

Also, I forgot to mention that Crucible is rewarding PvP players far more than PvE players are. Legendaries get dropped constantly now. It's pretty nice.

[Py687]

Yeah, we flanked a decent amount, usually while rushing the opening. The only times it failed were when we pushed too soon and one person died right off the bat. A lot of players teams can't handle that pressure when you literally corner them from two sides.

 

PvP sounds a lot more profitable now, haha. Too bad I'm not into normal legendaries, plus most of the new perks don't interest me a lot (except for the huge stat changes like +stab/-mag). Word of Crota needs to get Phantom Gift changed, not that it will since TDB is pretty irrelevant.

 

I also gave PoE lvl35 another shot and got it this time. I only found this afterword, but it's the strat a teammate introduced that worked great. Basically WoL + field scout snipers.