Destiny Alpha Thread: Impressions from the wild [Code Begging=ban]

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The problem with that, is that the rewards you get for exploring are not really interesting at all. You might think it's reward enough to see a nice view, as I believe you said early in the thread. But I doubt most people think that. There needs to be actual interesting, useful and varied things to find by exploring, otherwise the incentive for doing so gets lost quickly.
I've been playing Destiny longer than this Alpha, and all I'll say is I haven't lost any incentive to go exploring.

It's not just a nice view. There's story in the environment without the aid of audio or video logs. Would those be cool to have? Sure! And I can understand why you want them.
 
Went exploring for loot. Found this blocking the exit. What do?!
i3hA34WBIvNZP.jpg

Run like the wind before it's laser eyes strip the skin from your bones!

I've bumped into one in the grotto caves. Where was this one?
 
I disagree! That's like saying Half-Life 2's "Highway 17" feels empty. There's a lot of story to discover in the environment. Plus it has day/night cycles, other players, enemy AI patrolling around, birds like animals, snow falling and wind blowing.

What story are you referring too? Because I have not found it. The day/night cycle is very pretty and I like it alot, but it doesn't change that the areas are very sparse with things to find.

Seeing players off in the distance is nice, but an area doesn't become fun to explore just because there's another random players in the vicinity.

Enemies don't patrol at all though. They're completely static, they spawn and go hang out in their pre-designated area. Any AI battles are always in the exact same area between the same forces over and over. It's very static and repetitive, and makes the world feel the opposite of alive to me.

And once again, random enviroment effects like birds, snow or wind blowing are pretty. But doesn't add interesting content for the player to interact with, thus leading to the sense of an empty world with little to find.


I've been playing Destiny longer than this Alpha, and all I'll say is I haven't lost any incentive to go exploring.

It's not just a nice view. There's story in the environment without the aid of audio or video logs. Would those be cool to have? Sure! And I can understand why you want them.

I'm very different from you I think. Because I have already gotten very bored with running around Old Russia. There's just nothing interesting to find that makes me want to keep runing around the zone.
 
Someone said the level cap in retail was going to be 20? What the what? I thought I hit 8 playing for about 3-4 hours (and I'm not that good). Wouldn't level 20 be do-able after a day or two?
 
You guys are taking some gorgeous photos of this game - how do you get it HUD-less?

I don't have any photos to share, and I know this will sound cheesy, but this game gave me that "magical" feeling that WoW did all those years ago. I made a fan art of a Titan - kind of Dark Souls inspired. Also, fellow Titans, STORM FIST!

https://twitter.com/followarmada/status/478519705796640769

Pausing then un-pausing causes the HUD to disappear for a second. Gotta be quick but you can snap shots without it.

Great piece of art BTW. Fantastic work.
 
This. This right here is why this game impressed me so much. I played the free roam for roughly 6 hours. I was convinced I had see the entire map. I had even used my rocket sled to blow past ?? enemies to see what was beyond them, and I didn't see this.

I was literally amazed by the size of the Old Russia map. I just hope that the other 4-5 planets meet, or exceed this benchmark.

EDIT: I just now realize this may have been added after the official close of the Alpha. Was it? Or was this in the vanilla Alpha?

Prepare to be amazed even more, because Old Russia is just 1 of multiple earth locations.
 
Oh dear, this game just seems like one of those games you need to play before you say anything. Without having playing it, it looks rather meh. But i'm convinced that if i play it my view will change completely. That is, ignoring the below-average graphical quality.

I'm still not going to pay $600 just to play one game, though. Maybe this, Bloodborne, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank and FFXV could convince me to buy a PS4... Actually, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank on it's own is enough to convince me.

Now i shall wait...
 
Oh dear, this game just seems like one of those games you need to play before you say anything. Without having playing it, it looks rather meh. But i'm convinced that if i play it my view will change completely. That is, ignoring the below-average graphical quality.

I'm still not going to pay $600 just to play one game, though. Maybe this, Bloodborne, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank and FFXV could convince me to buy a PS4... Actually, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank on it's own is enough to convince me.

Now i shall wait...

Ooookaay then......
 
You guys are taking some gorgeous photos of this game - how do you get it HUD-less?

I don't have any photos to share, and I know this will sound cheesy, but this game gave me that "magical" feeling that WoW did all those years ago. I made a fan art of a Titan - kind of Dark Souls inspired. Also, fellow Titans, STORM FIST!

https://twitter.com/followarmada/status/478519705796640769

Whoa, that's really good! I love how the cloak is kind of breaking away there, that's a great touch.
 

Unfortunately for you it's pretty old news :P

Gotta love the click bait article title though. He even says in the article that probably isn't true.

Even if the world is empty, I don't want audio logs, jesus christ what last-gen thinking.

Give me the next gen version of audio logs then, I don't really care(which are what exactly?). I just want something to find in the world
 
You guys are taking some gorgeous photos of this game - how do you get it HUD-less?

I don't have any photos to share, and I know this will sound cheesy, but this game gave me that "magical" feeling that WoW did all those years ago. I made a fan art of a Titan - kind of Dark Souls inspired. Also, fellow Titans, STORM FIST!

https://twitter.com/followarmada/status/478519705796640769

Really like the fur on the Titan. Makes him look like a hardened soldier.

Nice work, armada. :)
 
By the rusted helicopters, you jump over the railing behind them and there's a ledge with this entrance.

Excellent. Guess I'm packing a change of shorts and trying to find him when I get home from work.

Anyone tried the alpha remote play? Gonna be stuck on my Vita tonight as my wife is entertaining the in-laws. Normally it's fantastic but the rear touch pad can be very cumbersome at times.
 
This. This right here is why this game impressed me so much. I played the free roam for roughly 6 hours. I was convinced I had see the entire map. I had even used my rocket sled to blow past ?? enemies to see what was beyond them, and I didn't see this.

I was literally amazed by the size of the Old Russia map. I just hope that the other 4-5 planets meet, or exceed this benchmark.

EDIT: I just now realize this may have been added after the official close of the Alpha. Was it? Or was this in the vanilla Alpha?
He's a random spawn, he isn't always there, but I fought him once. Like an NM in ffxi.
 
Bungie, nooooooooooo. Keep it up until at least this evening until after I get off work.

This game is like crack, and I'm not even that big at all into FPS nowadays. They all systematically feel the same, but this one is different. A little Halo/Metroid Prime/Borderlands/Mass Effect/MMORPG and I'm loving it.
 
Even if the world is empty, I don't want audio logs, jesus christ what last-gen thinking.
Yeah, that's not what I'm looking for either. Not to mention from the perspective of humanity that's already colonized the solar system ages ago, some seriously outdated tech. I like the direction they're going with the grimoire cards and reviving dead ghosts for more bits of lore but I wish that stuff was housed in game.
 
I disagree! That's like saying Half-Life 2's "Highway 17" feels empty. Plus it has day/night cycles, other players, enemy AI patrolling around, birds like animals, snow falling and wind blowing.
That's true, there is a lot to see and the environment is great.

There's a lot of story to discover in the environment.
But don't you feel that the story doesn't tell itself by just looking at things. I'm missing maybe some audio/text-logs from the day where everything collapsed.

I assume that a lot of the places will be better integrated in the story and filled with background information once the game is released and we can play all the story missions.
 
Oh dear, this game just seems like one of those games you need to play before you say anything. Without having playing it, it looks rather meh. But i'm convinced that if i play it my view will change completely. That is, ignoring the below-average graphical quality.

I'm still not going to pay $600 just to play one game, though. Maybe this, Bloodborne, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank and FFXV could convince me to buy a PS4... Actually, a new full-scale Ratchet and Clank on it's own is enough to convince me.

Now i shall wait...

Errm the graphical quality in this game is fine. The aesthetic is brilliant also.
 
Not just a question to you, but to everyone else cause I'm really curious: You're a boy, right? Why do you keep making female characters?

The male characters aren't exactly good looking imho. The female characters can look absolutely stunning, but the males seem to be either "humungo beefcake" or "kawaii bishi husbando" and nothing in between. Probably why so many male players are going Exo as well. I'd kill for a facial hair option for male characters.
 
But don't you feel that the story doesn't tell itself by just looking at things. I'm missing maybe some audio/text-logs from the day where everything collapsed.

I assume that a lot of the places will be better integrated in the story and filled with background information once the game is released and we can play all the story missions.
I expect the dead ghost devices to fill this void. Once you activate them, you'll get the backstory.
The male characters aren't exactly good looking imho. The female characters can look absolutely stunning, but the males seem to be either "humungo beefcake" or "kawaii bishi husbando" and nothing in between. Probably why so many male players are going Exo as well. I'd kill for a facial hair option for male characters.
I tried to make a humanoid male and I could not find a single hair style that would look good for him. I gave up and made an Exo instead.

All of the male hairstyles look like joke shop wigs. Seriously.
 
I know that this has probably been answered a million times, but how do you get other people to join you? I changed my fire team setting to "public", but no one ever joins. And some of the enemies are way above my level, plus a Boss looking creature that is clearly meant to be tackled cooperatively.

I'm confused, obviously.
 
Hope it's still on tonight.

I don't have any detailed impressions other than I knew nothing about Destiny going in and no interest in the alpha, I just happen to get a random alpha email invite Friday so I tried it.

Had a blast with it, pre-ordered and can't wait for the beta. The Devil's Lair mission was intense and sold me. Bungie is unmatched in designing scale in their visuals, the world is beautiful.

I will complain about the 3rd person transitions though, I didn't like them in Halo 2 or 3 whenever they added them and I don't like them here. I really don't like the 3rd person in tower. Other than that add a no show headgear option and we're good.
 
Well that was far more polished than I expected. Had a great time in the Alpha although I never did try out the Crucible. For some idiotic reason I thought it was just a 1v1 PVP lol.

Any word on when and how we get into the beta?
 
Not just a question to you, but to everyone else cause I'm really curious: You're a boy, right? Why do you keep making female characters?

Because in most games i'm playing male characters and usually i play as female when i get the chance to. Variety
 
Prepare to be amazed even more, because Old Russia is just 1 of multiple earth locations.

Are you kidding me? Holy crap. I've lived and breathed Bungie for the past 15 years, but for some reason I completely doubted them with Destiny. I was going to buy it out of loyalty and hope it was good. This Alpha has made the game not only become something I cannot wait for, it's actually the most anticipated I've been for a game since Halo 2.

I need to go read up on the lore and locations. Because this is just too damned good.
 
Not just a question to you, but to everyone else cause I'm really curious: You're a boy, right? Why do you keep making female characters?
That's like saying why play a different race other then human in RPGs. The simple answer is "because we can", it's a pure comestic choice that you can have and is given to you, so why not. I personally prefer the armor shape on them and the size portions compared to the male counterpart because I fucking hate the beef cake build of most male characters in video games.
 
While I agree the beacon quests could be better, they aren't the point of free-roam. The point of free-roam is to explore, and the beacon quests are supposed to supplement, not replace, that goal.

The AI isn't bad, it's pretty good. Some enemies stand still, like the invisible snipers, so it's easier to shoot them. Otherwise they flank, take cover, and run away if need be.

:)

I found the AI on Reach on Legendary to be much better than the stuff displayed in the Alpha here.

The problem with that, is that the rewards you get for exploring are not really interesting at all. You might think it's reward enough to see a nice view, as I believe you said early in the thread. But I doubt most people think that. There needs to be actual interesting, useful and varied things to find by exploring, otherwise the incentive for doing so gets lost quickly. So far the only thing you get are chests. Chests that give you the exact same kind of thing everytime, 80-130 glimmer, and once in a while you get an item. That's a pretty profound lack of variety imo.

The world needs to be littered with things the player can interact with that sheds light on the golden age and the world we're in. I want to find audio/video logs when I enter an old building that explains what that place was, what they were doing there or what was happening around the time the recording got made. I want to find things that will iniate a quest where I have to go and unlock an old sealed of area that will unlock a new part of old russia that is completely optional and not part of the campaign. I want to be able to find useful material in a toolbox that I might find inside one of the crashed airplanes. Stuff like this is what I want. Because it's not gonna be fun to explore an abandoned moonbase if it's litterally empty save for an out of place chest with a bit of glimmer and perhaps an random item that I will most likely have a much better version of.

Exactly. It's a useless time sink that gives nothing to the player except some screenshots.

I disagree! That's like saying Half-Life 2's "Highway 17" feels empty. There's a lot of story to discover in the environment. Plus it has day/night cycles, other players, enemy AI patrolling around, birds like animals, snow falling and wind blowing.

Skyrim's world is a more interesting place to explore and that's not saying much. Skyrim is fleshed out with dungeons, lore books, characters, and a host of other stuff. There is nothing to explore except the map.
 
Not just a question to you, but to everyone else cause I'm really curious: You're a boy, right? Why do you keep making female characters?

As for a guy like me, I think that a strong, fighter woman is totally badass. I've always had a thing for strong sci-fi women like Samus Aran and Ripley from Aliens.

Really like the fur on the Titan. Makes him look like a hardened soldier.

Nice work, armada. :)

Thanks! Yeah, once I saw the fur on the Crucible guy, I knew that I needed fur on every Titan I would draw XD
 
But don't you feel that the story doesn't tell itself by just looking at things.
No, cause it's pretty easy to piece together!

For example, take right outside the Wall, where the E3 2013 demo took place. Look at the huddled mass of cars: This indicates a lot of people were trying to get somewhere very quickly all at once. The skeletons in the cars suggest that whatever these people were trying to escape killed them quickly, as there are skeletons in the car holding hands.

When traveling through the wall and getting on the other side, there are the rusting wreckages of tanks, which means that the people inside the Wall were worried that what was outside might breach their defenses.

And that's all without the use of audio or video logs.
I enjoy looking at pretty girls more than I enjoy looking at ugly men.
But you're in first person 99% of the time...
 
Errm the graphical quality in this game is fine. The aesthetic is brilliant also.
The art style / aesthetic is brilliant, yes. Graphically it isn't. It's a 360/PS3 game, so that's expected. It looks good for what it is, but obviously isn't going to look "next gen". That's all i'm saying, and that's why i'm saying i'd ignore the graphical quality when making my judgement.
 
so it's been extended? do we know for how long... I was slammed this weekend and have not put in anywhere near as much time with the game as I would like. Hope I still have a few more days to enjoy it.
 
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