Bungie's really trying to shake things up with Destiny: The Taken King. Whether this is because it wants to secure a few more pre-orders for the expansion or because it's keen to get lapsed players back into the game, we obviously can't say, but the developer's clearly trying to switch things up for the better.
As previously reported, Destiny's having its progression system reworked. Instead of having to equip armour which grants light levels and then subsequently having to upgrade that armour, a new experience point system is going to be incorporated. What this means is that you can level up all the way from 1 to 40 - without having to worry about gear and light levels - using experience gained from killing enemies and completing objectives.
It's a pretty big change that clicks directly into Bungie's newest motto, in that it wants to be more respectful of players' time as the sci-fi shooter enters its second year on the market. Said motto was revealed during a livestream of the upcoming expansion via IGN, in which the developer also promised that it was focussed on making Destiny a more streamlined, organic experience. In other words, it sounds like there isn't going to be as much grinding once the title's 2.0 update launches ahead of The Taken King.
What's more, the studio also mentioned that the add-on, which releases next month, will bring about the biggest selection of new equipment that the game has ever seen. As for how gear now ties into progression, it seems as though it'll simply provide bonuses to your overall power, as equipment generally does in other role-playing games. Obviously, you'll still want the best gear that suits your style of play, but Bungie hopes that this new approach will help players get creative with their Guardians.
Are you liking the sounds of all this, or are you still weary of Destiny and its downloadable content? Tell your Ghost to hurry up and hack the comments section below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 25
A good idea for those not wanting to grind, but a bit of a kick in the teeth to those that have done so already...
Can see why they've done this, with the way they are marketing the next big DLC, especially in trying to attract new players, but i wonder how its community will react..
@dellyrascal I think when it comes down to it, the phrase 'better late than never' presents the best way to look at this. Sure, it's a bit late for those who have spent countless hours playing it already, but it's still good to see Bungie attempting to fix things regardless of the timing. Hopefully it succeeds in making Destiny a better game for everyone.
Looks like they need to be more respectful of their players' money too
It's pretty good that people are still enjoying it, I appreciate games like Bloodborne and The Witcher are better but they were released much sooner and, for a lot of gamers I'd expect who have cleared the main story, are now gathering dust on the shelf while Destiny at 11 months old still gets play time.
That's why I enjoy it, along with Diablo. Just good, fun go to games that'll hopefully be supported over the current generation.
The new update will definitely draw me back into Destiny. Grinding for gear to level up killed the experience for me. I loved the Crucible, weekly missions were challenging and kinda fun with friends, the gameplay was superb, but all the grinding that had to be done killed it, and it was mostly for leveling up that did the experience in for me. I didn't even finish the House of Wolves DLC before I got rid of it, but at least I can get a used copy of it again before Update 2.0 releases, so save up and just buy The Taken King edition in September.
too late.
@kyleforrester87 You can't compare those to Destiny. Also, who are all those players you're speaking of? I see plenty of people still playing Bloodborne and The Witcher.
@Anchorsam_9 DAMN
@ShogunRok Bungie better get some ice for that burn
@dellyrascal my argument would be that anybody who has sunk countless hours into this game should have done so because they enjoy playing the game, and so yeah it might not be as hard for newer players to get to that point, but that still doesn't take away from the fun they have had getting there, or impact them in any way.
Otherwise, if someone is going to genuinely complain about this, I can only assume it would be because they played for 100 hours waiting for some rare drop, but didn't enjoy that time at all. In which case they are mental, and have only themselves to blame.
@AyeHaley Why can't I compare them, they are both games people enjoy playing :S I already said, it's my opinion that Bloodborne and Witcher 3 are better games, but a lot of people only want to play through the main story of such games once and then put them away for a year or so, myself included. Where as I'll keep picking Destiny up for an occasional blast. It's just that type of game.
So Bungie have finally got down off their high horse. I stopped playing when I looked into how much work was required to level your "light" up once you got there! No thank you.
This way looks a lot better but for me it is just too late.
I loved the alpha and the beta, but by the time the game actually came out I was already kind of burnt out on the grind. I haven't played since, largely because it seems like every couple of months they tweak things to the point where any progression people have made is kind of moot, as there's always a New Way of Doing Things. I'm glad I haven't been playing, honestly. I might try to sink a few hours in once this update comes out, in the hopes that it'll be the game we were all hoping for to begin with.
I grinding to update every single piece of gear every expansion is a joke so this is welcome.
Other than the extreme grinding my main gripe with Destiny was how sterile everything felt. Shoot a barrel and literally nothing happens. It was as if I was back in 1992 playing the very first shooters. No interaction with the environment whatsoever. Therefore: zero interest in ever playing this again
@Flurpsel I get what you're saying but some compromises were obviously made to get it to run as silky smooth as it does. If it were a single player shooter with an emphasis on story and atmosphere I'd agree with you, but it's prioritised performance and I can appreciate that.
I still can't quit this game. But being primarily a lone wolf player I'm excited to use exp. To level up. Getting the required materials at this time is nigh impossible for me. Congratulations Bungie, you have once again forced yourself into my wallet.
@gr8apeb8
You really need to get people to play with as your missing out on some of the best weapons & that includes exotics & armour, which cannot be got playing solo, & also some of the best content in the game raids & POE level 32-35.
Thank god our exotic weapons & armour carry over into the Taken King, as I only need Ice Breaker, Hardlight & Hawkmoon now. Then its time to do it all again with the Taken King, collect every exotic weapons/armour in the DLC.
@Flurpsel not even 1990s. The original Doom had barrels that explode when you shoot them. Same way I felt, too. It's basically a "look but don't touch" kind of environment.
@Flurpsel not even 1990s. The original Doom had barrels that explode when you shoot them. Same way I felt, too. It's basically a "look but don't touch" kind of environment.
@kyleforrester87 I prefer performance over graphics mostly, but not over gameplay. I dont know, it is just really not my kind of game. But to each their own.
Edit
Btw I dont really believe that physics would have such a major impact on performance. Like totaldude said, in 1990 we had Doom with exploding barrels. 2004 we had HL2 with amazing physics, that would still be considered reasonable to this day. In 2014 we get Destiny..? I know its appeal lies somewhere else but still..
The problem with this is, maybe people playing this game right now and that kept on playing since day one, are doing it for the sheer grinding addiction to it. So many games that are played for years and years that rely on purely grinding your way to the top and then some more when the caps are changed, dlc released, the likes of WoW and such, which maybe completely unfamiliar to the core console players. That on itself is part of the "charm" that destiny holds for its players, and as with everything, some people love it, some people hate it.
@xX_RiscazZ_Xx Huge difference with WoW and DCUO etc, was simply replayability.
You werent forced to wait a week to re run a raid, you just used tokens to reset the loot lock to try again.
That and the grind was tedious to the point you could spend 4 months never getting anything useful, such as in my case, I had nothing but 3 months of energy.
I was at level 28 for that entire time, due to having 0 armour drops from bosses and chests.
Every other MMO Ive ever played had guaranteed item types from bosses, be it weapons or armour or whatever.
When you run the exact same raid week on week and get absolutely nothing, its unsurprising people dont like it.
I paid 90 quid for this game, I EXPECT 90 quids worth of unique content.
@ToOGoodOfAPlaya I understand what you're saying but that is just simply impossible. Vanguard sellers would get you up to max level for the raid in the first place, not to mention Xur selling exotic gear pieces to give you a proper boost. One thing I can't deny is the problem of the weekly locks, but then again, it worked for them hasn't it, people return every week, play a bit more, and if you want proof of it just look at the time they claim we all put into it from day one.
Take my example, 4 hours daily after work mainly off during the weekends for seeing my friends and going out, one character each endgame activity will keep me occupied for the week, there is no lack of content issue even if it is repetitive, and I keep on doing it with groups that prove to be so much fun. Even taking a group of people that have never done VoG can be a rewarding experience in itself, screw the loot.
Playing about 500 hours I still am to get stuff like fatebringer, and vision of confluence, I tried completing the armor sets for each raid. Now I'm moving on until the Taken King arrives, and people are looking at it not being such a time sink as it is now, maybe it will change my stance on this game, maybe I'll be happier taking it casually, I know more time for other games would be quite good too, but overall, as I and some other people mentioned before, the line of progression is and always was quite straightforward. You don't need RGN drops to reach max level, certainly not now with the vendors selling max light gear by beating a level 32 event, which is the base level for regular gear anyway.
Your light level in The Taken King is still very relevant which i think is excellent news, go & watch IGN interview with DEEJ. Your Legendary weapons there will be places you can still use them, loads of new info in that interview.
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