Sorry folks, this page will probably take a year to load.
Up front I should say that I’m well aware that I could have turned to Google to clear up any confusion described below. I’m simply relaying how I interpreted the game screens presented to me in the absence of any other context, from the perspective of a person who has never seen or played Destiny 1 or Destiny 2 or even any Halo games before. To a Destiny fan, this is probably going to come across as negative and offensive, but I’m here to assure everyone that it is nothing more than a comedy bit and I have nothing against Destiny 2 or the players thereof.
I don’t know if the game described below is the same one that a brand new Steam free-to-play player will see, or if I’m seeing this because I got the free version Blizzard gave away some time ago.
Part One, The Fun Part
Here we see the very first thing I saw when I ran Destiny 2 on Steam after transferring from Blizzard. I had to create a character, because I never played the free Blizzard version.
Hey Destiny 2 is kind of fun. Who knew? I was sort of expecting to replay the thing I did in the open beta all those years ago but there's like a whole new thing there.
Later that same day, I decided to log in again to mindlessly shoot some more stuff and talk to Nolan North again. I fully expected to have another 30 minutes of fun. I selected my one and only character.
I should interject here and say what I expected to happen when I logged in. I expected to walk up to some NPC in The Tower Hub and be sent on an instanced mission very similar to the tutorial I started with. I expected to see some cut scenes with some story elements, but I wasn’t expecting any heavy Mass Effect-style narratives. I was mostly expecting to mindlessly shoot stuff and see numbers fly around the screen instead of blood.
I patiently waited for the loading screen to finish to take me back to the place with all the people walking around. And waited. And waited. I realized that’s not a loading screen. That’s actually the game. I was playing already, apparently.
In the interest of time, I’ll fast forward a bit here because I wandered around The Tower station for quite a while trying to understand the quest tracking system. I followed some dots that led me to Chief Shipwright Amanda Holiday. This turned out to be the Destiny icon on the map that I mentioned up above that I missed before.
Amanda tells me about legacy missions I can do if I want to. I don’t understand any of this, but I assume this is a way to replay stuff that happened in the previous years of this game’s storyline. I’m not interested in that so I hit escape and leave.
Scratch that. Destiny 2 is actually not fun. I just spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to actually continue shooting things after the intro and failed to understand any UI element in the entire game.
I can report that in the course of making this post, reviewing the screenshots and the video I recorded, I found several things I did wrong or didn’t notice the first time through. I’m reasonably confident that I was on the right track toward the end there, and if I click on the “Discover the EDZ” blue Destiny icon on that Earth map I’ll be able to play a solo mission and mindlessly shoot stuff and make progress on increasing my power level. [I was partially correct. I found mindless shooting but it wasn’t an instanced mission.]
So it wasn’t a total loss. But man, it sure *felt* like a total loss. It’s never a good idea to put a non-intuitive UI in front of me when I’m tired. I would have expected a lot better from Bungie, a company that I don’t know much about, but I know has been around for quite a while and made a lot of very successful games. I’ve never played any other Bungie games, so maybe this is normal for them, and someone whose played every Halo edition before would have instantly and intuitively understood how everything worked. Perhaps in the future I’ll be able to report that I successfully shot some stuff mindlessly. [I did.]
P. S. Posts like this are why it’s far, far easier and faster to just record a video of a gameplay experience than to write a blog post about it hehe.
This page is a static archival copy of what was originally a WordPress post.
It was converted from HTML to Markdown format before being built by Hugo.
There may be formatting problems that I haven't addressed yet.
There may be problems with missing or mangled images that I haven't fixed yet.
There may have been comments on the original post, which I have archived,
but I haven't quite worked out how to show them on the new site.
Archived Comments
Naithin2019-10-06T20:40:11Z
While I can’t say I had the same degree of struggle – I’m fully onboard with the D2 UI not being the most intuitive thing in the world when you’re starting out.
It also took me altogether too long to work out you can view the objectives while on the director screen (holding E I think?? It’s been a while, but it does say it on screen somewhere) and the map the icons used in the objective list to an actual planet/area to work out where to go for it.
The good news is it does become to feel pretty fluid with practice (but what doesn’t?), it’s just a pretty rough start.
All that said?
I think a lot of the issue here too was I suspect you created a boosted character, NOT a fresh character. So you missed the tutorial content, including the content that was in the Beta (because yep, you do do that again with a new character normally.)
Jumping straight to light levels is not normal. Nor is having every area unlocked on your director screen from the get go.
It would’ve been on the new character create process, but I forget exactly how it shows up. I think it was just a button selection from memory. I can’t recall when/what gave us the boost option, it might’ve just been a free one after the game had been out for a while.
So that in mind, I actually seriously wonder whether you might want to make another new character, forgoing the boost, and starting there!
Naithin2019-10-06T20:51:34Z
Actually looking at the screenshot of your director again… Maybe everything there isn’t unlocked.
In which case I’m very confused and maybe things have just changed. I’m curious enough to now reinstall and take a look I think. xD
Naithin2019-10-06T23:53:07Z
And I just rolled a new character after download and install, two things:
Wowser this game is purty. It’s easy to forget that after being away a while.
It looks like jumping into light levels IS the new norm, so you didn’t take the char boost option at all.
WTF to that, the whole leveling game appears to be just… Gone. I guess the idea is to make the original campaign optional or something now??
So I apologise in full for any speculation you did the boost char instead! (Although this was less intended to reflect on you and more a continued agreement on the UI, as even when this was a thing it was VERY easy to select the wrong option and carry on. I remember almost doing so when I just wanted a new char on the Blizz version.)
I’ll have to play around with this more later and see what the new power system is all about.
UltrViolet2019-10-07T00:38:29Z Hehe yeah I was going to say I don’t remember having any kind of boost options. It put me on that first creation creation screen right after I launched the game.
Naithin2019-10-07T03:05:23Z
So it appears the levels and the run through of the original campaign for new characters only went away with the release of this expansion (Shadowkeep).
It’s been spun as a ‘Good Thing’(tm), and I suppose for experienced players it might be. For new and even to a lesser extent returning players though… Ngh.
Jeromai2019-10-07T05:52:14Z
I haven’t even survived the Blizzard to Steam transfer process yet. It refused to let me proceed until I verified my email, and naturally, there was no email in my inbox despite re-sending several times. So I went on to something else and have forgotten to check back again since.
All good, I would still have to clear enough disk space for it, and I just don’t get along well with games with gear/power levels. The simplistic distillation of “good, better, best” to an incrementing number just rubs me the wrong way somehow.
When you tire of Destiny 2, perhaps consider a Warframe re-visit. They’ve tweaked the UI some since 2017, though one has no clue if it is any “better” per se, or whether it will lead to an equally humorous post.
Naithin2019-10-07T11:08:47Z
I suspect the Warframe UI might be OK… Or at least less problematic.
But the game itself is pretty dense to find the right groove in starting out if you’re unfamiliar with it and also don’t have a more experienced person to play alongside I think.
I had a somewhat similar experience to yours, though mine ended with a large sigh and simply deleting Destiny 2 from my hard drive this morning. As far as I was able to tell, they do not want casual solo players in their game at all now that they have re-launched. Nearly every quest/task/bounty/whatever I could find was aimed at group activities (they did at least seem to offer a reasonable split between PvE and PvP, for those who want to avoid one or the other). There were a handful of small bounties from the gunsmith or the local planetary contacts that could be completed solo (mostly “kill X on Earth” or “kill Y with a submachine gun”), but the fact that they could be solo activities felt more like an afterthought than the main purpose. The vast majority of the quests pointed me toward strikes (the “1-3 player” activities that apparently will always auto-match me with two other players, so please just call them 3 player group activities, thank you Bungie), the “nightfall” strike (which I seemed to remember reading about as being something like the hard-mode version of strikes, so why is a new player pushed toward it), and even a quest I got after less than 45 minutes of playing that wanted me to complete a raid! Even if I had set out to play some group-based shooter gaming, I would not want to throw myself into the raid after less than an hour of playing.
Also, the story (already somewhat incoherent from what little bits I remember back when I tried Destiny 2 at launch) felt like it barely existed and was extremely disjointed. Several characters make reference to events that apparently happened prior to the re-launch as if my character had participated, even though I did not. Overall, what little story they have mixed in seemed to be a brief nod to the fact that they created a massive world, therefore it has to have characters and backstory, but no one actually believes that any players are here to do anything other than group-based random shooter activities.
I could be way off (and the often useless and obfuscated UI makes me feel like I probably am missing something), but it definitely feels like Bungie have dedicated themselves to hardcore, group-based shooter gameplay and they just don’t want a more casual, solo-style player to bother with their “new” game. Would love if someone swooped in a corrected my impression, as the actual shooter gameplay is super solid and I do love the world building they’ve done.
Wolfsong2019-10-08T00:49:59Z
OK, the comment from DS up above had not loaded in when I first started formatting my own comment. And now it seems that I may need to rethink things and give Destiny 2 another try? I just do not understand what design choices led Bungie to put the solo story bits behind a character way off to one side of the map who never gets highlighted by anything in the New Light quest line? I’m also still baffled by how hard they seem to push serious group content in new players’ faces within the first 30 minutes or so of playtime.
Has anyone else tried the “legacy” missions thing described in that Twitter link? Is it worth giving things a second chance?
Sorry, new comments are disabled on older posts.
This helps reduce spam. Active commenting almost
always occurs within a day or two of new posts.
Archived Comments
Naithin 2019-10-06T20:40:11Z
While I can’t say I had the same degree of struggle – I’m fully onboard with the D2 UI not being the most intuitive thing in the world when you’re starting out.
It also took me altogether too long to work out you can view the objectives while on the director screen (holding E I think?? It’s been a while, but it does say it on screen somewhere) and the map the icons used in the objective list to an actual planet/area to work out where to go for it.
The good news is it does become to feel pretty fluid with practice (but what doesn’t?), it’s just a pretty rough start.
All that said?
I think a lot of the issue here too was I suspect you created a boosted character, NOT a fresh character. So you missed the tutorial content, including the content that was in the Beta (because yep, you do do that again with a new character normally.)
Jumping straight to light levels is not normal. Nor is having every area unlocked on your director screen from the get go.
It would’ve been on the new character create process, but I forget exactly how it shows up. I think it was just a button selection from memory. I can’t recall when/what gave us the boost option, it might’ve just been a free one after the game had been out for a while.
So that in mind, I actually seriously wonder whether you might want to make another new character, forgoing the boost, and starting there!
Naithin 2019-10-06T20:51:34Z
Actually looking at the screenshot of your director again… Maybe everything there isn’t unlocked.
In which case I’m very confused and maybe things have just changed. I’m curious enough to now reinstall and take a look I think. xD
Naithin 2019-10-06T23:53:07Z
And I just rolled a new character after download and install, two things:
WTF to that, the whole leveling game appears to be just… Gone. I guess the idea is to make the original campaign optional or something now??
So I apologise in full for any speculation you did the boost char instead! (Although this was less intended to reflect on you and more a continued agreement on the UI, as even when this was a thing it was VERY easy to select the wrong option and carry on. I remember almost doing so when I just wanted a new char on the Blizz version.)
I’ll have to play around with this more later and see what the new power system is all about.
UltrViolet 2019-10-07T00:38:29Z Hehe yeah I was going to say I don’t remember having any kind of boost options. It put me on that first creation creation screen right after I launched the game.
Naithin 2019-10-07T03:05:23Z
So it appears the levels and the run through of the original campaign for new characters only went away with the release of this expansion (Shadowkeep).
It’s been spun as a ‘Good Thing’(tm), and I suppose for experienced players it might be. For new and even to a lesser extent returning players though… Ngh.
Jeromai 2019-10-07T05:52:14Z
I haven’t even survived the Blizzard to Steam transfer process yet. It refused to let me proceed until I verified my email, and naturally, there was no email in my inbox despite re-sending several times. So I went on to something else and have forgotten to check back again since.
All good, I would still have to clear enough disk space for it, and I just don’t get along well with games with gear/power levels. The simplistic distillation of “good, better, best” to an incrementing number just rubs me the wrong way somehow.
When you tire of Destiny 2, perhaps consider a Warframe re-visit. They’ve tweaked the UI some since 2017, though one has no clue if it is any “better” per se, or whether it will lead to an equally humorous post.
Naithin 2019-10-07T11:08:47Z
I suspect the Warframe UI might be OK… Or at least less problematic.
But the game itself is pretty dense to find the right groove in starting out if you’re unfamiliar with it and also don’t have a more experienced person to play alongside I think.
DS 2019-10-07T15:29:27Z
https://twitter.com/DominicTarason/status/1179952882134781952
Read this thread. You’re good. Fairly simple.
Wolfsong 2019-10-07T17:12:49Z
I had a somewhat similar experience to yours, though mine ended with a large sigh and simply deleting Destiny 2 from my hard drive this morning. As far as I was able to tell, they do not want casual solo players in their game at all now that they have re-launched. Nearly every quest/task/bounty/whatever I could find was aimed at group activities (they did at least seem to offer a reasonable split between PvE and PvP, for those who want to avoid one or the other). There were a handful of small bounties from the gunsmith or the local planetary contacts that could be completed solo (mostly “kill X on Earth” or “kill Y with a submachine gun”), but the fact that they could be solo activities felt more like an afterthought than the main purpose. The vast majority of the quests pointed me toward strikes (the “1-3 player” activities that apparently will always auto-match me with two other players, so please just call them 3 player group activities, thank you Bungie), the “nightfall” strike (which I seemed to remember reading about as being something like the hard-mode version of strikes, so why is a new player pushed toward it), and even a quest I got after less than 45 minutes of playing that wanted me to complete a raid! Even if I had set out to play some group-based shooter gaming, I would not want to throw myself into the raid after less than an hour of playing.
Also, the story (already somewhat incoherent from what little bits I remember back when I tried Destiny 2 at launch) felt like it barely existed and was extremely disjointed. Several characters make reference to events that apparently happened prior to the re-launch as if my character had participated, even though I did not. Overall, what little story they have mixed in seemed to be a brief nod to the fact that they created a massive world, therefore it has to have characters and backstory, but no one actually believes that any players are here to do anything other than group-based random shooter activities.
I could be way off (and the often useless and obfuscated UI makes me feel like I probably am missing something), but it definitely feels like Bungie have dedicated themselves to hardcore, group-based shooter gameplay and they just don’t want a more casual, solo-style player to bother with their “new” game. Would love if someone swooped in a corrected my impression, as the actual shooter gameplay is super solid and I do love the world building they’ve done.
Wolfsong 2019-10-08T00:49:59Z
OK, the comment from DS up above had not loaded in when I first started formatting my own comment. And now it seems that I may need to rethink things and give Destiny 2 another try? I just do not understand what design choices led Bungie to put the solo story bits behind a character way off to one side of the map who never gets highlighted by anything in the New Light quest line? I’m also still baffled by how hard they seem to push serious group content in new players’ faces within the first 30 minutes or so of playtime.
Has anyone else tried the “legacy” missions thing described in that Twitter link? Is it worth giving things a second chance?
Sorry, new comments are disabled on older posts. This helps reduce spam. Active commenting almost always occurs within a day or two of new posts.