Destiny review copies being sent out one day before release, impacting review dates

Riedinizzo said:
Hmmm, hate to be a downer since at one time I was really excited for this game, buuut...

  • Level cap of 20.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the game in the beta)
  • Squads limited to 3 players
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far)
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt

I don't think this will be a bad game, but it's hard to argue that its not going to massively under deliver on what was initially promised/hyped. I think they're likely worried the reviews will reflect that.

If it wasn't for my amazon.ca pre-order that netted me this game at $37, I would be waiting. I'll probably play through the story once, mess around in the crucible for a few hours and never touch it again.

EDIT: For the record, I played the alpha on ps4 and beta on xbox one. It was fun, but entirely underwhelming. It really is just Halo with borderlands mechanics.
Click to expand...

About level cap. It's technically 30.

You get to level 20 through EXP. Then when you equip armor with light stats, you level beyond 20.

Basically, light stats help you earn experience after level 20 and it enhances your subclass abilities
 
Riedinizzo said:
Hmmm, hate to be a downer since at one time I was really excited for this game, buuut...

  • Level cap of 20.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the game in the beta)
  • Squads limited to 3 players
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far)
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt

I don't think this will be a bad game, but it's hard to argue that its not going to massively under deliver on what was initially promised/hyped. I think they're likely worried the reviews will reflect that.

If it wasn't for my amazon.ca pre-order that netted me this game at $37, I would be waiting. I'll probably play through the story once, mess around in the crucible for a few hours and never touch it again.

EDIT: For the record, I played the alpha on ps4 and beta on xbox one. It was fun, but entirely underwhelming. It really is just Halo with borderlands mechanics.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Couldn't agree more with this sentiment.
 
Riedinizzo said:
Hmmm, hate to be a downer since at one time I was really excited for this game, buuut...

  • Level cap of 20.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the game in the beta)
  • Squads limited to 3 players
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far)
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt

I don't think this will be a bad game, but it's hard to argue that its not going to massively under deliver on what was initially promised/hyped. I think they're likely worried the reviews will reflect that.

If it wasn't for my amazon.ca pre-order that netted me this game at $37, I would be waiting. I'll probably play through the story once, mess around in the crucible for a few hours and never touch it again.

EDIT: For the record, I played the alpha on ps4 and beta on xbox one. It was fun, but entirely underwhelming. It really is just Halo with borderlands mechanics.
Click to expand...

I don't like any of that stuff either, but I had a ton of fun with the alpha and beta. Enough to make me begrudgingly look the other way and buy the game.

I will say that if I hadn't played it for myself, I'd have no interest at all.
 
It's delayed probably because reviewers won't get the full experience until servers are well populated. Or, maybe there is so much grinding to do, their reviews would have come late anyway, so let them wait like everyone else.
 
Proper reviews for online-centric games are tricky. Ideally they'd have a head start with the game, but that's continue to add more impressions as a "review in progress" for at least a few days after launch, with a final assessment and score at the end.

I know people want their reviews on day one, but I'm not sure how useful those reviews are when they have to be written without experiencing major parts of the game in real world conditions. It certainly contributed to the backlash associated with Sim City, Diablo III, and Battlefield 4.
 
Wizman23 said:
Its HILARIOUS to me. People in this thread wondering if they should cancel their pre orders. I can't tell if its sarcasm or not, but I'm leaning toward them being 100% serious. Its sad that in 2014 people can't make up their own minds. People want to know why this industry is shady as fuck? Its because you have to appeal to the "this game better be a 10/10 or else I'm cancelling my pre order crowd. People like that ruin this hobby
Click to expand...

Well, considering you should never be preordering a game nowadays, it's pretty whatever. I would argue that preordering at all does a lot more to hurt the hobby than cancelling a preorder. Staying on topic though, I would take this as a pretty clear sign that Activision is anticipating potentially significant server issues around launch... unless you can think of some other reason they wouldn't want to get extremely positive reviews on a nearly universally-lauded game that they've spent hundreds of millions on out before launch.
 
d884aj9.jpg
Click to expand...

i'm not putin up w/ ur stuff Bungle!

I preordered the LE on both PS4 and XB1 and waited for the Beta to choose. I chose PS4. I need that exclusive Strike
 
stump sock said:
After how awful my experience with digital Watch Dogs was on day 1 (and that was half the size), I don't think I'll be going to digital for major games on release day again anytime soon.
Click to expand...
I hear you, however the preload option helps with this...too bad reviews won't be available to decide on digital preload. I feel confident the online performance should be smooth based on the Beta performance. I am a little concerned with my personal long term interest in the game.
 
Riedinizzo said:
Hmmm, hate to be a downer since at one time I was really excited for this game, buuut...

  • Level cap of 20.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the game in the beta)
  • Squads limited to 3 players
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far)
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt

I don't think this will be a bad game, but it's hard to argue that its not going to massively under deliver on what was initially promised/hyped. I think they're likely worried the reviews will reflect that.

If it wasn't for my amazon.ca pre-order that netted me this game at $37, I would be waiting. I'll probably play through the story once, mess around in the crucible for a few hours and never touch it again.

EDIT: For the record, I played the alpha on ps4 and beta on xbox one. It was fun, but entirely underwhelming. It really is just Halo with borderlands mechanics.
Click to expand...

If I may, to avoid misinformation:

  • Hard Level cap of 20, but progression continues with Gear.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the explorable zones in the beta, this does not include strikes, raids, or multi, or whatever The Reef is.)
  • Squads limited to 3 players for "story" mode. Increases to 6 for Multiplayer groups and Raids.
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far). This Can't be known yet.
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt
 
I have the game already paid for and will be picking it up with excitement. I am hopeful that the developer does not see a point in releasing review copies early due to the primarily online nature of the game. I can't ignore that most of the time when review copies are not sent out in advance, it is a bad sign.
 
So my takeaway from this is that Bungie's optimal way to experience this game is with lots friends and other players. But if they are concerned that reviewers won't get the full scope of their game while playing before launch with a small group of players, what does that say for the launch experience of someone who doesn't have a lot (or any, like me) friends on their system? Except for random people spawning in and going about their business, aren't I essentially going to have the exact same experience as someone who could hypothetically be reviewing the game right now, which is to say an experience that Bungie seems to feel will be a sub-par?

I don't plan on cancelling my preorder or anything, as I had enough fun in the beta to be intrigued, but I do wonder if this might not be a new coat of paint on the old blueprint of short, forgettable single player in favor of robust multiplayer experience. Honestly though, as long as the paint looks sufficiently new and unique, I'll likely be satisfied. At the end of the day, I still have faith in Bungie.
 
The game can't be played - by critics or anyone else - until the servers go active on the 9th anyway, right?

The Beta was really fun, and the game's going to score at least reasonably well with the vast majority of critics. They're not trying to hide anything...
 
jbug617 said:
http://www.polygon.com/forums/desti...-reviews-editor-no-release-day-destiny-review



Don't know why Activision are sending review copies so late.

Also don't know if they are holding back just on Polygon or is it the same for all reviewers.
Click to expand...

I can confirm this is for all (at least from what I know) media outlets. There's no review event happening for Destiny and the servers itself will be up on September 9 (New Zealand time is the earliest from what I know). So, there's no way for people to actually play it (since it's online-only) much less "review" it. -- at least this is what's been said to me. And yes, we'll also publish our review late, too.

But then again, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a site out there that will play it for an hour or two and post a review just to be first.

Beta players know what to expect and unless Bungie massively changes something, it's a safe buy, in my opinion.
 
pokeystaples said:
Damn man, we complain about every damn thing. We had the alpha and the beta to make up our minds. If you are waiting on review scores instead of forming your own opinion you'll just have to wait a couple days. No biggie.

I will admit part of the excitement of release day is reading reviews while I wait on Amazon, but this thread made me sad.
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This seems kind of legit to complain about. We know the game is fun but the biggest question about the game is the amount of content. No reviews means we're not going to know for a while. It comes off as Activision hiding the game from potential criticism.
 
I agree with those saying its probably because of the servers. One the plus side if there are any server issues then the review will likely state them! A rare occasion in reviews these days.

We need a thread with bets on whether or not we will be playing Destiny @ launch or if we will have servers be down for most of the time like the other major Online-only games. I suspect the servers to cause tons of issues with actually playing the game but we shall see! Then again, maybe they are not having the reviewers access it early because they are so confident in their network that they know there will be no negative comments on the servers!

urk said:
We'll talk more about this in the update, but we did explore simulating a vibrant pre-launch population by giving early access to some fictive group, employing hired resources, and/or raising an army of sentient, killer robots. Ultimately, given that most reviewers are going to need to spend time with Destiny in the real world, under real conditions, we opted to have reviewers play alongside real players.
Click to expand...

See! confidence!
 
neurophd said:
I hear you, however the preload option helps with this...too bad reviews won't be available to decide on digital preload. I feel confident the online performance should be smooth based on the Beta performance. I am a little concerned with my personal long term interest in the game.
Click to expand...

Digital preload is neat unless they pull a Watch Dogs and only download the first gb and then you have to launch the game before it starts downloading the rest. What a crock of shit that was.

I'm strictly talking about PSN. Steam preloads are fine.
 
Wait, sites were going to write and publish reviews several days before the launch of the game if they could?

Have they still learned nothing about how to assess online-focused games?
 
gbpackers25 said:
I guess this is due to the fact that servers won't be up until launch day. I'm not sure why they wouldn't put them up earlier for critics since the general reception of the game has been great from the alpha and beta.
Click to expand...
maybe to stop people playing who receive an early copy perhaps.
 
Are reviewers going to review the product as it launched, or treat it like an MMO and say..."it's so much fun, and we hope for more to do in the next 12 months.. 9.5/10."
 
Kor of Memory said:
If I may, to avoid misinformation:

  • Hard Level cap of 20, but progression continues with Gear.
  • 1 area per planet (so, we've already seen 50% of the explorable zones in the beta, this does not include strikes, raids, or multi, or whatever The Reef is.)
  • Squads limited to 3 players for "story" mode. Increases to 6 for Multiplayer groups and Raids.
  • Weak story that's rehashing Halo (from what we've seen so far). This Can't be known yet.
  • No item trading
  • They're already selling DLC out the butt
Click to expand...

Fair enough. But even with those amendments, I think its fair to say that the package is looking a little bit light (for what we typically get with a game such as this) and reviews will note it. I don't think the game will be panned or anything, it just might not score those coveted 9s and 10s, which for some reason nowadays looks 'bad'.
 
Usually this is seen as a sign for a bad game (or one that lacks content? :P) on GAF...but i have a feeling that most people here will make an exception this time.
 
TriniTrin said:
I agree with those saying its probably because of the servers. One the plus side if there are any server issues then the review will likely state them! A rare occasion in reviews these days.

We need a thread with bets on whether or not we will be playing Destiny @ launch or if we will have servers be down for most of the time like the other major Online-only games. I suspect the servers to cause tons of issues with actually playing the game but we shall see! Then again, maybe they are not having the reviewers access it early because they are so confident in their network that they know there will be no negative comments on the servers!
Click to expand...

If there are server issues? PSN is a virtual house of cards. Sony can't keep that shit up through a beta announcement much less one of the most anticipated games of the last few years. No way Destiny is working reliably until the 11 or 12th at the earliest.
 
All of us at this website should be educated enough about Destiny to know if we want it or not without a review. It is nice to read a review but not necessary for for me.
 
Well, my preorder is coming with a beautiful white PS4, so I'm definitely not canceling that.

Not to mention that I'm still just as hyped for this game as I was when I preordered.
 
Don't some reviewers just watch video and review from that?

Besides that, maybe some will pay attention and come to their own conclusion about the game, use word of mouth or opinions of their peers with similar tastes.

I don't recall a review going into anything under the surface anyway. Is first impressions from these writers really that valuable to base purchases on?
 
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