'The Taken King' Is Turning 'Destiny' Into A Game For Casuals

Forbes:
I don’t understand Destiny’s success. Or rather, I don’t understand the ferocity of its fans. Perhaps this is simply the curmudgeon in me, the gamer that never quite understood or liked the things that make massively multiplayer online games what they are today. I don’t understand why every tidbit of Destiny news is so voraciously devoured—whether that’s simply news that you can buy the awkwardly named Gjallarhorn at the intrepid merchant Xur, or that said weapon and its brother Thorn are getting nerfed. I’ve never felt particularly attached to a weapon in a video game, except for maybe the Balder Side Sword in Dark Souls. But even that, I wouldn’t expect to read about in multiple gaming outlets multiple times a year.

[SaveFerris]

Wasn't Destiny designed for casuals in the first place?

[Godmars290]

That would have required a story rather than notes to check out blog entries, and cutscenes which do more than dramatically hint at things.

[Nitrowolf2]

The game has always been Casual, despite having a confusing leveling structure to many. Right from the very start, like SaveFerris said, Bungie wanted to design it so it's an easy, accessible experience for everyone. I'm gonna assume that the majority of players, even the hardcore ones, would agree that the game is designed for Casual.

Do mind, this doesn't mean it's easy, it'll still offer challenges like it does now, but looking at Destiny as a whole it's pretty casual.

This TTK update is just fixing a lot of what we disliked about the game from the very start. So yea, it is making it even more accessible, and casual, but that in no way is a bad thing because it wasn't designed as such from the start.

[Baka-akaB]

Yeah it always was a casual co-op based experience . And even it's hardest encounters always had strategies and cheap solutions to make it as a team .

Beyond obvious and glaring flaws , some of tedious elements started because they focused on the wrong thing to fix and care about ...

Like caring at all about the wishes of people obsessed with pvp competition (with carrots and sticks) , in a game that should propose it and follow standards , but should never dictate the whole game's content .

It lead to tedious constant rebalance of weapons , when if they wanted to please that crowd , they should have created two set of rules for each weapons and type of weapons , one for pve , one for pvp , at least . Thus truly taking inpirations from a few mmo and pvp centric mp games like Guild Wars .

Instead they screwed everyone over , without even satisfying that pvp crowd .... and while refusing stuff that would deepen and help the casual encounters , like raid matchmaking for those that want it , even if ill advised .

That and of course actual and valuable pve content in sufficient amount

[XBLSkull]

Lol Destiny is terrible, you can't ruin it with an expansion.

[joab777]

Destiny works b/c it's using the carrot trick, and it has some of the best fps controls to date. Mix in a beautiful world, and the mmo/play with friends stique, and of course it's gonna be the way it is.

And I don't think it's being toned down for the casuals. I think it needs to be b/c it's become a convoluted mess that can't move forward. This resets the game and gives us a game that can be built upon for yrs.

[wsoutlaw87]

It is sad because the fps gameplay is actually great. The content and the way bungie handles the game, is not up to par

[Kombatologist]

I play a lot of console FPS, and I personally wouldn't go as far as saying it has some of the best FPS controls to date. If we're talking button layout, then yeah, that part felt good. But the free look and hit detection aren't exactly precise.

[3-4-5]

The Crucible requires skill, as does the most difficult bosses in the game.

Also requires good teamwork.

Aside from that, yes there is casual elements built in.

I think they are just trying to get as many people as possible hooked on this TYPE of gameplay, and then as it continues to grow, so will the fan base.....in theory at least.

People who wouldn't play WoW, might actually play this.

[wsoutlaw87]

skill? teamwork? The only bosses that require teamwork are the raids where the game requires more than one person by design, but not team work.

[monsterduc1000]

Crucible doesn't take skill. It takes having either Thorn, Hawkmoon, Last Word or The Messenger and a decent shottie. These are the dominant weapons and if you don't have one, you will be slaughtered by those that do... Until they are nerfed by the new expansion of course :-)

[maybelovehate]

Even though the headline is pure ClickBait, it is a pretty informative article. Destiny is streamlining so many parts of the game for the better.

[N311V]

I couldn't agree more. It takes a couple of paragraphs to hit the meat of the story but once there it's good.

Definetely a click bait title though. I only find that annoying when the story didn't match the title. In this case I'd say he's pushing it. I don't think the changes will make Destiny more casual. Just less bloated and less reliant on RNG, both good things.

[greenmiker]

A great article by Forbes with interesting information inside.

[WeAreLegion]

If Forbes doesn't work out, you can always work for Buzzfeed or Polygon.

[Iltapalanyymi]

People still play destiny?

[Baka-akaB]

Yup , many actually , it even has been popping back on charts , before the Taken King is even out

[DeadlyOreo]

Yep. I've recently started playing it again after giving it a very long break. I feel like the game is definitely a much better experience now, and Taken King sounds very promising. The only thing thay bothers me is unfortunately I can't do the raids since I don't have 5 friends who are playing this at the moment. They should allow for some sort of match making.

[darren_poolies]

Just use Destinylgf, you can find plenty of people quickly and easily to do the raids with, it's what I use and I've met a lot of cool people though it.

[N311V]

I only play with one actual friend, the other 4 we find useing https://www.the100.io/commu... or one of the Destiny LFG sites.

Not had a bad experience yet playing with randoms. I think it's because people that will go to the effort to use one of those sites are more committed than you'd find with in game matchmaking.

[monsterduc1000]

Just hit up the Destiny forums and join up from there. Always people looking for raid partners.

[darren_poolies]

I hate it when people post this in every Destiny article. Yes people still play it, in fact millions still play it. Just because you stopped (or have never played it) doesn't mean everyone else has.

[T2X]

Exactly. I stopped playing it a while back at lvl 28 I think. But, I still have it and will jump back in when these changes are made. It was one of those games that pissed me off because you could see how good it could be and they just missed the target a bit. I enjoyed it a lot, except for 2 things. 1. The matchmaking or lack thereof. 2. The convoluted system Vanguard points, these points, those points, light points to level up ect. JUST USE EXP points for Pete's sake! LOL!

[antz1104]

@T2X

And that my friend are two points being addressed in the patch. It's gotten a lot better already but the patch should make a huge difference.

[N311V]

It's currently the 4th hottest game on N4G http://n4g.com/tags/hottest...

I don't recall seeing it fall out of the top ten since release.

[FamilyGuy]

It fell out of the top ten about a month ago but it came back with all the articles being posted daily about it.

[bananaboats]

I don't understand the pathetic satisfaction people like you get from posting this redundant question.

[Bismarn]

I feel the same way as the article writer and this commenter, I'm always suprised/annoyed when I see Destiny news on N4G. I understand people still play it, but I still play Diablo III but don't expect every patch and nerfing to get front page news. There are plenty of places for Destiny players to get their news and argue.

Instead of N4G filtering by platform (which doesn't work half the time because everyone abuses the tags), I would like to filter *out* news about games that I'm not interested in that keep spamming the site. If I got my wish Destiny would be #1 and all the Dark Souls games would be next.

[antz1104]

Lol then maybe you should take a break from the site for the next few months. This isn't some minor nerf patch, it's a major overhaul that's going to change the game from the ground up. Destiny is going to be top news here for a while.

[Oagoz]

3.2 million unique log ins a day

[FamilyGuy]

Where did you read that?
People have been asking this question abut actual numbers of people still playing for months.

[JWiLL552]

Hey look, it's this post.

Destiny is still one of the most popular games on consoles and will remain that way even after CoD and Battlefront come out. Their Game Informer cover story articles for this expansion were hitting 500k views in the first day.

Why? Dat Bungie gunplay, that's why. No other shooter has the same core mechanics or weighted feel that Destiny does. Bungie still makes the most satisfying FPS gameplay out there, which kept people playing despite the game lacking in other areas.

[hulk_bash1987]

People are still surprised that people still play Destiny? It's fun for me to play with my buddies and take down bosses, get loot and challenge other people in the Crucible. I love the game and I can't wait for TTK.

[DafunkyRebel]

reported for trollin

[rezzah]

People still play video games?

[pompombrum]

Says the game is more casual friendly - still doesn't add matchmaking for raids and nightfalls.

[WellyUK]

yep thats what killed the game for me, going through a website forum is no different to finding a group through matchmaking...

[maybelovehate]

It is definitely different but I do think they should allow matchmaking for those that want it.

[bananaboats]

you can pick and choose thru a website, and get a clear idea of what experience or gear someone has before inviting them.

matchmaking is all up to luck

[Spotie]

Considering the amount of teamwork such things require, I'm not all that upset. It would be nice, sure, but as much time as I've wasted in doomed-from-the-start raids in DC Universe, I'm okay with actively finding a team for Destiny.

[leemo19]

The drawback of adding matchmaking for raids is you need communication. Lots of times people don't use a mic or have no clue what their doing making something harder than it really is. So I understand why Bungie did that for raids, for the nf though I agree it needs matchmaking.

[WellyUK]

Not really... Look at MMO's they have 20x the dungeons in Destiny and some of them have way more mechanics to boss fights. After a while people would learn how to do them just like in MMO's. The game is a an FPS as well so it's not like the mechanics go much further than shooting people in the face 90% of the time...

[JWiLL552]

I'll give you nightfalls.

Matchmaking for raids is a terrible idea. It takes 2 minutes on LFG and means you aren't stuck with a group of players with no mic and shitty gear.

[Tankbusta40]

And yet other mmorpgs have survived all these years with match making and much more difficult raids...anyone who hates match making is just darn retarded... If you already have groups to play with you don't need and won't use it

[jdiggitty]

Complains about how many articles there are rehashing the same information over and over, does the same thing.

[Sokol]

This is good news I pretty much have stopped playing with all the ridiculous requirements for light gear leveling. Up to level 20 I enjoyed it.

With the leveling to xp change and better inventory management I believe I will give the game another go once taken King is released. About time they listened to their community.

Positive change.

[Perjoss]

I don't think the new leveling will change much, sure you can get to 40 or whatever by just playing but your character will still be weak until you get better gear to raise your light level which now acts as a stat to make you more powerful rather than increase your level.

Light leveling isn't gone, its just been moved away from being your main level 'number' and is now a separate attribute which increases your overall power.

[N311V]

I want to know if having a light level below your enemy will still cause such a large damage reduction. What is it currently? One level below causes a 10% damage loss, two levels 30%, and three levels 50%. If those penalties are less sever than it'd deemphasise light level somewhat.

[GrimDragon]

I'd have to totally disagree about this game being for casual gamers unless you mean easy to hop in every once in awhile which even that is debatable. Some people are massively skilled and may find this game easy that's understandable. But give the controller to your wife or sister who probably play puzzle games and stuff like sims and tell them nothing but to pick a character and survive. I gauruntee you they'll be like wtf and die in the first ten minutes or not even know where to go. This is a game that barely explains anything to you and expects you to figure it out that's not casual. The AI in this game I must say is among the best the firefights are not easy unless like I said your experienced and skilled in this kind of game. So please don't mislead casual gamers with comments that are far from true. That being said yes taken King will make things simpler and more streamlined but that by know means is going to suddenly turn this game into an mmo for casuals. This game will always require skill dedication and experience to really get the most out of it.

[Baka-akaB]

Except it is easy to get into , wich here isnt a bad thing . It's designed to be fairly easily beaten with a group of friends . All of the campaign can be done solo , which would require some skills ok , but it's again a co-op game ... the difficulty doesnt even scale up when a whole team is formed . You dont even need the big popular weapons to beat said campaign as well .

It is higher difficulties mode and higher strikes and raids that pose a challenge , and even that mostly demand that you became experienced by going through the easier ones , or got more experienced friends to help you or give you strategies . Which is normal and to be expected from more advanced modes

Many of us has done exactly what you said , lure in people that are casual and knows knowing . The hurdle were for people that never touched any fps , and have trouble spatially orienting themselves in a 3d setting in first person view ... but that's something that is well , everywhere in fps .

The entry barrier is actually way lower than in regular fps like COD , which ultimately throws you into a rather competitive and hostile mp environment ... where you'll get killed countless time , till it disgust you , or you get better and get more weapons via xp . The basic multiplayer component of destiny involves having friends around to support you . Other popular fps dont really have that mindset by default at their core , even if they feature a few co-op modes and teams .

[InTheLab]

Give your wife and sister the controller for a week and they'd master this game. The only skill required is time and at least some history with any run of the mill shooter.

The mechanics this game borrows from makes it a super easy lite mmo. If your raid consists of 6 people and only lasts an hour, maybe two for the older bullet sponge raid bosses and unlimited adds, then you have a casual game.

[GrimDragon]

No I get that in time any game can be mastered. But I do believe the term casual game has been misused in this context. Here's how casual is defined: A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required (i.e. MOBA games) in contrast to more complex hardcore games. now looking at destiny and call of duty those are trademark games geared to the hardcore despite both having simple 3d controls multiplayer is competitive call of duty on the other hand has a simple story and get from point a to point b. Destiny has micro managing and all the nuances that come with an mmo. By no means can you tell me these games are for casual gamers. Casual gamers like simple games that can be found on iPads or many indie games. So what Iam saying is yes any game can be learned and mastered but that's beside the point of what makes a game meant for casual gamers. Usually it's a game that does not have a learning curve and can be mastered in minutes as well as finished in a few sittings. There is a huge difference of what makes a casual game and what makes a hardcore game. Games like Tetris, fruit ninja, or even certain racing games and 2d flash based side strollers can be considered casual while a 2d scroller like castlevania can be hardcore. The deeper and more competitive or diffcult a game is the more it's hardcore like dark souls deuce it's simple premise it's about the mechanics and difficulty and user efforts to make progress. So I can tell you destiny whether with friends or not is not for just any casual player and never will be. At most it will turn casual players into hardcore fanatics looking for the next best weapon to beat that one elite boss who's been owning his causal Behind for days.

[Baka-akaB]

Not that i entirely disagree , but then you're just arguing against the wrong semantic , while knowing what people usually mean by using "casual" in this context .
Anyway if you prefer , it's an accessible game like most popular couch stuff (like football games) .

[GrimDragon]

Lol Baka I'll drink to that.

[aftershock]

I'm super excited for TTK. It's fixing several things that made me quit playing the game 6 months ago. I hated the light leveling system because the game always screwed me. My party was getting exotics and legendaries left and right while I got nothing. Now that leveling will be based on the time I put into it with a pure XP system I'll be super happy!

[Elda]

Agreed! & that's how leveling up should be.

[Elda]

Casual or not imo it's fun!....can't wait next month for TTK!

[Owvi]

I love when people use the term "casual" as an insult. Like, sorry some people have other responsibilities and don't devote every second of every day to video games. On a more related note, I think they're definitely taking the game in the right direction and improving on a lot of the things that the community has been discussing.

[TheHaloGuy]

Have you seen the hitboxes or throwing knife in Destiny? Casual city. I actually am getting pretty hyped for H5. Less aim assist in today's gaming environment would be hella appreciated.

[leemo19]

Does it really matter if its for casual or hardcore players, as long as you enjoy playing the game than that is all that matters.

[Tyrant 8 RDFL]

I really like the direction the franchise is going. Like mentioned above it a casual game, but the events can be very challenging. Causal to me with this game means easy to understand the layout of the game. Playing the events are another story.

Im very excited for the taken King.

[Knuckle Duster]

Imo.....casuals put it down after reaching the lvl. Somewhere between 21-25! After that its determination!

[InTheZoneAC]

the problem is that I spent hundreds of hours grinding and now they want to make everything I've earned irrelevant with TTK?

Why grind and get random drops and finally come away with that special weapon when Xur will just sell the following weekend?

Why make all assault rifles weak in the game? Why limit special ammo in crucible? Why don't exotics feel like exotics, instead they're just a rare weapon that doesn't really offer much more than others. Thorn is an exception and is my favorite gun outside of tracking rockets/fusion rifles.

People are so worried about what others are using instead of using their own favorite weapon that Bungie feels like they have to make every single gun have the exact characteristics/damage. It makes getting new weapons pointless because you probably already have something very similar.

You spend all that time for something that doesn't feel worth your time, then they reset the cycle all over and you're back to square one, doing the same repetitive quests over and over and over and over.

I had the most fun on raids, but it was so time consuming. You absolutely must stop doing everything else in life to keep up in Destiny. I feel like there's no time for other games or anything else if you're trying to constantly level up 3 characters.

That's now how I want to play...

[Sokol]

That's the nature of any MMO game and I have said that Destiny is a disguised MMO game way in the back when I played the alpha build.

However, the developers never labelled it as such trying to avoid the genres negativity.
Numerous expensive DLC, random loot, repetitive, almost no story present, grinding,tedious factions leveling, you name it - destiny has it.

The Taken King simplifies those issues once they realized casual gamers weren't signed up for such game play and their numbers have dropped significantly.

Let's see how the expansion (which is ridiculously overpriced) does in terms of grabbing new gamers and returning ones like myself who stopped playing after realizing light leveling system was grind and bore fest.

[InTheZoneAC]

I had quit the day before House of Wolves due to Bungie waiting til that day to fix so many issues, like they wanted the game to be better as the DLC came out instead of fixing it before hand.

I will be waiting for feedback on TTK before I simply jump back on Destiny.

[JWiLL552]

There's nothing irrelevant about your exotics, those come with you.

They're adding more new weapons than the base game + DLCs combined. What's wrong with new legendary weapons? The game would get stale as hell if people just kept using Fatebringer as their primary for 2 years straight.

[InTheZoneAC]

my problem is that even with The Dark Below the weapons weren't very different from the base game.

Weapons are pretty much reskinned and renamed to give the appearance of "new flashy weapon"

I want guns to stand out, like the Thorn or Vex Mythoclast.

[Baka-akaB]

But we all know that the Dark below is an irrelevant dlc as a whole , a throw away of cut content to starving fans .... and that it's the following stuff that is supposed to improve the game ... even if the practice aint much palatable

[JWiLL552]

@InTheZoneAC

That's a fair criticism of the weapons and one that Bungie recognized.

Go check out the gameplay videos, the new "foundry" weapons are completely different than what we've seen so far. They're going for a more Borderlands style which is a great move.

[metalgod88]

Destiny is a terrible game. The design fails on so many levels. The story is almost non-existant. The leveling is terrible. The randomization of gun drops and gun unlocks is MMO-esque ( hardly any good drops...ever). Yet people still continue to play. I don't understand. At all.

[JWiLL552]

The gameplay and mechanics are top notch.

It's a deeply flawed game which is why Bungie is changing how the entire game works fundamentally this expansion.

"Terrible games" don't have great core gameplay mechanics. The weapons in CoD feel like water pistols after you play Destiny.

[metalgod88]

I agree with that. The gameplay itself is awesome and a lot of fun, but everything else surrounding the gameplay makes it a 'terrible game.' I should have been more clear with my statement. But yes, we'll see how much this expansion helps. I'm hoping they pull a 180 like blizzard did with Diablo 3.

[ninsigma]

Decided to pre order the taken king and jump back in. I loved Destiny and I had some major addiction problems with it when I had it. But the rng was pretty bad so when I started my new job I wasnt bothered spending the few hours I had gambling on item drops in Destiny. The next two expansion weren't enough to bring me back in either. Taken king looks cool. It's got everything I've missed and they seem to be trying to fix the main issues with the game. Have the gamestop collectors edition pre ordered and I'm excited to jump back in :D

[HaVoK308]

$160 later, and still not the game they advertised.

[deester]

they could not add enough DLC to make this game fun it is a grind fest no story!!!! Bungie should not charge for any of the dlc they should give it away free to make up for the 60.00 ripoff when they first released a very incomplete gameI dont mind a bad game or a short game but when you sell us a game that is missing so much it is criminal

[StrayaKNT]

How do people still do the same missions over and over and not get bored? I have like 5-6 amazing multiplayer games and destiny has to be the worst of them all. I'm a level 33 warlock btw. After grinding to level 33 I just thought, what the hell am I doing? Doing the same things over and over to get better looking gear how sad is this?

[Ridiick]

Good news I enjoy a lot playing with a clan during the nights to obtain the best weapon and armour but that was the only interesting thing to do in the game and that is not sustainable during time al least that you only play this game.