Friday 19 January 2018

My Take on Destiny 2

Hi! Welcome to my blog.

Let me say right off the bat here, that this blog isn't solely about Destiny 2 or computer games, I just had to start somewhere, and here seems as good a place as any.

There has been a lot of consternation among the Destiny community lately, and for the most part, it's justified. Bungie just seem to keep stumbling from bad idea to bad idea, with fixes coming too little and too late. It seems like it's hemorrhaging players, from newbies coming in and being scared off by the (sometimes justified, sometimes not) vitriol of the community, or those vitriolic community members themselves. I myself, whilst having abstained from the anger and frustration that many Destiny players have exhibited, have drifted from this franchise that I hold dearly in my heart. It's such a sad state of affairs for me, in that I can't even make myself log on most of the time, because I know there's so much wrong with the game, and the game's economy. For the record, I have nothing against buying cosmetic items in game with real money, as long as no actual progress can be made with said cosmetics. That being said, I understand the frustration surrounding Eververse and microtransactions in general. The whole 'pay to win' thing reared its ugly head with Star Wars Battlefront 2, and that caused such an uproar that their in-game transactions were shut down completely.

I feel like I've been fairly negative about the game, when talking to my friends. Let me get this straight. I still love Destiny. I am trying to love Destiny 2. The whole universe, the lore, the characters, I feel that Bungie have done so well. Admittedly there are holes in the plot (The Exo Stranger, anyone?) but then there are plot holes in most stories. It's nice to fill those gaps with conjecture and theory, and its why Destiny lore videos are some of my most watched on YouTube. I find the lore utterly fascinating, especially when it gets into the backstory of the Hive, my favourite DLC in Destiny 1 was The Taken King. I felt like it was such a rich vein of storytelling, with fun little offshoots like the quest to get the Touch of Malice scout rifle. The story in Destiny 2 doesn't really come close to those heights, in my opinion.

The big development update that came out recently has me intrigued. Are Bungie trying to pull it back to how good the game was come the end of Destiny 1? Personally, if they do, I will come back, hands on knees, begging for forgiveness. I feel that if they can get it to their previous heights, then they have the makings of a truly epic game on their hands. But it's how they handle all of this under pressure from an already exacerbated player base. Surely they must feel that they can't keep going from bad decision to bad decision and expect to keep their community intact? I'm aware that the game isn't the finished article, that there's at least one more DLC to come, so I'm going to try to optimistic. I have faith that they can turn it around.

Prove me right, Bungie.