I post this exact same message once every few months or so, but tonight was a really fun night of Destiny.

Claude, Nevin, and I knocked out Pit of Heresy, the new Dungeon. It's great! I think Shattered Throne might be a little better, but Pit of Heresy is still really great. I dig the Mordor aesthetic and there are some amazing areas. The jumping puzzle sections are fantastic. I do also like the combat encounter mechanics in this one. The new Hive Swords are fun! It seems like it's easier than the Shattered Throne, but maybe that's just because we weren't at a power level deficit like when the Shattered Throne first came around.

Then we jumped in to a Master Nightmare Hunt. It's the first Master activity I've done, and it was perfectly challenging. I'm really happy to see difficult content return to Destiny that's not just raids. It felt a lot like doing a Destiny 1 Nightfall, and I think that's great.

And finally, we joined up with some others to play Momentum Control. The comparison to SWAT is apt. Jade Rabbit is a one shot kill with a headshot. Control Zones capture incredibly quickly, respawns are instant. It feels really great! It's here for three weeks, and will return sometime near the end of the season as well. I hope it comes around again after the season ends. I'd love to see it used as one of the weekly rotator modes, at the very least.

Once again, this was a night that really shows why Destiny is a special game. Destiny is at its best when you're in a large chat party, jumping from activity to activity. Nights like this go a long way towards reminding me just how amazing this game is. I thought the days of Halo 2 were unrivaled for just hanging out and gaming with friends, but Destiny really does surpass even that.

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Once again, this was a night that really shows why Destiny is a special game. Destiny is at its best when you're in a large chat party, jumping from activity to activity. Nights like this go a long way towards reminding me just how amazing this game is. I thought the days of Halo 2 were unrivaled for just hanging out and gaming with friends, but Destiny really does surpass even that.

Bungie accommodates that sort of play so damn well. I yearn for the day where I reunite with my old schoolmates from the H2 days and go hard on D2. We all deserve to not be lone wolves.

This must happen to only those who are on after 10 p.m. ET*

*and who have their status set to online.

You are always set to offline, Kermit. Quit it! I’m going to just start spamming you with party invites just in case you’re actually online.

Spam me, buddy. :)

Here's the scoop, honestly. I trying to balance of a lot of things in life, and I realized at least since D2 came out, that I would not be able to put in the time like I used to. Frankly, it was bad for me. I cannot play Destiny nightly.

When I do play now it's very strategic--I pick certain objectives and try to maximize bounties, etc. I feel very selfish about this, because I seldom feel generous enough to say I'm up for whatever anyone wants to do (words I've heard you say many times, cheap). Sometimes I feel like I'm slow--I feel like it takes me too much time to manage my gear and too much time and attention to focus on what I'm doing. I always like the immersion element, too--just taking in the amazing environments. Maybe it's my relative lack of skill, but sometimes I feel like I have a concentrate more to succeed. I find it hard to chat and play sometimes. I get especially distracted if I'm doing something challenging like raiding, and someone not on the fireteam is chatting.

So I've listed the negatives of socializing, but I miss the positives, too. I like chatting, and I do have real friends here. I miss playing with many people. Maybe I'm a little afraid that'll make me play more, but really it's up to me.

I have tried sending messages through the Destiny app to pursue activities in the near future. I should try more of that. I miss you all.

I get it. I was appearing offline last night, too. Wu couldn’t find me to join my game. Sometimes it’s nice to just not be bothered. Or pressured.

I like chatting with people. I like being in a party even if we’re not playing the same activity (or even the same game). I don’t send out many invites because I’m not usually looking to do anything in particular. Last night was the first night in a very long time where I had a thing I wanted to do and took the initiative to invite Claude and Nevin to see if they wanted to play. It’s usually not my style.

I like playing with you, Kermit. Hit me up if you want to do something. Last time we talked, you were still behind on some exotic quests. I’d love to help you knock some of those out.

I finally hit 950 base power, so I’m at the point where I can just focus on doing whatever I want instead of chasing power. I have very little interest in climbing to 960 one +1 piece of gear at a time. So, basically, I’m up for anything. (:

I get it. I was appearing offline last night, too. Wu couldn’t find me to join my game. Sometimes it’s nice to just not be bothered. Or pressured.

I like chatting with people. I like being in a party even if we’re not playing the same activity (or even the same game). I don’t send out many invites because I’m not usually looking to do anything in particular. Last night was the first night in a very long time where I had a thing I wanted to do and took the initiative to invite Claude and Nevin to see if they wanted to play. It’s usually not my style.

I like playing with you, Kermit. Hit me up if you want to do something. Last time we talked, you were still behind on some exotic quests. I’d love to help you knock some of those out.

I finally hit 950 base power, so I’m at the point where I can just focus on doing whatever I want instead of chasing power. I have very little interest in climbing to 960 one +1 piece of gear at a time. So, basically, I’m up for anything. (:

I've been thinking I need to be more visible and more aggressive about setting things up. I need to do the Arms Dealer step of the bow quest--if you or anyone else wants to help with that, I can be on tonight at around 9 ET.

I will admit that I don't really like having people I'm not playing with in the party but maybe that's because when I'm being social I'm usually doing something a little challenging. It's particularly disconcerting when people are reacting to things going on in their own game while you're trying to concentrate on your own game. That's something I could probably work on (and I do remember you being an extra in the party and not being a distraction at all)

I would love to help. I’ll be there. It’d be great to find a third, but that strike has matchmaking so it’ll be fine if we don’t.

Honestly, I'm like that too, at least to some degree. I won't usually mind one or two extras, but when it gets to the point where there's 6+ people in the party and only 3 of them are actually playing together, it can become very difficult to actually coordinate in the game.

Honestly, I'm like that too, at least to some degree. I won't usually mind one or two extras, but when it gets to the point where there's 6+ people in the party and only 3 of them are actually playing together, it can become very difficult to actually coordinate in the game.

Thank you stabbim for helping me feel less weird.

I've got theories--extroversion vs. introversion? I also think I'm primarily auditory, which actually makes it harder to filter out distractions. I have trouble hearing people at parties (IRL).

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Honestly, I'm like that too, at least to some degree. I won't usually mind one or two extras, but when it gets to the point where there's 6+ people in the party and only 3 of them are actually playing together, it can become very difficult to actually coordinate in the game.

One notable incident:

Party had 9 people in it, 6 of them were doing Last Wish, the other 3 were screwing around doing something simple and talking a lot. Didn't bother most of the raiders, because they had done it a lot. I had not done it a lot, and needed to concentrate.

Didn't want to be a dick about it, so I just muted the extras.

Forgot to unmute them.

Fast forward 2 weeks, doing the Last Wish raid again with the same supergroup, but this time one of the extras was in the raid with us. He got more and more annoyed by the fact that I was ignoring him (because he was muted and I wasn't hearing him) until someone finally audibly noticed that I wasn't actually responding to what he said, and I realized he was muted.

That oversight was probably responsible for 3 or 4 wipes. ;)

(He laughed about it after the fact, but was pretty pissed by the time we solved the problem.)

I also think I'm primarily auditory, which actually makes it harder to filter out distractions. I have trouble hearing people at parties (IRL).

Also, FYI, I don't technically have a hearing problem, but sometimes when there's a lot of noises occurring at the same time, I'll hear them as one big jumble. Again, it's not that I can't hear, because that's false. I can. I just can't distinguish between everything I'm hearing.

I remember a time we were trying to cheese a killstreak achievement in Halo 3, and every time I got close to finishing it you would kill me. I was getting so mad and yelling louder and louder at you every time you killed me. Then I realized I had muted myself...

Honestly, I'm like that too, at least to some degree. I won't usually mind one or two extras, but when it gets to the point where there's 6+ people in the party and only 3 of them are actually playing together, it can become very difficult to actually coordinate in the game.

One notable incident:

Party had 9 people in it, 6 of them were doing Last Wish, the other 3 were screwing around doing something simple and talking a lot. Didn't bother most of the raiders, because they had done it a lot. I had not done it a lot, and needed to concentrate.

Didn't want to be a dick about it, so I just muted the extras.

Forgot to unmute them.

Fast forward 2 weeks, doing the Last Wish raid again with the same supergroup, but this time one of the extras was in the raid with us. He got more and more annoyed by the fact that I was ignoring him (because he was muted and I wasn't hearing him) until someone finally audibly noticed that I wasn't actually responding to what he said, and I realized he was muted.

That oversight was probably responsible for 3 or 4 wipes. ;)

(He laughed about it after the fact, but was pretty pissed by the time we solved the problem.)

I think I've been a dick about it on occasion. :( Muting is not perfect either because then you get half-conversations going on with people you haven't muted.

Also, real talk: if you've been an extra in the party and I've invited you to take my place so I could leave, it might have been because I was frustrated and didn't want to be a dick.