Destiny

[Kevin26385]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

Going to be really interested in how Bungie maneuvers around the older generation. From everything I've read, there's no way an interconnected world like the one they've described could function on the current consoles.

Definitely a good point. I assume they will have to scale down quite a bit to have a smooth experience on current consoles.

[LingeringRegime]

I need this game in my life...

[Jistic]

One of my most wanted for next year. I can't wait for the beta.

[Fresh Tendrils]

When is the beta? Are they still giving beta access to all pre-orders?

[greenegt]

I think I'll be ready to go next gen right around the release of this beta. This looks like it will be an awesome experience.

[Flawless]

Eurogamer: Let's talk about Destiny

Quote:

Destiny is doing some interesting stuff when it comes to getting players to play together. But how exactly will it work if you don't have friends you play with online at any given moment? What's Destiny's Looking for Group mechanic? Eric Osborne: I've seen this happen in the Lab a bunch: I'm running through a space by myself, I'm playing the story, then move through a crossroads space and I hear shots ring out and see some Vex get picked apart and I look over and it's like, 'oh, it's Andreas!' It's such a cool moment. He just winked into my world. He was there doing his own thing, then we roam around, do a bunch of stuff and then go our own way. Sometimes deciding about forming a party is just about seeing other actors in the world and realising, 'oh, that's not an actor, that's my friend or another person.' It has these nice collisions, much in the same way - and people have picked up on this in the past - like a Journey sort of experience, where you move through the game and you have these little delightful moments when people come together and work together and then they go about their separate ways without any sort of negativity or penalty. We give players the option. You don't have to jump into a public event if you don't want to. Like if you've done it a bunch of times, or you know you're on a very specific story mission, or you just want to jump in and do some competitive multiplayer, that's totally your option. David Dague: We understand social gaming can be daunting for certain players, which is why a lot of people tell us, I don't want to be forced to play with someone. You make a very conscious decision to invite someone into your fireteam. And when you do that, those are the people whose voices you will hear. People will say, as I move through this world, I don't want other people's chatter to ruin my immersion. The only people who I want to speak to or listen to are the people who I make a direct connection with. I decide to be on a fireteam with you. We are now speaking to each other.

Quote:

How many people can play together at once? Eric Osborne: We're still defining what those boundaries are internally. We're playing it every day. We're definitely not going for the thousand player chaos experience. We're certainly going to err on the side of making sure everybody feels empowered and they have a lot of agency. When you fight the tank you want to feel like you're contributing to that battle and that your shots matter, and that you have to react and smartly avoid its fire and think about the other Fallen that are dropping in left and right to flank you, and try to stay alive. The demo we showed at E3 was seven players in there at the same time. The moon content we showed in the trailer was sourced from a strike, which is a co-operative activity you can play over and over again, and that was three players. Three seems to be the sweet spot we're finding for the smaller co-operative experiences, and then we'll start talking about public spaces - that'll vary - we'll talk about social space - that'll vary as well. Competitive multiplayer won't be three players total! And neither will a raid.

Quote:

You've talked about your home base. What exactly can you do there? Is there the equivalent of a guild system? Is there player housing? Eric Osborne: We want it to feel like a real place where you can tell stories and hang out with friends and show off your gear, maybe do a little pea-cocking and walk around. You can go into third-person and see your character. It's important you can see the gear. Typically through the game, as a first-person shooter, the gear you've earned doesn't have a visual representation for you unless you're going into third-person for super abilities. We're using those liberally as well. You can see your character more often than you normally would. And of course in cinematics you'll see your character. But we want the social spaces to be places people go and maybe just stare at the Traveller in the sunset, or maybe go into a certain district and try to understand a little bit more about the world, or go do vending, or meet with other players. All that stuff.

IGN - Destiny: How Halo Got The Star Wars Treatment

Quote:

“There are things about [MMOs] that I think we don’t want to get into peoples’ heads,” Osborne reveals. “MMO tends to scream subscription game and that’s something we’re not doing. We’re building an action game at its core and I don’t think MMOs are traditionally heavily focused on action. We just want to make sure that we’re saying Destiny’s going to be a great action game, it’s a first person shooter from Bungie, and hopefully that tells people a lot about the experience. “But there are certain places where the tag is certainly applicable. We want to bring players together in a shared space while making everyone feel unique? That’s certainly the realm of MMOs, as is that social aspect of getting people to meet one another and play with one another and form bonds and lasting relationships. So there are [MMO] aspects, it’s just that out of the gate we wanted to explain that it’s an action game from Bungie. “When people hear MMO they tend to see the red light of time commitment. Destiny’s very accessible. So if you only have Friday night to play, we want you to be able to be a competent player, jump in with your friends and play when you want. If you have the time to put into it, there certainly will be things like raids to really push you to achieve things that others may not, but otherwise if you only have one night a week to play competitive multiplayer, running around in the world experiencing the story, then that’s a totally viable option. I would suspect the majority of players would play it that way rather than it feeling like they have a second job. We don’t want that.”

Quote:

“We need people to play story, multiplayer and co-op. We need them to go and create characters so we can understand those systems and what they mean for us. We need lots of people to hit the servers at the same time, see how they use guns and play the early stuff, what the competitive multiplayer looks like with many different levels. Working on Destiny every day doesn’t compare with a million gamers crashing against it. “We’re going to do a beta, kick the tyres, get people in to play in 2014 and make sure we understand what those pushes are going to look like by trying to drive as much peak concurrency as possible before day one so we can understand what to do. We’re not going to rely on guesswork. We’re going to push as many people against it as possible. We’ll forge it in fire and hopefully that’ll make it a better experience day one for everybody.”

IGN: Destiny Devs Talk Space Travel, PC, And Microtransactions

Quote:

"We’re not making a space sim where you're flying through the stars," he explained. "We’re making a first person shooter. So the primary way you’ll get around the world is on foot as a first person shooter, then space travel is a cool way for you to customise your ship and get around. "You can see the ship when you arrive in public spaces and they sort of herald your arrival. You can upgrade them, but they’re also the way that you’re moving around in the story and they’re primarily that story vehicle to get you from Earth to the Moon, then Venus or Mars."

Quote:

"It’s a huge challenge to ship four platforms and a massive opportunity to reach a new audience," he said. "We know there are a lot of people out there asking for PC and we know that there are a lot of gamers that would willingly give us money, but what we have to do is make sure we’re focused enough to bring a good experience to any platform that we ship on. What we 100 percent are not going to do is spread ourselves so thin that it negatively harms the other platforms. So right now we have the four platforms, which is a lot to focus on."

Quote:

"We’ve not announced anything on the microtransaction front but our goal is to absolutely make sure that when we deliver a game for $60 that’s a great experience no matter what type of player you are," he said. "So we’re not looking at any pay-for-power type stuff. That’s what I hear as a player when people say they’re worried about models and schemes that nickel and dime people; we’re not going to do that."

[LingeringRegime]

So happy to hear they are not going to "nickle and dime" people. Those who have that mindset, I will support their product with no hesitation.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Probably Won't Be On PC

Quote:

We know there are a lot of people out there asking for PC and we know that there are a lot of gamers that would willingly give us money, but what we have to do is make sure we're focused enough to bring a good experience to any platform that we ship on. What we 100 percent are not going to do is spread ourselves so thin that it negatively harms the other platforms. So right now we have the four platforms, which is a lot to focus on."