Editorial: Raise Your Hand If You Don't Care About Destiny

It's all anyone can talk about. But not everyone on the face of the earth is going to buy Destiny, even if that's what it seems like based on the crazy hype.

[Chuk5]

Backlash to a Beta.
We truly have come far as an industry.

[Ulf]

TBH Betas are basically a finished product, with some outstanding bugs.

They aren't gonna change the game (outside of serious bugfixes), or do any serious rebalancing -- they don't have enough time left. In fact, the game would have had to have gone gold, and is off to the manufacturing facility already, to hit stores by Sept. 9.

Any bugs they fix now are gonna have to be in the industry standard Day One Patch. That'll be your first experience with the retail copy of Destiny -- a long wait while it updates, and the update servers are overloaded.

You know I'm right.

[PeaSFor]

say he dont care about destiny, then...write a blog about it.

dat logic.

[dieger]

"TBH Betas are basically a finished product, with some outstanding bugs." NOPE well modern betas are now, but a long time ago way way back when devs didn't have the option to patch everything a week after launch. most games launched with mostly working unlike a certain field of battle.

[CorndogBurglar]

Before you even start playing the Destiny Beta a window pops up that outright says the Beta is to test their load levels to make sure they can handle heavy amounts of players.

They are basically testing their servers and connections to be sure that they can support a ridiculously high amount of players at once.

So yeah, you're right...but the Beta comes right out and says that.

[WilliamUsher]

I may not care about Destiny but plenty of other people do, so they can care about it as much as they want if they really find it fun and engaging.

[colonel179]

I only care about the white PS4, so if I get to buy the bundle, who knows? maybe I'll enjoy the game too.

[ScottyHoss]

I had doubts, until my friend gave me a beta code and to be honest I really like it :) got the beta on my PS4 like an hour after I started playing

[christian hour]

Everyone I know has had doubts going in and being surprised by how fun it is. Well everyone I know that has played it, a friends little brother who is usually a pesimistic internet 4chan troll got access through 360/ps3 beta going public, I was expecting him to hate it just for the sake of having a differing opinion, sent me a message saying "This is surprisingly fun... wtf?!".

It's not going to be everyones cup of tea but for a lot of people it caught them by surprise. I've another friend who's torn about getting a ps4 this month for TLOU:R or waiting until september for that nice white PS4 :P Kinda wish I waited for the white one too, looks so good!

[Mutant-Spud]

Destiny has a great atmosphere, I found the gameplay to be good enough, everything works really well and there's nothing aggravating about the menu layouts etc but the sound, the music and the lore are outstanding and this game is just going to get better and better with time.

[Slick81]

Soo overrated

[telekineticmantis]

Really, dont see the big deal about this game

[MuhammadJA]

Yup, overrated and overhyped. That 500 million must be justified, though.

[skydragoonity]

Seeing how much they spent for advertising I'm not surprised about the hype, still a decent game though

[showtimefolks]

you can fool people into the hype once and destiny will succeed at that

people bought into hype/advertisement of Titanfall and we all know it didn't even come close to living up to the hype

next watch dogs and same thing again, over hyped/very well advertised

last year it was BF4, all we saw in the advertisements was buildings falling down/ships drowning. For a broken game BF4 sold amazingly well

come this fall Destiny will join the list, it will be everywhere. Every gaming site will get advertisement checks from activision, positive previews/reviews will be bought from youtube users

GTA5 had 250 million dollar budget but atleast the quality was there, i am not sure if the same can be said for destiny

also because activsion will be paying every gaming site for the advertisement, i am not expecting any review scores under mid 8's

gaming journalists don't have the balls to speak up, they gave battlefield 4(which was a incomplete/broken game)very positive review scores

[remixx116]

Why the disagrees, your 100% right.

[darren_poolies]

Reviewers gave Battlefield 4 because the multiplayer wasn't broken when they played it, they played it at a review event held by EA where everything worked perfectly fine, they had no idea it was going to be like that when it released.

I don't agree that GTA5 had the "quality", I thought it was massively overrated and massively overhyped. And you can't claim that games get better reviews because of marketing and then make it an exception for a game you like.

Also for the record, from what I've played in the beta, Destiny does live up to the hype and this is coming from someone who wasn't even very excited about that game.

[christian hour]

You make some very valid points @showtimefolks, ths industry has gotten pretty cruddy, we have CEO's ruling the roost who have a background in Produce, and then we have PR guys doing all these bullshots and crap who ALSO mostly have a background in advertising Produce. Barely any of these guys haev a background in gaming or grew up loving games. So right now PR, marketing and development at "the big three" is in a dire state.

I've loved bungie since the Mac days, when they signed on with microsoft a lot of the Bungie Community spelled doom, I was too young at the time to really understand it but it made me ask my parents to buy an xbox when I was 14 :P When I heard they bought themselves back from Microsoft a few years back I was very happy.

Then they made a deal with Activision. Completely put me off Destiny altogether, it was just going to be another great franchise that activision will run in to the ground no doubt, and milk every penny from. I had zero interest in the game. I had no hype for it whatsoever.

Then I got the alpha because it was available for all ps4 owners that signed up and... Well.

Damn. Bungie still make awesome games. Just like they amde halo:ce an awesome game under the rule of Microsoft, and just like they're doing now with the grabbing hands of Activision on their shoulders.

Hype had nothing to do with my enjoyment of destiny, a lack of hype had a lot to do with it if anything, being my main point here.

[CorndogBurglar]

The big difference in your comment os that BF4 is a broken game and doesn't deserve the hype it got.

You also mentioned Watch Dogs, which is just another open world game that really did nothing new and had absolutely terrible driving mechanics.

Destiny is not a broken game. Destiny has fantastic, solid controls. Its also very innovative. No other FPS has done what Destiny is doing.

So there's a big difference there.

[Madderz]

I don't understand the sudden hate for this game?

After the Alpha everyone praised it and said it was amazing, myself included.

Now after the Beta, which was slightly better than the Alpha everyone is starting to hate it?

At the end of the day if you're stupid enough to dismiss this game due to an Alpha/Beta build then I guess you are the ones that will miss out in the end.

I think as far as Alpha and Beta tests go, this one has been very successful and i'm still very much looking forward to the game.

[GrimWykydtron]

alpha was better, like i had 0 lags on crucible, beta is lagged like hell and its not just me, multiplayer itself does't exit in Destiny for me as its is unplayable due to lag and world most stupid thing in MP game ever... need to get ur weapons from singiel player to have fair fight, radar showing enemies on MP ? again very stupid idea just gives campers new and powerfull weapon, events like iron banner ? just show how unbalanced classes are, titan can take 3x amount of damage then other two classes with no drowback... armors are just recolors, same goes for weapons, sure in final game there will be more but its going to be 90% of time just recolors... oh and lets not forget world worst reward system in MP, rewards are given to players that suck, like ship from iron banner never seen someone who was't last to get it... Iv played beta for 40h or something like that and i never got Cydonia auto rifle the only one usable in MP becouse loot system sucks... only good thing about destiny right now is its design and music...

[Madderz]

"Alpha was better"

Ermmm how? The Beta has everything the Beta did and *more*.

"beta is lagged like hell and its not just me, multiplayer itself does't exit in Destiny for me as its is unplayable due to lag"

So because you personally experienced lag you are going to completely dismiss that part of the game? Ok then, your choice i guess. Bungie have been praised countless times for how well the beta is running. I for one agree. No lag whatsoever.

"titan can take 3x amount of damage then other two classes"

Is that not *completely* the point of a Titan? Titans have higher armour with lower mobility? Hunters i thought were blanced/shooting specialists whereas Warlocks were agile/magic specialists?

"armors are just recolors, same goes for weapons, sure in final game there will be more but its going to be 90% of time just recolors"

That is simply not true. In the Beta alone i have found lots of different variants and colors of the armors. Let alone the shed load that are in all the different shops/vendors. The full game will obviously have more as you haven't even been able to go past level 8 yet. So what you said is just pure assumption.

"Iv played beta for 40h or something like that and i never got Cydonia auto rifle the only one usable in MP becouse loot system sucks"

Well as frustrating as that may be for you. I like that i don't just get things handed to me. Bungie has never made it secret that this game is about grinding. As an MMO fan im quite used to grinding and i enjoy it so bring it on.

[Gr1mmyshadows]

you got a lot of hate for this game. Glad my experience has been better than yours. A Titan can be easily taken down with 3 headshots from a scout rifle. I see way too many people using auto rifle and not realize how much better a scout rifle is in PvP. also the cydonia isnt that good. Find yourself a uncommon Jigoku scout rifle and you will see how much damage you can do in PvP. as far as lag goes i believe that is on your end. I havent experienced any lag.

[Ulf]

It gets old kinda fast. It was fun in alpha, but its wearing thin.

It's just not as good as the games it emulates (Halo, Borderlands), in the end.

[beerzombie]

Yes both those game are miles ahead of Destiny. This game will not even let you talk to strangers without joining their team stupid.
I haven't even got a good gun yet and the missions are very dry, the leveling up system isn't very good either.
This is my favorite type of game too I cant believe its this dry you can tell its designed to be a micro-transaction game made by a large corporation.

[Madderz]

"It gets old kinda fast. It was fun in alpha, but its wearing thin."

I agree with that statement with regards to the Beta, purely because i put so much time into the Alpha. There's not much difference. The full game is still yet to be released so we will see if things change.

"It's just not as good as the games it emulates (Halo, Borderlands), in the end."

How do you know? You can't compare an Alpha or Beta build to a full release? When Destiny has released then i believe that will be a fair comparison to make. Until then it just isn't.

[Seafort]

I've played the beta on PS3 a little bit and I wasn't overly impressed with the game.

It has the "wow" factor like Titanfall did and I expect it will die off just as fast as Titanfall has done.

It hasn't had me wanting to play the game constantly like a lot of great games do. This was kinda meh and forgettable to me.

I didn't really care what happens in game so I haven't played it as much as I thought I would.

It was quite underwhelming really.

[showtimefolks]

I care and i want to play it but 500 million dollar from activision for development/advertisement is insane.(i am guessing most of that money will go towards advertisement because the game is nothing special)

the story seems generic
its has the Halo FPS(IMO that's the only saving grace)

this is what i expect and maybe the blame is on me for over expecting:

Mass effect universe sort of travel/story
borderlands loot
Halo FPS action

I still plan on getting it day one, i am not trying to judge the full game based off the beta.

I am just very worried about the story, it has the very generic feel of you are the only one who can save us story

also last gen consoles are holding back destiny, so real next gen will be destiny 2 only on ps4/xbox one

[Ripsta7th]

That money will be spent through out the lifetime of the ip, not just a single game

[showtimefolks]

you are 110% wrong

that number is for launch of destiny not lifetime of the IP

http://www.theverge.com/201...

from bobby kotick himself

Activision Blizzard will spend $500 million to launch the upcoming Destiny

[Madderz]

@Showtime folks.

I think he's actually right.

The $500M number that Activision have invested is for the cost of Destinys development, marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties and "other" costs over the next 10 years. Not just for launch.

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

"Activision will spend $500 million--half a billion dollars--on development and marketing for Bungie's upcoming "shared-world" shooter, Destiny. CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the figure during the Milken conference recently, as reported by Reuters.

In addition to development costs, the $500 million figure includes marketing, packaging, infrastructure support, royalties, and "other costs," a spokesperson for Activision confirmed.

How does that stack up with other AAA games? Analysts estimated the Grand Theft Auto V total budget (including development, production, and marketing) at $260 million. However, directly comparing GTAV and Destiny is somewhat problematic.

For one, DESTINY IS EXPECTED TO UNFOLD OVER 10 YEARS, while GTAV was a single release. An Activision spokesperson also explained that the company's investment in the game's engine, as well as a "robust backend infrastructure," are upfront costs that they expect should help reduce future development costs. "Over the long term, we expect the ultimate product costs to be roughly in line with other AAA titles," the Activision representative said.

GTAV generated $1 billion in revenue in three days and has shipped over 32.5 million copies to date.

No matter how you look at the $500 million figure, however, it's obvious that Activision is making a big bet on Destiny. A total budget that large dwarfs other video games and movies. "If you're making a $500 million bet you can't take that chance with someone else's IP," Kotick said. "The stakes for us are getting bigger."

Analysts explained that Activision will need to sell between 15 million and 16 million copies of Destiny to break even. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said this will be a tough task. "It's a head scratcher," Bhatia said. "For brand new IP, it's tough but it could post a big surprise."

Activision's significant investment in Destiny should come as no surprise. After all, the company said earlier this year that it expects Destiny to become Activision Publishing's third billion-dollar franchise, joining Call of Duty and Skylanders. Activision Blizzard subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment also has major franchises in its portfolio, including World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and now Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Destiny launches September 9 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. A beta for the game begins this summer, first on PlayStation platforms."

[spacedelete]

yeah but imagine if Destiny flops that will be money down the drain. if Destiny doesn't do well will Activision want to continue making them ? i don't think so.

[beerzombie]

What else can you judge it by the reviews that are going to give it a 10 or even an 11?
This game is dry and repetitive.

[Antnee534]

Here is the thing fps don't have a story it's just all go here do that shoot beat boss your done. Always been like that never will change that's why I don't play fps but this game the game play just brings me in because of the rpg feel of the game and the loot system is fine so far from a beta build I think no I know that I love this game way more than borderlands and halo but nothing will beat mass effect lol still hoping for next gen port of the trilogy

[Seafort]

This is what I don't understand.

Why would Bungie develop the game for last gen consoles when they won't be around for much longer especially not for 10 years which is Destiny's time frame.

And they completely snub the PC version for the last gen consoles. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[TheBoy]

It's decent at best, the campaign is a stripped down version of Borderlands 2 and the PVP is uninspired, generic and casual, which is so disappointing considering Halo's PVP was competitive and innovative.

[OUROSMAG]

What's funny is writing an article about how much you don't care about something, only shows that you do give a shit.

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

Raise your middle finger if you don't care about these blog "articles".

[Einhert]

Ironic article is ironic

[kevinsheeks]

As a titanfall owner in my opinion after just playing the beta today I already enjoy it more then titanfall but apples and oranges I suppose :\

[Bapz05]

Its funny that the vocal majority is usually negative now when the majority is positive somebody is complaining that there's no negativity

[MysticStrummer]

"not everyone on the face of the earth is going to buy Destiny"

Thanks for that stunning revelation.

The most popular console games on the planet aren't purchased by even 1/2 of all console gamers. Not anywhere near, in fact. More like a 1/4 or 1/5 at the most, and only a very few titles do even that.

With any one game, more gamers will skip it than buy it, so why this apparent need for reassurance?

[Ninver]

I haven't yet experienced destiny but going off videos I have come accross it seems very similar to halo, a game I still find hard to get into. Maybe my mind will change with time who knows.

[ironfist92]

To anyone who has played it, being a Borderlands fan, I am partial to FPS/RPG hybrids, so being a Borderlands fan, would I enjoy Destiny?

[_LarZen_]

I would say you would enjoy it more then Borderlands actually. It' don't have the crazy humor but it has a solid story and some sweet gameplay mechanics.

[ironfist92]

Is the mission structure like Borderlands?

I'd download the Beta but it ends like tomorrow.

[beerzombie]

No.

[Thehyph]

I'd say try it. There's gotta be something in there for you if you're a Borderlands fan.

Also, don't expect it to end after tomorrow. Bungie teased in their weekly update that it may be extended.
See: http://www.bungie.net/7_Bun...
"The Destiny Beta ends when we say it ends. For days now, press releases have circulated that foretold of the end on July 27th. The Wolf, our Theoretical Physicist, has told me that he wants some room to maneuver close to the conclusion of our little social experiment. So, I’m not telling you exactly when. Please play until we nail this thing shut."

[EmperorDalek]

Nope, at least not the beta. It's like Borderlands if you take everything good out of it.

[ironfist92]

Yeah, I just tried it, and the game has no sense of identity and feels dull and derivative.

[_LarZen_]

It's funny how the people not liking Destiny need to get attention. It's like they are afraid to be alone and left out.

"look at me I don't like Destiny. I'm special, are you like me?"

[Sm00thNinja]

Orrrr some people truly didn't like what they experienced

[LightDiego]

Looks like Destiny is cool to hate now.

[optimus]

what a dumb article, i thought he was going to provide some detailed insight as to what's so good or bad about it... Well i for one don't care about destiny or any other game that is "online only".

[Sm00thNinja]

Destiny doesn't have one original idea in its core, it's presentation is outstanding but the game itself lacks anything unique

[spacedelete]

its funny how a few months ago no one cared for Destiny because it was generic from the gameplay trailers but now that its getting advertisement and hype people are getting excited for it.

[Takwin]

I won't buy it and it's not my kind of game.

However, I wish it well, as I'm a gamer.

I'm betting it gets a Metacritic in the mid 80's and is generally well-received, sells very well on all systems, and is played for a good long while by many people.

[Ashby_JC]

I was never a huge halo fan but I do own a few of the games.

The one thing that I will say is BUNGIE makes high quality games. Halo was so smooth and things like the replay theater was awesome.

I played the beta for destiny and liked it more then I expected I would. I actually stopped playing after I got to the last city on earth.

I most likely will buy the game for the SP experience and dont want to ruin it by playing the SP in the BETA.

Destiny is one of those games that EVERYONE will buy and even if you have slight interest your going to buy it cause all your friends are playing it.

I was actually surprised at how many on my XB1 friends list are in the BETA. One day I had a very high count of friends online during the week....looked and saw more then half were playing the BETA!!

[CKPan]

beta played, nice game, but feel no difference to other FPS, graphic is routine good, story is fine but still stereotype, I will buy it if I got no other games to play.

[ATi_Elite]

Do i care about Destiny? Yes and No.

I wanna see if Bungie can do something else besides Halo and right now they have proven themselves to be a one trick pony.

Destiny is Halo in every aspect which is NOT a bad thing because Halo is a great series.

Currently im playing Firefall which is the original Destiny.

im more excited for The Witcher 3. Lotr Shadow of Mordor. Darkwood. Evolve. and the almighty StarCitizen