So what exactly is Destiny?

hardcastlemccormick said:
Shooter + Online only = MMO, right? Except that it's not an MMO, but there IS a loot system. But the loot system doesn't have an economy. Uh. Okay? There's PvP, oh, that's cool. But it's more like Halo's deathmatch arenas, not really PvP in the MMO sense. But there IS loot, so it's not just straight-up deathmatch.
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Hive mind calling it an MMO does not in fact make it an MMO. MMOs are thousands of players playing concurrently. The max you can get in Destiny is 16 in a tower instance and 12 in the open world. It's more akin to an action RPG like Diablo that you can play solo or in groups, with some content that emulates MMOs (like raids) but in a non-MMO context (it's an action game).

Following action-RPG mechanics you have loot, economy, and that kind of stuff.

Your character is one character that goes from PVE to PVP, and that includes loot (but balanced/normalised, except in the Iron Banner where your gear's stats matter). When you hop into a playlist you can totally play deathmatch or objective modes, and they play similar to a Halo/CoD match.

hardcastlemccormick said:
I know my tastes in shooters. I played the beta and found the opening levels kinda bullet spongy. Can I find loot that changes that? How broad is the loot system? How would I be expected to know this? How would anybody, when the game isn't even out yet?
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You can go on a database site like destinydb.com or destinydb.info to look at most if not all of the available loot. It's pretty broad, from common stuff to higher tier Exotic armour and weaponry that have special effects and abilities. In that sense, yes the loot system is broad.
 
hardcastlemccormick said:
I know the Lego pieces of Destiny. Like, there's however many modes in the game. Sure. They are all have a purpose. Okay. But then how does it add up? Understanding the Lego pieces doesn't really tell me about the whole package if I'll like it.

Shooter + Online only = MMO, right? Except that it's not an MMO, but there IS a loot system. But the loot system doesn't have an economy. Uh. Okay? There's PvP, oh, that's cool. But it's more like Halo's deathmatch arenas, not really PvP in the MMO sense. But there IS loot, so it's not just straight-up deathmatch. I don't understand this. It makes zero sense to me.

I know my tastes in shooters. I played the beta and found the opening levels kinda bullet spongy. Can I find loot that changes that? How broad is the loot system? How would I be expected to know this? How would anybody, when the game isn't even out yet?

Extrapolate this to basically every facet of the game. So, obviously, I would say that I still don't understand Destiny, and I wouldn't expect anybody to be able to help me fill in the gaps.
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Do you put this much thought into all games that you do/do not play? I mean, just play the game, let it wash over you. You either like it or you don't.
 
hardcastlemccormick said:
It's easily the biggest game release of the year and could very well become one of the defining titles of the generation.
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But it's on last gen too, and what's it doing that's so different? When you boil it down to what you are doing in the game, you're first person shooting like countless games before it. Besides its identity crisis, this is what I just don't understand. How is this so great? The shooting mechanics are solid but what is it about destiny that will make it a defining title of the generation?
 
MrCompletely said:
But it's on last gen too, and what's it doing that's so different? When you boil it down to what you are doing in the game, you're first person shooting like countless games before it. Besides its identity crisis, this is what I just don't understand. How is this so great? The shooting mechanics are solid but what is it about destiny that will make it a defining title of the generation?
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I dunno, Bungie supported Halo 2 and Halo 3 with post-launch content. I can see them do that again with Destiny. Put some DLC's, Title Updates that hugely improves the game, etc..

About it being a defining title of the generation, I don't know about that. I guess we'll see later on.
 
MrCompletely said:
But it's on last gen too, and what's it doing that's so different? When you boil it down to what you are doing in the game, you're first person shooting like countless games before it. Besides its identity crisis, this is what I just don't understand. How is this so great? The shooting mechanics are solid but what is it about destiny that will make it a defining title of the generation?
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Don't you have a Halo avatar?
 
Ingueferroque said:
I can't think of a single other game that gets this level of scrutiny.
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I can think of a bunch, most recently Watch Dogs. It doesn't help that so much of this game at first was promised to be like nothing we've seen before on a large epic scale, and then the beta comes out and is mostly linear point A to point B shoot the bad guy like nearly every other shooter. Now sure you can say you can explore and stuff so it's not linear, but just remind yourself of how the actual missions and strike from the beta played. It was all mostly push forward with walls on your left and right. And on top of all this who have people saying "Destiny is how to do a beta right, everyone's doubts are gone" and "Destiny beta proved that the hype is justified." Not too bash on everyone, but there definitely seems to be some lovestruck oblivious fans out there.

I'm still going to buy the game because I enjoyed the gunplay and abilities and like the atmosphere they're going for, but I completely understand everyone who is disappointed with what we got.
 
MrCompletely said:
But it's on last gen too, and what's it doing that's so different? When you boil it down to what you are doing in the game, you're first person shooting like countless games before it. Besides its identity crisis, this is what I just don't understand. How is this so great? The shooting mechanics are solid but what is it about destiny that will make it a defining title of the generation?
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Like CoD4 defined FPSes last generation, Destiny has the potential to do a lot for the genre: progression (and loot), interconnected "online" worlds, cooperation psychology (and comp). Heck Advanced Warfare is starting to do some of this with their loot drop system.
 
MrCompletely said:
But it's on last gen too, and what's it doing that's so different? When you boil it down to what you are doing in the game, you're first person shooting like countless games before it. Besides its identity crisis, this is what I just don't understand. How is this so great? The shooting mechanics are solid but what is it about destiny that will make it a defining title of the generation?
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Speaking for myself, the last FPS shooter I played was Metroid Prime (and the Original Perfect Dark before that) before I played the Beta. Before the Beta, previous attempts at getting into FPSs were unsuccessful. I felt overwhelmed and or was negatively affected by motion sickness. I tried the Beta on a whim and really, really liked it. I guess you could say that Destiny is a very FPS newbie-friendly game? If you're used to playing FPSs then I could understand how Destiny would not appeal to you.
 
harrypmgaga said:
Hive mind calling it an MMO does not in fact make it an MMO. MMOs are thousands of players playing concurrently. The max you can get in Destiny is 16 in a tower instance and 12 in the open world. It's more akin to an action RPG like Diablo that you can play solo or in groups, with some content that emulates MMOs (like raids) but in a non-MMO context (it's an action game).
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If you are referring to the literal definition of MMO then no it is not. But also the literal definition of MMO doesn't even qualify itself as a genre. All it means is a lot of players. However, a lot of MMOs have been developed very similarly, which led to the term MMO to refer to a specific genre of games. If we look at MMO the genre, and not MMO the literal definition, then Destiny is very much an MMO. It has classes that level up and unlock special abilities, asking with enemies that level up with you. There is a large focus on gathering gear which can be found from chests, defeating bosses, or purchases at a hub space. Most the game lends itself to co-op gameplay. There is a set of story missions aimed to get you comfortable with the game, but afterwards you unlock an end game which is where the real game starts (someone from Bungie even said the game really stats at level 20). The end game includes stuff like dungeons and raids. And lastly there is a competitive versus mode that, while perhaps fun, is clearly not the main focus.
 
Seventy_X_Seven said:
If you are referring to the literal definition of MMO then no it is not. But also the literal definition of MMO doesn't even qualify itself as a genre. All it means is a lot of players. However, a lot of MMOs have been developed very similarly, which led to the term MMO to refer to a specific genre of games. If we look at MMO the genre, and not MMO the literal definition, then Destiny is very much an MMO. It had classes that level up and unlock special abilities, asking with enemies that level up with you. There is a large focus on gathering gear which can be found from chests, defeating bosses, or purchases at a hub space. Most the game lens itself to co-op gameplay. There is a set of dirty missions aimed to get you comfortable with the game, but afterwards you unlock an end game which is where the real game starts (someone from Bungie even said the game really stats at level 20). The end game includes stuff like dungeons and raids. And lastly there is a competitive versus mode that, while perhaps fun, is clearly not the main focus.
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These are not things that define an MMO, though. Those are things that define an RPG. Heck Diablo has all of those things down to end-game and isn't an MMO.
 
harrypmgaga said:
These are not things that define an MMO, though. Those are things that define an RPG. Heck Diablo has all of those things down to end-game and isn't an MMO.
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Did you not read what I said before what you bolded? I said it doesn't define an MMO in the literal sense. But honestly, a lot of the time when people use the term MMO they are not using it literally, they are using it to define the genre that so many MMOs encompass. An MMO by it's own literal definition isn't even a genre though.


On another slightly unrelated note, all an RPG means is a role playing game. You can play a role without leveling up, skill trees, finding gear, etc. It's just that so many RPG have done this in the past that we now use the term RPG to define this very specific genre.
 
Seventy_X_Seven said:
Did you not read what I said before what you bolded? I said it doesn't define an MMO in the literal sense. But honestly, a lot of the time when people use the term MMO they are not using it literally, they are using it to define the genre that so many MMOs encompass. An MMO by it's own literal definition isn't even a genre though.
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I know -- which is why I am saying that Destiny is not an MMO. When people are talking about MMOs they're talking about MMORPGs, which is why it can be easy to get mechanics mixed up, but that doesn't mean they're right.

Seventy_X_Seven said:
On another slightly unrelated note, all an RPG means is a role playing game. You can play a role without leveling up, skill trees, finding gear, etc. It's just that so many RPG have done this in the past that we now use the term RPG to define this very specific genre.
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Yes, but we're at the point where RPGs, even on paper, are very specific things with specific expectations.

MMOs are completely nebulus.

People confusing the two doesn't mean those people are right.
 
RoadHazard said:
Just because I don't know every such detail that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be disappointed in a game that seems much smaller and less epic than it was hyped up to be.
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Yes it really does since you haven't even played the game with all of its abilities and content unlocked. You can't infer based on tutorial levels and class abilities what destiny will be like.

Your assessment is like playing to lvl 20 in wow then thinking you know the whole game enough to post your judgment. You factually dont unless you were expecting a 3rd person stealth game or cover shooter.
 
This thread it totally unnecessary. There was an alpha, a beta, and thousands of gameplay and breakdown videos to give you an idea of what it is.
 
hoopvillian said:
This thread it totally unnecessary. There was an alpha, a beta, and thousands of gameplay and breakdown videos to give you an idea of what it is.
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/thread.

Seriously, as I said earlier, anyone who is pulling the "what is Destiny" line can't be legitimately serious with all the info that's out there at this point.
 
harrypmgaga said:
I know -- which is why I am saying that Destiny is not an MMO. When people are talking about MMOs they're talking about MMORPGs, which is why it can be easy to get mechanics mixed up, but that doesn't mean they're right.
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Well yes, generally when one says MMO they are implying MMORPG since there aren't many MMOs that aren't RPGs, but I get what you're saying. However, you'll more than like here people call Destiny an MMO (implying MMORPG) because typically when you hear RPG you think single player, so it is more akin to an MMO (again implying MMORPG) with multiple players.

All in all do you really think anyone is arguing that 16 is massive? I find it infinitely more likely that they are simply implying a lot when they say Destiny is like an MMO. Yet despite this which I find obvious, you still have people nitpicking that they use all their terms properly in the literal sense, which can take the discussion far off topic, when it is clear all they mean is it has some RPG mechanics and you play with more than one person.
 
Seventy_X_Seven said:
Well yes, generally when one says MMO they are implying MMORPG since there aren't many MMOs that aren't RPGs, but I get what you're saying. However, you'll more than like here people call Destiny an MMO (implying MMORPG) because typically when you hear RPG you think single player, so it is more akin to an MMO (again implying MMORPG) with multiple players.

All in all do you really think anyone is arguing that 16 is massive? I find it infinitely more likely that they are simply implying a lot when they say Destiny is like an MMO. Yet despite this which I find obvious, you still have people nitpicking that they use all their terms properly in the literal sense, which can take the discussion far off topic, when it is clear all they mean is it has some RPG mechanics and you play with more than one person.
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I wouldn't have issues with people calling it an MMO if it didn't mean that other people with different expectations take that term and run with it, using it to try and exploit the game design that's been presented -- and that goes for any game, not just Destiny.
 
gatti-man said:
Yes it really does since you haven't even played the game with all of its abilities and content unlocked. You can't infer based on tutorial levels and class abilities what destiny will be like.

Your assessment is like playing to lvl 20 in wow then thinking you know the whole game enough to post your judgment. You factually dont unless you were expecting a 3rd person stealth game or cover shooter.
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I completely disagree with this. With the amount of content provided in the beta, and the amount of time people were able to spend with it, I'd say that you can gain more than enough info to be disappointed with what the game appears to be. I don't know why people always act like you need to have experienced 100% of something in order to form a negative impression of it, yet you can play a tiny slice and deem the same game an amazing game-changer that's going to absorb your life for the next X months.

If someone was expecting the mission structure to be seamlessly integrated into an open-world design, the beta is enough to disappoint them. If there were expecting "if you can see it, you can go there" to actually mean anything, the beta is enough to disappoint them. If they were expecting 'Earth' to mean more than 'Old Russia', the beta (or at least subsequent info) is enough to disappoint them. If they were expecting to enter a hub world populated by vast amounts of other players to match up with, the beta is enough to disappoint them. If they expected to have a reasonable means of even communicating with the players they do meet, the beta is enough to disappoint them... etc... and so on... ad infinitum.

If there's sufficient info for hyped people to justify their hype (which nearly every pro-Destiny gamer will tell you), there's sufficient info for other hyped people to be disappointed. It's pretty simple. The game being something completely new and revolutionary isn't going to be dependant on some additional content sitting past lvl 20. It'd be apparent almost immediately.
 
Imo its a game that has to be played with others, hard to play solo and a game with no local co op which makes me smh

But of course I got $600 in trade in credit so I'll be there day 1 B^)
 
jhferry said:
This, I don't understand how the people who have played it keep going on about social this and that. You can't even talk to anyone.
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You can't talk to anyone who isn't in your fireteam. You can voice chat with people who are in your fireteam, basically.
 
harrypmgaga said:
It's not even close to an MMO, dude.

RPG? Yes.
MMO? No.
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Yeah it is. It's not an MMORPG in the sense of Starwars Galaxies or Archage but the world is massive and it's multiplayer. Is it the respective games I've named massive, probably not but still fits the bill.
 
What's Destiny?

Dip your
edited content
in a jar of honey, and have a toothless goat
edited content
it off while having the bottom of your feet licked by kittens, while lying in a bed of goose feathers.

That, and a mix of MMO light (think PSO for Dreamcast), RPG leveling of weapon / stats / armor, Halo multiplayer, and Monster Hunter rare weapon collecting and team boss fights... wrapped in a soft taco shell marinated in space wizard cream.
 
Pankratous said:
I didn't really 'get' it either. Beta bored me to tears, but I suspect that I too may have been doing something wrong. Or perhaps it's just one of those games you can't play alone.
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You could play it on your own but then you would be completely missing the point of the game.
 
Jabba said:
Yeah it is. It's not an MMORPG in the sense of Starwars Galaxies or Archage but the world is massive and it's multiplayer. Is it the respective games I've named massive, probably not but still fits the bill.
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That's not what MMO means: MMO means huge amounts of players concurrently. Max is 3 for strikes, 6 for raids, and 16 in the tower. By your logic Saints Row (if you count coop) is an MMO because it's got a big world and has mp.
 
Karl Hawk said:
You can't talk to anyone who isn't in your fireteam. You can voice chat with people who are in your fireteam, basically.
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Right which is 2 other people. I wouldn't call that a social shooter. I have it reserved, I am no ragging on it but it's borderlands. The maps the way you need to exit and come back in to the same map for exploration vs missions is ridiculous. If I need to go back to the Tower and back its like a minimum 15 minute deal with all the load times.

In Borderlands you had a skill tree and everything. It's got some RPG elements but its just a shooter. It's not even close to an MMO. The public events happen in the same spaces, they arent really random at all.
 
harrypmgaga said:
That's not what MMO means: MMO means huge amounts of players concurrently. Max is 3 for strikes, 6 for raids, and 16 in the tower. By your logic Saints Row (if you count coop) is an MMO because it's got a big world and has mp.
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So its a miniscule multiplayer online role playing game
 
Interficium said:
What did you expect. Your post could be boiled down to "not Halo so I hate it" but instead you just danced around with vague comments about "special sauce."

Not sure why you think it's "sad" that Bungie didn't want to crank out more Halo games for the next 10 years, either.
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Did you borrow a random five-year-old to interpret my post for you?

If you really want to reduce what I said to a single point, it's that Destiny doesn't look nearly as appealing as Halo so I'm disappointed. What did you hope to accomplish by making me out to be some weirdo who doesn't want to play good games? If Destiny looked good I'd be excited. I would like Destiny to be great. I hope I'm wrong about the game and I will play it to find out.

Sorry I can't be the fanboy you were looking for, but I just play games to have fun. It's not a team sport to me.
 
Hip Hop said:
So what exactly is Destiny?
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I hope that Destiny will provide me countless hours of entertainment for years to come. It could end up being just okay and most people will probably still enjoy it for what it is. I'm sure even if it doesn't live up to all the hype, in the end it will still be an extremely successful endeavor for Bungie/Activision(/Sony?)

But to answer the question as to what type of game Destiny is: I think its pretty obvious that Destiny is basically Halo crossed with Borderlands and has MMORPG elements plus multiplayer inspired by games like Journey and Dark Souls. There's also a hint of Call of Duty in there...
 
Given the amount of video and written content on the game, as well as the fact that the game was recently openly playable, I think the confusion over what this game is/will be comes from a feeling by many people of, "Is this it? No, this can't be it," despite having been well informed by said videos, articles, etc.

Bungie did a lot of chest beating for this game, chest beating that let expectations run rampant.

I'm still excited, but I understand this feeling, as I feel it a bit myself.
 
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