In development since the aftermath of their smash hit Halo 3, Bungie’s latest release, Destiny, has surprisingly fallen short of expectations for both industry reviewers and fans alike. Sales of the game have been tremendous; Destiny ranks in as one of the top selling games of 2014 and automatically ensures a continuation of the franchise under Activision’s publishing conglomerate. Yet, problems continue to arise as the company continues to face criticism over their handling of Destiny’s lackluster story, social features, Player vs. Environment, and whether or not Destiny actually lives up to the expectations that have escalated over the past four years. 

With a massive budget, nearly six years of development time, a staff of several hundred people, and record-breaking preorders across all four systems – everyone indicated that Destiny would be a smash. So, what caused the most anticipated game of 2014 to launch with so many problems, and what can Bungie do to repair their game, and earn the community's trust once again?

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Arguably, the biggest let down with Destiny come with it’s main storyline, or lack of one. From their very first announcement in February 2013, Bungie has repeatedly fed us the tagline “Become Legend”, a vague open-ended term that is catchy, but does not deliver. As a whole, the story for Destiny falls flat. The story, which is choppy and lacks any form of depth in the actual game, does not make you feel like a legend. Very little of the actual story for Destiny is revealed in the game – In order to learn about it, one has to read Grimoire cards that are only accessible on Bungie’s website- requiring a person to stop playing the game to learn more about the game. The few characters who actually have a role in the game, including The Speaker, are hardly fleshed out in any degree of the term, with the most personal relationship in the game belonging to the Player, and "The Stranger" - yes. The character you develop a bond with is named The Stranger.

Questions that remain unanswered by the time the main story ends include what the Darkness is, why the Vex have been deemed the supreme evil in the game, who The Stranger is, who she was talking to, the story of The Awoken, on top of the fundamental question: Why should I care about what happens?

Because of the poor story and means of telling that story, many in the community are wondering what happened during Destiny’s development that caused such a potential hit to have such a short, uninteresting, and poor story.


Joseph Staten, one of Bungie’s lead writers and a decade long veteran of the country, left suddenly in August of 2013. There was no indication prior to his departure that Staten was unhappy with the company or any of the work being done; As of June, Staten was on stage on E3, energetically presenting the first glimpse of Destiny to the public, which included story details that showed a far more interesting and dynamic world than what we got last month. Following Staten’s departure, there was little mention of the story for Destiny whatsoever, aside from Bungie reiterating their catchphrase and promising fans more details soon.

One has to ask – was Staten’s departure motivated by Destiny’s direction? Did his departure affect Destiny? Bungie and Activision will likely never publicly comment on the matter, yet if a recent unconfirmed leak is true, it would seem that Staten’s departure sent Destiny’s development into a frenzy, with Bungie split on where to go with the story. This split continued into late 2013, requiring much of what we knew, including whole plots, factions, and potentially characters, to be scrapped as they moved into the final nine months of their development period. This does seem to be the most likely cause for Destiny’s poor performance in the story aspect, and casts a slight bit of doubt as to whether or not Bungie knows where this current story is aimed to go.

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Aside from story, Bungie has taken hits over criticism on their handling of Destiny’s social aspect and the PvE (Player vs. Environment) portion of the game. Billed as a social shooter, Bungie has repeatedly stated their plan aims at Destiny to be played with friends and other players – while running a mission, you can come up on an area where there are other players roaming the environment. Yet, there is a minor problem with this – Unless they are in your fire team or private party, you cannot communicate with them whatsoever, aside from the generic options the game gives you – sitting, waving, pointing, and dancing. This lack of in game communications, which Bungie has stated comes from their attempts to keep the game friendly for all, creates a void, empty feeling in the world. Even the social hub, The Tower, lacks any voice communication, again mimicking that empty feeling while you roam the quiet halls. In their attempts to sterilize the world for everyone, Bungie forgets the fundamental basics of the world “social” – communication.

PvE in Destiny consists of two components – Raids, which require six players to journey through complex challenges and bosses, and Strikes, which put three players through a small mission leading to a boss. Currently, there is one raid accessible in the game and five strikes (Six if you have the Sony consoles). The problem with PvE in Destiny arises with the limited selection of options – you are simply replaying the same missions over and over again with little challenge, in search of specific types of armor to boost your level higher. Of course, the fundamental flaw is that this is all randomized. Fighting a level 25 boss has just as much a chance of giving you the item you need as a level 12 boss. This choice to randomize the potential for item drops making the post-game tedious and frustrating, hurting players who don’t have a ton of time to play the game for hours on end to grind for gear. PvE players also suffer when it comes to special events, such as the Iron Banner last weekend. In order to get some of the best items, it forces players to compete in PvP matches for Crucible Marks - meaning if you are set against this, you have no opportunity to fully enjoy an event.*

* More on PvP in Part 2

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Project Oversight is an editorial look at some of the gaming industries biggest releases and their flaws, addressing the criticisms surrounding various problems in the game and/or series. Part 2 of Destiny, aimed at PvP, the Marty O'Donnell Controversy, and the Future of Destiny, will be available soon.

Texas' law sets out seven forms of approved ID — a list that includes concealed handgun licenses but not college student IDs

Genius move.

Some good stuff.

Great review as always.

Quote from: challengerX on October 18, 2014, 12:48:53 PM

Quote from: IcyWind on October 18, 2014, 10:14:30 AM

iPhone 5S, iOS 8

RC is hating on our swag.

Yeah, no. We aren't doing this here.

If you want to spam about phone preferences, make your own thread and not overrun this thread where Cheat needs actual responses.

iPhone 5S, iOS 8

Poor Slash.

Kuvira does make a lot of sense.

Quote from: IcyWind on October 17, 2014, 02:20:55 PM

1920's credit crisis

Sorry, could you elaborate?

Staple of the American economy of the 1920's - a large chunk of people purchased a shit ton of stuff on credit, including stocks for the market, because everyone thought the period of prosperity for our economy would never end. When the Stock Market did crash, the credit bubble popped, and it helped to intensify the immediate effects for citizens because none of them had the actual money to pay off their credit debts as the banks caved.

It's not exactly identical to the problems that grew into the Great Recession, but the common factor is people biting off more then they can chew and buying extravagant things (In this case, large houses with huge mortgages) that they could never afford.

Quote from: IcyWind on October 17, 2014, 01:56:13 PM

>not understanding what generalizing is

I was showing how stupid it is to say Obama is the reason why the deficit has decreased by stating that Democrats were in control of Congress when the economy fell. There's more factors than a single person/group when it comes towards this

Now I just wait for your patheitc "hur demeg puntrol" response like the biased person you are

> Presents entire post with details and sources saying why you're wrong
> "It's just a generalization, Obama didn't do anything"

Kinder, if you'd like to debate, be my guest. But actually come here prepared because at this point, unless you have some sources to back up that Democrats didn't successfully lower the deficit, you're wrong in this argument. There is a extreme difference between one party controlling Congress and the economy going to shit after twenty+ years of problems, and one party controlling Congress and enacting policies to lower a deficit.

Have a good day.

Higher taxes are bad,

Your expertise on the subject is....?

especially since they were the ones who held Congress when the economy went to shit.

So, because the Democrats held Congress when the economy went to shit, it's their fault? You just confirmed your absolute lack of economics, and understanding that the Great Recession stems from problems dating back to the 1980's - Four Presidency's worth of snowballing into the economic collapse that Bush II only created worse.

Going to argue with me about that? Let's talk some facts before you, once again, backpedal.

The Housing Market:

• Between 1997 and 2006, the price of the typical American house increased by 124%.Source
  
• This housing bubble resulted in quite a few homeowners refinancing their homes at lower interest rates, or financing consumer spending by taking out second mortgages secured by the price appreciation.
• Easy credit, and a belief that house prices would continue to appreciate, had encouraged many subprime borrowers to obtain adjustable-rate mortgages. These mortgages enticed borrowers with a below market interest rate for some predetermined period, followed by market interest rates for the remainder of the mortgage's term. Borrowers who could not make the higher payments once the initial grace period ended would try to refinance their mortgages. Refinancing became more difficult, once house prices began to decline in many parts of the USA. Borrowers who found themselves unable to escape higher monthly payments by refinancing began to default.
• As of August 2008, 92% of all mortgages outstanding were either delinquent or in foreclosure.Source
• According to the IMF: Household debt soared in the years leading up to the Great Recession. In advanced economies, during the five years preceding 2007, the ratio of household debt to income rose by an average of 39 percentage points, to 138 percent. In Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway, debt peaked at more than 200 percent of household income.

Risk-Taking Behavior and Debt:

• USA household debt as a percentage of annual disposable personal income was 127% at the end of 2007, versus 77% in 1990 Source
• U.S. home mortgage debt relative to gross domestic product (GDP) increased from an average of 46% during the 1990s to 73% during 2008, reaching $10.5 trillion Source
• In 1981, U.S. private debt was 123% of GDP; by the third quarter of 2008, it was 290% Source
• In order to counter the Stock Market Crash of 2000 and the subsequent economic slowdown, the Federal Reserve eased credit availability and drove interest rates down to lows not seen in many decades. These low interest rates facilitated the growth of debt at all levels of the economy, chief among them private debt to purchase more expensive housing. High levels of debt have long been recognized as a causative factor for recessions.

Government Policies:

• In 1992, the Democratic-controlled 102nd Congress under the George H. W. Bush administration weakened regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the goal of making available more money for the issuance of home loans.
• In 1999, the Republican controlled 106th Congress U.S. Congress under the Clinton administration passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. This repeal has been criticized by some for having contributed to the proliferation of the complex and opaque financial instruments which are at the heart of the crisis.Source

By the time the effects actually hit us that we had fucked up the economy, Congress could do nothing to prevent it. We all fucked up. Congress, Democrats, Republicans, Citizens, Businesses, Economists. That is the cold hard fact. Spinning this around to solely blame the party in charge is a petty, uneducated move.

That's just insult to injury when you ruin the economy and demand those same people to pay more to those who oversaw it

The media keeps trying to sensationalize it and make it seem like we're in it to bully women and harass people, but the reality is all we want is journalistic integrity.

That's understandable, coming from a journalist major.

For Those Unaware, this Story Covers the Topic Moderately Well

Another Article

Quote from: IcyWind on October 08, 2014, 08:07:01 AM

I got bored procrastinating on a paper, so I took a selfie.

Mock me.

Spoiler

I like the pacman ghost for Halloween.

Thanks 

Quote from: IcyWind on October 16, 2014, 08:48:06 PM

Good to see this thing still works.

Wrong signal m8

Ah yes.