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Red Bullshit: How 'Destiny' lost support of its biggest fans
Last week, Destiny developer Bungie was riding high following the reveal of the game's biggest expansion to date, The Taken King. Gamers were excited to learn about the new subclasses, missions, weapons, armor and, most importantly, a new raid focused on Crota's vengeful dad, Oryx. But as E3 2015 wound down, an interview between Eurogamer and Luke Smith, Bungie's creative director on The Taken King, quickly derailed the game maker's momentum and turned Destiny's most supportive players against it. Just two days later, Bungie has inexplicably painted itself into a corner by dropping the ball for a second time. Update: Bungie has responded with an early weekly update -- get the details here.
'Destiny' expansion 'The Taken King' lands September 15
Destiny has been a massive hit since it debuted at the end of last year, and tonight during PlayStation's E3 event, we got our first look at its next big expansion: The Taken King. It's supposed to launch on September 15th, and will see players facing off with the dad of the big bad they killed in the game's second raid. Known as Oryx, The Taken King is (of course) amassing a dark army of darkness that will need to be eliminated so players can get loot. It looks like players will face enemies from all of the groups seen so far in Destiny, and there will again be some PlayStation-exclusive content when the add-on launches. Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
What's on your HDTV: 'House of Wolves', 'Late Show' finale
Summer doesn't officially begin for another month, but most of our favorite TV shows are ready to go on vacation now. Shows wrapping up their seasons this week include The Following, The Flash, Battle Creek and a few others. Of course, following Mad Men's finale last night is an even bigger, as David Letterman turns out the lights at The Late Show for the last time Wednesday night before Stephen Colbert takes over in September. Bungie is releasing a second Destiny expansion with House of Wolves, adding the Prison of Elders, Trials of Osiris and a few other wrinkles to its online shooter. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
The second 'Destiny' expansion lands on May 19th (updated)
"House of Wolves," the second batch of downloadable content for open-world shooter Destiny, will hit on Tuesday, May 19th. House of Wolves should offer a slew of fixes to Destiny's shared economy, making the climb to level 32 easier and offering more incentives for players to customize their gear with unique upgrades. Destiny's first expansion, "The Dark Below," landed on December 9th, bringing a new cooperative Strike mission, a six-player Raid and loot that allowed players to reach level 32. Some information about both expansions leaked back in September, when players discovered an in-game glitch listing the packs' names and some mission details. Check out the trailer for House of Wolves below.
PS4's game-sharing feature used to delete a kid's 'Destiny' characters
The very conceit of PlayStation 4's Share Play feature is futuristic as all get-out, but it has a dark side too. Take 5th grader Henry Kramer's recent Destiny woes for example. After virtually passing his DualShock 4 to another player to access a glitch that Kramer hoped would quickly boost his characters, the other party urged him to go grab something from another room as a distraction, according to Eurogamer. Twitch viewers (Kramer was streaming at the time) watched as the nefarious user proceeded to delete two of his three characters: a nearly maxed out level 31 Warlock and a level 26 Titan, but it wasn't until Kramer came back that he saw the damage done. You can hear him crying upon his realization in the video linked here, and, well, it's hard to not be affected by it at least a little bit.
Daily Roundup: Microsoft leaks, lens cameras and more!
In today's Daily Roundup, we look at a Microsoft document leaked in 2012 that foreshadowed the Xbox One and HoloLens, take a look at a new lens camera for smartphones from Olympus and discuss the US Navy's new firefighting robot. All that and more can be found past the break.
Why hunt rare Destiny weapons, when you can build them in Lego?
Are you one of the millions of people who bought Destiny? Do you like Lego? If you fit that fairly specific demographic, then the latest creation from master builder ZaziNombies might get you more excited than a Thrall on a day out from the Hellmouth. Okay, we might have gone a bit overboard there, but this full-scale replica of the Ice Breaker is seriously impressive. Inside the game, you'd normally obtain this auto-regenerating exotic special weapon as part of a reward, engram, chest haul or even buy it from old squid face (Xur) on one of his good days, but if one of your talents is putting together little plastic bricks (without a manual), then it takes more than 2,100 individual Lego pieces and a whole lot of time. As it turns out, this Lego Ice Breaker isn't the first Destiny weapon that YouTuber ZaziNombies has created, but at an impressive 42.5 inches in length, it's definitely his best.
Bungie aims to fix parts of Destiny's economy in House of Wolves
Bungie made some mistakes with the first bit of Destiny DLC. That's not editorializing; that's a takeaway from a post that designer Luke Smith made regarding mistakes that will not be repeated for the game's second bit of downloaded content, House of Wolves. Smith explains the shard economy essentially functioned as a barrier to prevent people from actually equipping their shiny new pieces of kit, thus invalidating and minimizing the effort put forth by players. Ultimately the goal is to make reaching level 32 with gear easier while giving players more incentive to keep tweaking their setup via new upgrades and better traits on items. Smith also states that the economy is not going to be adjusted this tier simply to ensure that the people who have already put this much work in will not find themselves invalidated again. It's a change to be made moving forward, one that will hopefully improve everyone's experience in the game once the second DLC update drops.
The Daily Grind: Are there any MMO dailies that don't make you cringe?
You know what I don't think MMOs need more of? Dailies. I think most core MMO gamers are tired of a mechanic that exists, transparently and unashamedly, to keep us completing repetitive tasks on a daily basis and keep us logging in, and in some cases, paying our subs. Even a well-constructed daily achievement system and totally benign daily login rewards can be irritating. But out on the fringes of the MMO space, gamers are just discovering the allure of the daily. VG247 pubbed an editorial last week arguing that GTA Online ought to copy -- wait for it -- Destiny's "intrinsic" dailies and rewards; without them, the writer opined, players are "reminded that the grind is most certainly real." Call me jaded, but I say themepark dailies are usually just as grindy as whatever formless grind they're meant to replace, and I suspect the players who need something to do at the "end" of online co-op shooters would probably be happier with a sandboxier MMORPG to begin with. But surely there's some sort of dailies that we do like. Are there any MMO dailies that don't make you cringe? Which game can boast the best? (And can we tell GTA Online to copy those, please?) Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Destiny dev: DLC mistakes won't be repeated
Destiny designer Luke Smith recently addressed concerns over Bungie's future updates for the game. Namely, Smith said "the mistakes [Bungie] made with the DLC1 reward economy will not be repeated," in a NeoGAF thread, admitting the developer's previous attempts at expanding the first-person shooter with add-on content resulted in a few problems for players. Smith claims the developer will avoid mistakes such as "vendor gear invalidating the effort of [Vault of Glass] Raiders" and exotic gear upgrades resulting in a talent reset. "Our philosophy about rewards/loot continue to evolve as we see how players play and react," Smith wrote. He noted that item drop rates appear to be "much improved" in the Crota's End DLC compared to Vault of Glass, and that Bungie plans to "improve acquisition stories and frequency" as well as "lessen the grind and get players to the fun parts of their arsenal faster." It issued a hot fix for Destiny in December to boost the drop rates for the Crota's End raid mission. [Image: Activision]
Joystiq Weekly: New 3DS XL, The Talos Principle review, no more review scores and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. This was a busy week, but our decision to drop numerical review scores is probably what will have the longest-lasting effect on Joystiq. While not everyone has expressed support of the decision, we immensely appreciate the effort and thought many have put into discussing the topic with us. We hope our transition into using "In Other Words" text summaries and the new Joystiq Excellence Award will be more effective at conveying our stances and better at helping you find games that you'd actually enjoy. Even if you're indifferent about the discussion of reviews though, plenty happened this week beyond our shift in examining games. The New 3DS XL will reach us next month, Xbox One consoles slipped back to their $350 holiday price, The Talos Principle surprised us with its depth, and 3D After Burner 2 transcended the fabled "arcade-perfect" status of arcade ports. All those stories and more are waiting for you after the break!
Destiny tops PS4 downloads in 2014
Bungie's Destiny topped the PlayStation Store's PS4 best-sellers list for all of 2014, Sony revealed today. The store's top sellers on the current-generation console don't include many surprises; Grand Theft Auto 5 took the second spot, followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Minecraft and The Last of Us Remastered to round out the top five. GTA 5 was the most purchased PS4 game in the month of December. As for PS3 games, Minecraft led all purchases on the system in 2014 on the PS Store, followed by GTA 5, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny and Battlefield 4. Likewise, the list of top-selling PS4 and PS3 add-ons are a mix of Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC for the most part; Battlefield 4 Premium and The Last of Us' Left Behind DLC swooped in to the third spot in the PS4 and PS3 lists, respectively. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment was the highest-selling game last year on the PlayStation Store for Vita. The Bandai Namco RPG was trailed on the handheld system by Minecraft, Killzone: Mercenary, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. [Image: Activision]
Activision takes victory lap, Destiny biggest new game franchise launch
Let us be colloquial: Activision makin' mad bank, yo. Like, all the cheddar. The publisher took a victory lap this morning, reiterating the top placement of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare during yesterday's NPD, the success of Skylanders among children and making a pertinent addendum to Destiny's sales in 2014. Last night, US retail tracking group NPD released its year-end data, with Destiny ranked third behind Call of Duty and Madden NFL 15. Activision noted this morning that Destiny was in second place "among all titles in the U.S. in 2014, based on revenue." This would reflect the significant digital distribution push Destiny had, as well as the special editions and expansion bundles.
Destiny 'Crota's End' hard mode coming Jan. 21
Next week, 'Crota's End' will get its revenge for all of the cheesy tactics used by Destiny players (maybe us included, maybe not. What's it to you?). Bungie is unlocking hard mode for the latest raid on January 21, the developer revealed in an update today. In Crota's End hard mode, both Crota and standard enemies will be far more challenging. Thankfully, though, the mode features swanky new loot. Those stamping out Crota in the mode will have a chance to earn powerful new primary weapons (see them after the break!), an exclusive color palette and a devious-looking ship known as "The Bane of the Dark Gods" (It's the ominous looking ship, above). "If you've experienced Hard Mode in Vault of Glass, you have some clues for how we can scale up a Raid," Bungie says in the weekly update. "Prepare to take better care of your teammates. You'll have fewer options for healing yourself, and each other." Croat's End hard mode is set to launch in Destiny at 1pm Eastern on January 21.
2015 DICE Award nominations led by Shadow of Mordor
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for this year's DICE Awards, recognizing a total of 56 games. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received nine nominations, including the Game of the Year award. The other Game of the Year nominees are Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4 and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Far Cry 4 received seven nominations, one being for Action Game of the Year. Destiny and Hearthstone each had six nominations, whereas Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Monument Valley received five apiece. The 18th Annual DICE Awards ceremony will be held at the The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas following the 2015 DICE Summit, which runs from February 3 through February 5. The event will be livestreamed on DICE's Twitch channel, starting at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT). Head past the break for a partial list of nominees; the full list can be found on AIAS' website.
Jukebox Heroes: Destiny's soundtrack
Is there any MMO soundtrack that arrived with such incredible expectations and baggage as Destiny? If so, I can't recall it. We have not only the legacy of Halo's scores (which are for some gamers the only soundtrack they know and revere) but also the saga of Composer Martin O'Donnell's firing and the boon of picking up (of all people) Paul McCartney -- because when you think "space epic video game," you of course think "former Beatles septuagenarian." However, here on Jukebox Heroes, we do not give preference to a soundtrack's pedigree, the game's popularity, or how many members of the Beatles it boasts. We listen to the music for what it is. And what Destiny's score is... is above-average. It's a good, but not great, orchestral album that's heavy on action and Star Wars influences. I was hoping for a little more when I listened to it, but upon a second evaluation, I found myself appreciating more what it does as a whole to construct a solar system under siege.
Destiny patch repairs Crota's bum knee
Bungie issued a new patch for Destiny today, primarily providing fixes for issues with the Crota's End raid in the game's first expansion, The Dark Below. As the developer revealed late last week, the update zapped a glitch that allowed players to easily beat the raid boss, Crota, by unplugging one teammate's network cable. The "force quit" by one player previously caused Crota to enter an irrecoverable kneeling state, according to Bungie's patch notes. Additionally, not only does the update fix a "rare case where the Shriekers would not spawn, preventing players from reaching the Deathsinger" enemy in the expansion, but the Deathsinger now has a chance to drop rare exotic gear and materials. The Dark Below launched in December, bringing with it a slew of story missions and three Crucible arenas. The DLC is available for $20 on its own, or as part of Destiny's $35 season pass. [Image: Bungie]
Next week's Destiny patch fixes Crota's End exploits
Bungie will deploy a Destiny patch fixing several issues within the recently introduced DLC raid mission Crota's End, addressing lingering bugs before introducing a harder difficulty mode for the level. Notably, the patch will eliminate the "knee glitch" that allowed players to easily take out raid boss Crota by yanking a teammate's LAN cable during a specific mid-battle moment. The update will additionally tweak Crota's End treasure chest contents, add new requirements for the bridge encounter, and fix enemy-spawning bugs that currently prevent some players from fighting the Deathsinger. Bungie's patch will begin to roll out for Destiny players on January 13. [Image: Bungie]
Destiny development blog discusses updates and guns
The holiday break is over now, and the team behind Destiny is slowly returning from the collective bacchanalia and getting back to what really matters: giving players guns so that they can shoot aliens in the face and then get better guns to shoot bigger aliens. If you've already gone through Crota's End and are waiting for the hard mode, for example, you should know that it's almost done and should be going on to the live servers soon, although there's not a concrete date yet. It's all in the game's most recent developer blog. Players can look forward to loot updates in Vault of Glass and system changes in Crota's End as soon as January 13th, which should help soften the delay. The blog also contains information on guns, specifically on the most popular sorts of weapons that players are toting around to use during their alien-shooting sorties. Check out the full update for more details on the patch adjustments and future PvP rotations.
Bungie gives Destiny players the gift of Legendary weapons
The holidays have come and gone, but Destiny players get a little more to celebrate this week. Bungie promised players a "small but Legendary" gift, and true to form, players have been receiving a single free Legendary weapon by the mail. It's not the same as what you'd get from a vendor, and it's not an engram; it's a random weapon that could be almost anything. For some players, it's going to be a nice new weapon with just the right perks. That's the gift that keeps on giving. (Specifically, it keeps giving ammunition to enemies at high velocity whether they wanted it or not.) For others, it's going to be another copy of the same weapon you already have or an even worse one. That's how random works. Regardless, if you play the game, go in and check your mail. It's not a fresh pair of socks, at least.
