Destiny expansion 'The Dark Below' is now live

Destiny's first expansion 'The Dark Below' can now be played. Earlier we reported that players we're experiencing problems with launching Destiny after downloading the expansion - the expansion locked players out from starting the game.

[xHeavYx]

You can't play a regular Weekly or Nightfall unless you buy the expansion. I guess it's finally time to sell Destiny

[FoxHound_]

Wow... Yeah that's it, time to trade Destiny. This game is truly the definition of 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

[metalmatters]

@Death This is the first time I'll agree with you. I think the expansion is worth it even more if you game on PS4. The core game had great value in it if you played it through and through. Most people that complained about the game stopped playing at level 20. Never even once trying out an exotic weapon or doing the magnificent raid.

[CorndogBurglar]

Is that true? Even after the update yesterday people who hadn't bought the expansion were playing strikes and the daily mission. There was no download or anything today when the DLC went live, so I don't see how it would be different. But if true, that blows.

[xHeavYx]

It's true for me. I checked 30 mins ago.

[Death]

If the weekly is part of the expansion, you can't play it until the next week when it refreshes. I'm sure the same will happen with daily missions when they rotate. It's not the end of the world by any means, just a temporary annoyance.

The game isn't billed monthly like an mmo, but we still play it daily like an mmo. It's as close as you can get to an mmo without the monthly fee. If you don't pay for the expansion the game plays more like a free to play game with a much more generous cap. DCU is similar but with a monthly fee if you want all the content. You can play free, but you have a level and item cap.

It really depends on how you choose to perceive value. I have been playing Destiny almost daily since launch. I'm lucky to get 10 hours out of most games if I play long enough to complete them. I feel I got my money's worth so far and have no problem buying an expansion pack for $35. It's a decision we all need to make. If you don't see the value, don't buy it. Complaining about it is a moot point though.

[Gamehard]

@Death

It would make sense if the weekly and nightfall were from the new dlc content... but the weekly this week is old russia, and it's locked out for everyone without the dlc. It's very poor business practice to take away content or access that was given at the original price of admission. I guess it's fine for the people who are still 100% enjoying their Destiny experience and were getting the dlc regardless. But for many, this is just another nail in the coffin for the game.

[Death]

I spent about 5 minutes with the DLC before heading to work. The weekly is called "The Will of Crota", so I would imagine the strike is tweeked for the additional content. We've been seeing Crota's cronies popping up in unusual places all week, so the inclusion of them in the Cosmodome isn't exactly a surprise.

[metalmatters]

@Death This is the first time I'll agree with you. I think the expansion is worth it even more if you game on PS4. The core game had great value in it if you played it through and through. Most people that complained about the game stopped playing at level 20. Never even once trying out an exotic weapon or doing the magnificent raid.

[CorndogBurglar]

When you checked did it tell you to buy the DLC?

[xHeavYx]

It tells you that the expansion is needed to play the weekly or Nightfall

[BlissSeeker]

Can not believe this...

[BlissSeeker]

It's only this week because they set the new DLC strike as weekly (plus any subsequent week it comes up)

What that means, is either they're too incompetent to set a different one for people who didn't buy the DLC

Or they're being petty, vindictive little snots trying to get back at anyone who didn't buy the DLC in the hopes you'll cave in and buy it
Not a great way to treat customers, but this *is* Activision we're talking about. They'd kill your pets if they thought they could make money off it.

[crusf]

Bungie didn't betray you. Choke your temper-tantrums. I would have considered my money wasted if DLC strikes didn't appear in the Weekly/Nightfall rotation. They made the right choice.

If you're going to choose to not buy expansions, you have to accept that there are parts of the game you won't be able to play going forward. That's how it has been in every game since the dawn of time.(Ehm World of Warcraft)

The only thing I'll concede is that it would be an improvement if they gave an option to do a vanilla strike if you don't have the DLC. But that's never really been how Nightfall works, so I don't really know what you guys expected.
Edit: Yeah I agree its unfair Heavy but Existing functions were left the same. You didn't pay for the strike that happens to be the weekly/Nightfall this week. Bungie didn't take away the weekly and Nightfall, they're just running a strike that you didn't pay for this week.It's really not something to bitch about and complain. Or anything to sell your copy over. Again going back to world of Warcraft which had a subscription fee and multiple expansions that had exclusive content for players and even worse certain areas that would other wise be locked out for vanilla players. Now your telling me a week of no strikes is worth selling the game when in a week you'll be playing them again like nothing happened?

[xHeavYx]

Tell me more how it is fair that I can't play stuff that I had access to yesterday just because I don't want to pay an extra $20.

[MysticStrummer]

@crusf - Agreed. I logged on this morning, saw the DLC based content, and it never occurred to me that this was tantrum worthy. Doing a quick search shows me that the internet is in full whine mode about it already. I really don't understand people sometimes.

Also, if I'm not mistaken the other content can still be played just not as a Weekly with those rewards.

[MysticStrummer]

"You can't play a regular Weekly or Nightfall unless you buy the expansion"

This week. It wouldn't make any sense for that to be permanent.

[MysticStrummer]

"Tell me more how it is fair that I can't play stuff that I had access to yesterday"

I just bought the game last week so I may be mistaken, but…

It seems to me you can play that stuff, just not for those particular rewards. You can select the mission from the world map and up the difficulty. Either way, as I said in my other comment it would make no sense for all Weekly/Nightfall content to be DLC based from now on so this is just for the week. From now on there will be weeks when those things will require the DLC and weeks when they won't. It makes perfect sense to me so I don't see it as anything to be upset about.

[iKenny]

DLC or not, this is NOT fcking cool BUNGIE!

[Death]

Wait till next Tuesday then. The weekly and daily generates randomly. There will be weekly and daily missions you can't play if you don't have the additional content. Would it be more fair if they had two weekly missions and you only had access to one?

[MysticStrummer]

Yeah I really don't see the problem here. I saw the same thing when I logged on this morning and it made perfect sense.

[Crazay]

Oh wow....Allow me a moment to contain my excitement... Wait for it... Waaaaaaaaaaiiiitttt for it...

It's just so difficult to calm myself. No.. actually it's not. Can't wait to get home to play more Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age.

[TheHunter81]

I sold my copy of destiny weeks ago.

[sp0tlessmind]

The Nightfall/Weekly DLC will be this week only. The games regular playlist rotation will continue next week.

Please go sell your copies, we don't need cry babies like you =)

Can't wait till the anti-destiny crowd leaves the game. Hehehe

[xHeavYx]

Hey, look, someone who probably bought the overpriced DLC insulting other people.

"Can't wait till the anti-destiny crowd leaves the game. Hehehe"
That's a stupid comment, I was very pro-destiny until today, I think people like you who throw money at it are more of a problem.

[Death]

Come on Heavy lets be honest, how many hours have you put into Destiny? According to my stats I have 3d 22h 9m and 55s into the game. That's 94 hours and 10 minutes of in game time prior to the expansion. Where should the line be drawn between value and cost for a game?

If you don't think the additional content is worth it, don't buy it. I'm not sure why you feel Bungie owes you free content though if you are getting anywhere near as much time out of the game as I am. Destiny only cost $60 like most games that are lucky to hit the 10 hour mark in playtime. What incentive does Bungie have to create more content for free for a game that already exceeds the playtime of the majority of games out there? The only time I have gotten this much out of a game is when it had a monthly subscription fee.

[xHeavYx]

@Death
Get your facts together. I'm not asking for free content, I'm asking to be able to play the same missions (Weekly Heroic and Nigthfall) that I was able to play before the DLC arrived. I shouldn't have to choose between waiting a week or paying an extra $20.

Take a read http://www.pushsquare.com/n...

[Death]

I get what you are saying, but it's not fair if people that paid for the expansion don't have access to it either. If Bungie created a second level of daily and weekly missions what it be any more fair if you only had access to one? I honestly can't think of an ideal solution for both DLC owners and those that don't buy it. I feel for the people that are relatively new to Destiny much more than the people who have gotten use of it from day one.

[xHeavYx]

@Death
I never said that people who paid shouldn't have access to it. I'm saying that I shouldn't be left out of stuff I used to play before just because I don't want to pay an extra $20.

[Death]

I don't want to sound harsh or like an ass, but realistically the incentive for any developer to keep a game going longer than 10 hours is pretty low since that is the industry norm for a games length. If you are unwilling to pay to play past a certain point you are no longer a customer. Once a game is purchased the developer doesn't get paid. Hosting dedicated servers costs money, once the time you spent on the servers exceeds a certain point you are costing money. This is why we are usually stuck paying a monthly fee for games like this. We aren't paying monthly to maintain these servers. The DLC is the business model Activision is using to not only cover costs, but to make a profit since they aren't using these resources to create more games. I'm not sure why people are always surprised that developers and publishers are actually creating and selling games to make money. We consume the products they create.

Stupid question, but what incentive do you have to play without the expansion anyway? I am to the point where I pretty much capped everything anyway and playing has gotten dull. You can only do the same strikes so many times before they get tedious. I think we passed that point sometime last month.

[xHeavYx]

Well, I can't think of any other game that did what Destiny is doing, all games from GTA V to Far Cry 4 let you keep playing even if you don't buy additional DLC.

I only play 1 hour per day during the week, I'm only level 28 and I don't have all the gear I would like to have. That's what motivates me to keep playing.

[Death]

You can still play the strikes, you can still do the daily, you can still do the Vault, you can still do the bounties, you can still do the patrols, you can still to the Crucible, you can still repeat any mission you like. The only thing you can't do is the weekly/weekly heroic until next Tuesday when it resets. You say you play one hour every day. It's not like you play the weekly every day anyhow. At best you were playing the weekly one night and then your friends helped you complete the weekly heroic another night since I'm confident you can't solo it at 28. About the only way missing the weekly will really affect you is if you have three characters that you alternated between the weekly and weekly heroic on a daily basis. That would cover 6 days of the week. If that describes you I would be shocked you aren't buying the DLC. One character one hour a day won't be affected much without the weekly this week.

[metalmatters]

I dont know heavy, by the looks of it, reading your comments and your attitude towards Destiny, one would say you havent really played Destiny that much, which is fine. Not everyone liked Destiny. If you really want those weekly strikes and nightfalls, it means you loved the game. If you loved the game, then you would know the DLC is worth the price of admission. How far are you in the game, what level is your character at? Cause if youre at 28+ it means you like the game. If youre level 24 below and youve had the game for a month now, it means you never liked the game and you gave up on it.

[xHeavYx]

@Metal
http://imgur.com/UlazwJB
http://imgur.com/SGmRYmz
http://imgur.com/SGmRYmz
http://imgur.com/myNvsNI

[metalmatters]

@Heavy you can still do the Vault of glass if you want to level up higher. I could understand if the weeklies were the ONLY way to level up, but theyre not. Its obvious you like Destiny otherwise you wouldnt be this passionate about the game. The only thing I see this affecting the core game is with the Pocket Infinity bounty, since you need 200 nighfall kills to complete it, next week it can always be completed

With that kind of gear you can get to level 29.5 without the need to run the nightfall or weekly, sure you wont get those strange coins but you can still get ascendant material from public events and the raid. I will admit not doing the nightfall will cause you to miss out on potential exotic weapons but its one week, not forever. Nice Titan BTW

[tlougotg]

No we need consumers like you that buy any overpriced garbage that should have initally been in the game but due to publishers greed was cut out and later sold as DLC. With ppl like you they will continue to sell us broken games (not saying Destiny is broken bcus its not), half a game, DLC that was cut out from main game, etc.....

You guys buy anything and get suckered all the time =) hehe (see what i did?)

[PainUzumaki]

Jesus Christ ppl....u cant play this weeks strikes just for this week. it will be back to normal next week....crybaby galore

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

People didn't pay 59.99 to play content they purchased every other time.....

[Sketchy_Galore]

Where does it end though? In a year or two are we gonna see comments like, 'Jesus Christ people. The console only shuts itself off ever other day if you refuse to pay for the prime access package. You can still play every second day'. You might say that's an extreme example but there's a time I would've laughed off the very idea of this topic.

[MysticStrummer]

It's not as if this is some new sinister development. Games with paid DLC have done this for a long time. My mind is boggled that this is causing tempers to flare. I saw the DLC based missions this morning and it seemed perfectly normal to me.

*shrug*

[kurruptor]

I can only assume they will fix this.

The way it is, you can't say it is "this week only". Basically any week in which a Dark Below strike is the weekly... only the expansion people will be able to do it? That would be completely unfair.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Just wow, is hosting two different Nightfalls that taxing...

[Dewitt]

Completely done with Bungie/Activision at this point, thanks for completely screwing gamers over repeatedly with bullshit like this.

[DanteVFenris666]

Not into this game but what I'm reading is: people are complaining about not being able to play dlc content without buying dlc. Like really? No shit

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Nightfalls were available before DLC, the problem is that Activision suddenly made it possible for people who have purchased the DLC this week instead of just making two separate events so both parties can enjoy.

[The_KELRaTH]

It's original game content that's been striped out of the game and now only available if you purchase the DLC.

The UK price for the DLC bundle is $55.00!!!!!

[kingmushroom]

This game makes me feel like a communism slave.