It's Saturday. And I find myself with... what are these words? Free... tyme? Time for me to do... whatever. And, instead of doing one of many things "I can just do that later", I find myself... reflecting. Indeed, on the time so free and so much. And, naturally... some of those thoughts have ebbed to Destiny The Game and.

...

It's been a decade y'all. 2013. And holy shit. fuck. what a ride. I admit, some of that... lol, oh man, some of that sentiment is not from gaming, but, yeah, Destiny the Game. 10 years. We hit the other side.

The "How can anything be bigger than Halo?"

And I'm thinking about the Decade before that... one where Halo "took over the world", and rightly so, to this one of Destiny the Game and all it's... ever continued variances. And, naturally, I'm thinking to the future decade as well, 2033, which... shit. Wait wait... there is a soundtrack for this.

Yeah. I bet. Cool story bro. Anyway, lets keep the context in gameing, yeah? So I'm thinking about Cyberpunk 2077 (which I still haven't touched to it's still new to me), and Starfield, and Mass Effect 4 or whatever it shall be and... big single player games.

In thinking about all of this, I find an epiphany. And it is an answer to the question I've been asking myself at some measure, for quite some time. Why am I playing Destiny? Sometimes I'll even add the word "still" in there for good measure. And I'll find the same 'ol reasons, that while true... something about them were off. Yeah gun-play, weapon feel, explosions, team play, cool stuff, so on. It's been a decade, if you're still surfing around these shores the jest is known.

I mean, yah! It's... it's cool. It's neat. Jump in, blow shit up, good times... I guess. But... spoilers here, Destiny... no... Bungie does not have a monopoly on game-play feel. Nor the many virtual ways of blowing shit up. Cool weaponry, or whatever imaginative way we imbue an ever energetic *pop*, colors and sound. So... Why am I playing Destiny?

Halo, I've realized. True in more ways than one, but also... co-op. NO! Not co-op, but not quite possible with out it either. Only Mass Effect, for me, has even slightly been able to pull off this exacting thing without co-op, and even then... even then. When I finally realized the answer, I went and looked at all the games that can even match the size and scope of Destiny. Really really BIG games, such as those under the Bethesda umbrella, most don't have co-op. If you look at Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, and shoot, y'all imagine how crazy it would be to Co-Op in Skyrim? The ability to Co-Op in many many large single player games does not exist, and as a result, I've been playing this game for a Decade, as there has been little else "place" to go.

The thing I've realized is, that I've been playing Destiny The Game for a decade due to...

Hijinks.

That's right. Hijinks. The, if I may ever quote Merriam-Webster, the "boisterous or rambunctious carryings-on". The "carefree antics or horseplay". And it's all Halos fault. Freek'n gateway drug, I swear.

I've got memories, in Halo.-In Forge. That are, somehow, simultaneously so much fun, and so much stupid, but exists as some of... out of ALL the Decades of many many many video games from many many many brilliant game developers and... and ideas of vast imaginations, NOTHING has hit quite like that vast chasm of stupid game-types folks came up with in forge. The one that comes to mind right now is the one where we need to climb up a slope while warthogs keep spawning up top and falling down the ramp, like, STUPID shit. DUMB. But holy crap was it fun. And we could jump on, and laugh, and chat, and not give a shit about any of lifes bull because, brother, you were dodging warthogs (or not) and life was good.

We're social creatures, and there's something real nice about being able to play-about with out creating some damage in the process, the eggs on the wall or the rocks though abandoned glass.

And I've been exploring, can such good times exist elsewhere? And yeah, it can, but... eh. It was fun because there was no expectation, but we knew at the same time. After that, it's just the roll of the dice.

And, that's why I've still been playing Destiny, the loneliest social game I've ever played. I've sunk so much time into this game, and I've done it so that I could play, whatever. This game is so cruel.

I've mentioned to some of you that my time on this game grows short, that once we bop on that kawaii S.O.B, that I'm jumping ship. That my watch has ended.

I'm so tired of this game and it's shit. And while I do still find the fun in it, it asks for too much. The one complaint I've had end to end is still true, one where "I just want to play", and if I want to play the end game stuff, it's just not in the cards. A shame, as Bungie finally seems to realize the bull that was it's "power" or "light" system, among with all the rest of its convoluted and purposely cruel mechanics to time-suck away the pain of the overwhelming incompetence on display when they first started this game so long ago. Resolving on a conveyor belt of quantity over quality. But hey, that's modern gaming for ya, I suppose. Why care if its right, when you can just fix it whenever in post.

What? I'm INSANEdrive, not COMPLETE-F'N-IDIOTdrive... well. At least in theory anyway, lol. Change is part of the deal. I've let Destiny have time to change, and now I'm working on making yet another change of my own. I have plenty to do without video games, including cleaning my Den which apparently I'm doing my darnedest not to clean even though I KNOW, I REALLY REALLY need to do it! You could have done it when it was light, and now you're going to do it when it's DARK!

Stupid COMPLETE-F'N-IDIOTdrive and his stupid. Dumb, lol.

So... when I stop playing this game, just... remove it from my Xbox hard drive, what then? I've dedicated a decade to this stupid stupid. And as I mentioned, co-op in other games, or at least the ones that to me seem like something I want to play... man alive.

I don't know.

I guess I'll just start walking, and find where ever my feet take me.

Aw shit. Guess I gotta clean the den now. ...

Shit.

I'm so tired of this game and it's shit. And while I do still find the fun in it, it asks for too much. The one complaint I've had end to end is still true, one where "I just want to play", and if I want to play the end game stuff, it's just not in the cards.

Oh you don't say…

Break out the hashtag.

#ThingsThatHaveNotChangedInADecade

Just like all new technologies. It starts as "Ooh, people will love this" and then people love it and have fun with it. Then it gets really popular and EVERYONE loves it. Then the powers-that-bet realize they are leaving a s*** ton of money on the table. At which point, fun is now the secondary objective.

And I'm not saying this from a cynical point of view, it's just what happens.

I feel ya. Then again, I knew exactly what that Ninja clip was based on the thumbnail, so I guess that identifies me as among the group that would obviously relate to your points. Physics--Bungie has always excelled at physics, which make for a good sandbox. Co-op. You're preaching to the choir. (A subpoint about Mass Effect: ME2 in particular faked co-op very effectively.)

I've got my own rant to make. I'll just say this for now. At this point I probably wouldn't play Destiny without this community. Destiny+community has given me a lot of joy (and some unexpected heartbreak). Digital < analog in all things human. Friends IRL beat online friends all day long, but the latter ain't nothing.

I don't miss Destiny at all. Like, not even a bit. Not even a touch of curiosity about what is happening in the story. I legitimately do not care.

I've come to realize that it's been a long time since I've played Destiny because it was legitimately what I wanted to be doing with my time. Not that it wasn't enjoyable sometimes, but, given the choice, I would have rather been playing something else. But I needed to keep up so I could actually participate when something I genuinely wanted to do came around (like a new Dungeon). And if I ever got the invite to raid or do a dungeon or play Iron Banner or Trials or whatever, I wanted to be able to do so. I spent 95% of my play time ensuring I was ready for the 5% of stuff I actually wanted to do.

I don't miss that at all. And, surprisingly, I've found that I don't miss even that 5% of stuff I was looking forward to. You could offer me the ability to play a brand new blind raid or dungeon right now with no need to prep anything, and I'd still decline. I genuinely have no interest. It's like a spell has been broken.

I do miss playing with some of you that still only play Destiny, but not enough, I guess, to pull me back in. I've had too much fun enjoying other co-op stuff and plenty of single player games I would not have managed to get around to if I was still playing Destiny.

All of this is to say just quit, man. You won't miss it nearly as much as you think you will. For all their efforts to the contrary, Destiny still seems very much like a game that wants nothing less than all of your attention. There does not seem to be an acceptable middle ground when it comes to playing Destiny. You're all-in, or you might as well not bother. And trust me, it's much better when you fall on the "not bother" side of that equation. There's too much other stuff to do.

Instead of direct replies, here is a note for you all, that you're missing the finder points from the broad strokes. I guess that's what I get for just speaking directly from my fingers over here and hoping for the best. Ah.

It's... A Gameing Lament. Not just Destiny. It's a... far wider scope. And I don't knowwwa if it's just meee, or something actually in the bones of it all. And also, no NO! It's not an "Old man yells at cloud" deal, it IS different. And I've been playing videogames for long enough to see the difference.

It feels like... video games passed a threshold recently. And it pains me that I... ...that I can only etch so much in quickness of speed with these fat ol' fingers. So bare with me (though shit, nothing new right, baren' with my dumb ass).

So... first of all...

>_>

We live in a world highly connected, but has never been perhaps so disconnected. And the diffrence is, where before a conversation could have roots, everything feels like topsoil now. If even that, just dust. Recently, on one of the reddit alternatives, I read a comment that I think nailed it on the head.

I realized today why I felt weird at first using Tildes. Because typing out meaningless short responses has become the norm. I can do that without much effort and it feels expected (or at least acceptable). That's not what this site is about. Really trying to understand a situation and formulate a coherent relevant response uses a part of my brain that has atrophied. Which contributes to the boredom and doom scrolling. I'm not engaging in any meaningful way so I'm not engaged. It took me far longer than necessary to write this comment but I'm doing it because I'm realizing I need the kind of engagement found here.

Nothing... MATTERS* (no bungie shhshh) any more. And because art is an intrinsic part of the human soul, it's leeched into entertainment, including video games. We all knew it was happening, and no cody you ain't special like that, stow it.

*Oh and by the way? Total bullshit. The novocain might work folks, but the dental work is still happening.

The social aspect of videogames seems mostly forgone now. Has anyone here watched a stream? Yea! There is words. And a back and forth. But, most of the time it's just a sea of noise. NAMES without purpose. Shit, the fact I can tell cody to shut the fuck up, is beautiful freaking thing, nothing personal Cody. Cody Miller has a name, you beautiful human you, which has incalculably times of more worth than the vomit of noise that often goes for some social aspect for folks whom weren't around to witness the mechanisms which allowed for the difference. One where not all hardship is an evil.

We went from LAN Parties and couch co-op to... man. I'm digressing. Ok, so maybe I did just old man yell at cloud a touch. Blah blah blah, darn kids, uphill in the snow. Let's see here, where do we get back onto this road...

...

I mentioned before in my first part at the top about... the stupid of our fun. Halo, and all that... Where do we go now? That's why I've stayed. Where do we go now? "Just run outside naked in the cold" yells cheapLEY, "The frostbite means it's working!"

Single Player Games are still there, thank freaking goodness, but... I don't go to bars, I play videogames. Instead spending money on an overpriced fermented poison, I... WE have fun with our digital action figures, in worlds plucked form the minds of designers and artists and masters of theme. That's been my thing since Halo, shoot, before that... when I was in a clan back in the 90's, that was my thing. Shoot! I STILL (somewhere) have the burned disk one of the members sent to my PO box when I lost my disk. I mean, a different age man.

I'm too young (at heart) to be this darned tired. Even when I'm looking at a pastime which I've loved, and still love, I feel... dejection. I made some posts when Overwatch fell. Or, maybe I should call it "pushed". And recently... well look...

And there is no stopping this greed-ffiti, obviously, always has been. It's sprayed about on all things with just enough care, and the whales filter feed it up. And I don't know where to go. That "social" aspect, which allows my proclivity for social need to be filled without being overwhelmed by mindless dribble. The Hijinks of play.

...then again, maybe I do. Maybe I'll just stop playing video games and do something else. ;_;

Instead of ending this post like that, I'm going to include a clip of the last time I really had a MOMENT with the community. And the folks who were there will know exactly what this is.

Also this. For the ending.

Bungie that ending is DOPE AF.

It has changed, absolutely.

But . . . I think you just need a break. Yes, Halo is gone. We'll never, ever get another game like the perfection that was Halo 3. No major publisher will put out a massive campaign with a great, feature rich multiplayer mode without any hooks for players to spend even more money on the color red for their little dudes. It just won't happen. That seal has been broken, and there's no putting that shit back in the bottle. Bungie themselves were instrumental in making sure that's true, and fuck them forever for doing so. But if it hadn't been them, it'd have been someone else. I'm sure there's some hidden gem indie games that still have some of that stuff in spades, but I can't really think of anything.

Great co-op games are everywhere. I played It Takes Two with Cody last year, and it's one of the best multiplayer experiences I've ever had, period. It's not the hijinks filled community nights of Halo, no. But it's a great way to spend time with a friend. I've played Dying Light and Resident Evil 5 and The Division and Remnant: From the Ashes and countless other games with Korny. They're all fantastic, and many have offered as many hijinks as Halo did, if on a smaller scale. (Hey, let's start Helldivers soon, yeah?) The Forest exists. Deep Rock Galactic is just waiting for you to play it. Unlike Destiny, it doesn't kick you in the dick and ask for more money every time you consider trying to have fun. In fact, it's entirely free! Hell, go play Fortnite; it's less greedy than Destiny is and is actually tons of fun.

I won't sit here and pretend that I don't yearn for the days of Halo past, but that's not going to happen. There are tons of other incredibly amazing games, co-op and otherwise. You pick one, I'll play it with you. Because I was feeling similarly to how you seem to be not that long ago. And then I quit Destiny and started having fun playing video games with friends again.

It's Saturday. And I find myself with... what are these words? Free... tyme? Time for me to do... whatever. And, instead of doing one of many things "I can just do that later", I find myself... reflecting. Indeed, on the time so free and so much. And, naturally... some of those thoughts have ebbed to Destiny The Game and.

...

It's been a decade y'all. 2013. And holy shit. fuck. what a ride. I admit, some of that... lol, oh man, some of that sentiment is not from gaming, but, yeah, Destiny the Game. 10 years. We hit the other side.

The "How can anything be bigger than Halo?"

And I'm thinking about the Decade before that... one where Halo "took over the world", and rightly so, to this one of Destiny the Game and all it's... ever continued variances. And, naturally, I'm thinking to the future decade as well, 2033, which... shit. Wait wait... there is a soundtrack for this.

Yeah. I bet. Cool story bro. Anyway, lets keep the context in gameing, yeah? So I'm thinking about Cyberpunk 2077 (which I still haven't touched to it's still new to me), and Starfield, and Mass Effect 4 or whatever it shall be and... big single player games.

In thinking about all of this, I find an epiphany. And it is an answer to the question I've been asking myself at some measure, for quite some time. Why am I playing Destiny? Sometimes I'll even add the word "still" in there for good measure. And I'll find the same 'ol reasons, that while true... something about them were off. Yeah gun-play, weapon feel, explosions, team play, cool stuff, so on. It's been a decade, if you're still surfing around these shores the jest is known.

I mean, yah! It's... it's cool. It's neat. Jump in, blow shit up, good times... I guess. But... spoilers here, Destiny... no... Bungie does not have a monopoly on game-play feel. Nor the many virtual ways of blowing shit up. Cool weaponry, or whatever imaginative way we imbue an ever energetic *pop*, colors and sound. So... Why am I playing Destiny?

Halo, I've realized. True in more ways than one, but also... co-op. NO! Not co-op, but not quite possible with out it either. Only Mass Effect, for me, has even slightly been able to pull off this exacting thing without co-op, and even then... even then. When I finally realized the answer, I went and looked at all the games that can even match the size and scope of Destiny. Really really BIG games, such as those under the Bethesda umbrella, most don't have co-op. If you look at Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, and shoot, y'all imagine how crazy it would be to Co-Op in Skyrim? The ability to Co-Op in many many large single player games does not exist, and as a result, I've been playing this game for a Decade, as there has been little else "place" to go.

The thing I've realized is, that I've been playing Destiny The Game for a decade due to...

Hijinks.

That's right. Hijinks. The, if I may ever quote Merriam-Webster, the "boisterous or rambunctious carryings-on". The "carefree antics or horseplay". And it's all Halos fault. Freek'n gateway drug, I swear.

I've got memories, in Halo.-In Forge. That are, somehow, simultaneously so much fun, and so much stupid, but exists as some of... out of ALL the Decades of many many many video games from many many many brilliant game developers and... and ideas of vast imaginations, NOTHING has hit quite like that vast chasm of stupid game-types folks came up with in forge. The one that comes to mind right now is the one where we need to climb up a slope while warthogs keep spawning up top and falling down the ramp, like, STUPID shit. DUMB. But holy crap was it fun. And we could jump on, and laugh, and chat, and not give a shit about any of lifes bull because, brother, you were dodging warthogs (or not) and life was good.

We're social creatures, and there's something real nice about being able to play-about with out creating some damage in the process, the eggs on the wall or the rocks though abandoned glass.

And I've been exploring, can such good times exist elsewhere? And yeah, it can, but... eh. It was fun because there was no expectation, but we knew at the same time. After that, it's just the roll of the dice.

And, that's why I've still been playing Destiny, the loneliest social game I've ever played. I've sunk so much time into this game, and I've done it so that I could play, whatever. This game is so cruel.

I've mentioned to some of you that my time on this game grows short, that once we bop on that kawaii S.O.B, that I'm jumping ship. That my watch has ended.

I'm so tired of this game and it's shit. And while I do still find the fun in it, it asks for too much. The one complaint I've had end to end is still true, one where "I just want to play", and if I want to play the end game stuff, it's just not in the cards. A shame, as Bungie finally seems to realize the bull that was it's "power" or "light" system, among with all the rest of its convoluted and purposely cruel mechanics to time-suck away the pain of the overwhelming incompetence on display when they first started this game so long ago. Resolving on a conveyor belt of quantity over quality. But hey, that's modern gaming for ya, I suppose. Why care if its right, when you can just fix it whenever in post.

What? I'm INSANEdrive, not COMPLETE-F'N-IDIOTdrive... well. At least in theory anyway, lol. Change is part of the deal. I've let Destiny have time to change, and now I'm working on making yet another change of my own. I have plenty to do without video games, including cleaning my Den which apparently I'm doing my darnedest not to clean even though I KNOW, I REALLY REALLY need to do it! You could have done it when it was light, and now you're going to do it when it's DARK!

Stupid COMPLETE-F'N-IDIOTdrive and his stupid. Dumb, lol.

So... when I stop playing this game, just... remove it from my Xbox hard drive, what then? I've dedicated a decade to this stupid stupid. And as I mentioned, co-op in other games, or at least the ones that to me seem like something I want to play... man alive.

I don't know.

I guess I'll just start walking, and find where ever my feet take me.

Aw shit. Guess I gotta clean the den now. ...

Shit.

This post is weird to me, because your sadness doesn't come from your relationship with Destiny, but rather, your addiction to it. Your dependence on it to fill the hole that it once did.
Here's the thing, though. That hole? It's not Destiny-shaped. It's not even filled by Destiny itself. More than anything, it's been filled by the people you play/used to play it with. People who don't regularly hop on anymore. People who shared the new content, who struggled by your side, and who would often end the nights with an extended trip to the tower and a "see y'all tomorrow". The Dogcows, Ottermacks, MEZes, BaghdadBeans, Up Norths, and Cougrons :(
The list of people to share these new experiences has dropped steadily.

I think that's the itch that the gaming nights fail to scratch for you. Each person you can no longer have experiences with is one more shortcoming that this game has. And those who have stuck around aren't experiencing new things, they're just on the wheel with you.
When I reinstalled the game recently, I hopped on, and didn't even bother to look to see who was on, because nobody would be doing the struggle of leveling from 1600 the long way like I was. Everybody would be doing the fifteen runs a week of the ritual activity that they needed for the pinnacles and patterns and fish and nightfalls, so they could be leveled for the raids, and Grandmasters, and Exotic quests, and dungeon, and blah blah blah blah....

I haven't been in a rush, so my goal was to go up five points of light per game session, then I'd call it and play something else. I hung out in parties, but listening to folks play destiny was a weird bummer, because I don't hear anyone having fun. It's just people doing work, discussing pinnacle drops, frustrated about loot, looking for checkpoints, ranting about Crucible, mocking Claude's builds (lol)... It's weird to see some of these folks have absolutely nothing to play besides Destiny, but so desperately need to play something besides Destiny.
So that's where I see you. "Can such good times exist elsewhere?" My guy, Destiny is probably the worst place to seek good times! You need to play something besides Destiny. There are some really fantastic gaming experiences just waiting for you, like you said, but you know why you just let them sit in your library? Because that live-service itch just keeps pulling you towards Destiny. So you know what you need? You just need to rope a friend or two into a co-op game. You need a transition game to push the Destiny addiction out, then you'd be Cyberpunking, Finalizing your Fantasy, and Ragnaroking in no time.

You may remember a player we used to play Destiny with named Sammy.
Sammy likes playing games with others, but refused to play Destiny on Bungie's terms, so when it came time for her to figure out how she would engage with gaming, she bounced to games that don't demand grinding for numbers or item rolls to play. She wants things to just work, so when a new expansion, or raid or dungeon came out, I made sure to have builds and Light levels ready for her to experience the content.
Because to her, it's playing with others that's fun, but if it means grinding for ages just to experience that tiny portion of content, nobody's worth that to her (except maybe playing with Claude, lolx2).
So recently, she convinced one of our friends who only played BRs to play a co-op game with her. I've never heard the guy have so much fun as when he was playing Resident Evil 5, which is famously remembered as a "bad" game.

We all then started playing The Forest, and listening to us play convinced another friend to get the game (as detailed in the community check-in post). So while you mentioned co-op games under the caveat of being "something you want to play", the trick is to just play one. Any. Find someone, find a good co-op game, and play it. Remnant: From the Ashes is a fantastic co-op experience. Try out Deep Rock Galactic for a night or two. Both of these games have investment systems, but unlike Destiny, the investment is not the game.

Grab anyone and run through The Division 2's free Descent mode, which is completely separate from the buildcrafting of the main game (which has long separated itself from the numbers grind in favor of targeted sets of gear and upgradeable secondary stats).

Just sit down and play anything with anyone that's not Destiny.
You'll be free of that addiction in no time.

Aw shit. Guess I gotta clean the den now. ...

Shit.

No totally. I hate to quote the King of the Incels, but absolutely:

Clean Your Room.

You'd be surprised at how much of a good effect clean surroundings have on your mental wellbeing, even when you're just crossing the room to sit in front of a monitor.

Just sit down and play anything with anyone that's not Destiny.
You'll be free of that addiction in no time.

Might I suggest Dungeons and Dragons?

No Joke, this has absolutely filled the social gaming itch for me. Because what Korny says here is absolutely right. It's mostly the people you're playing Destiny with that made it fun.

But what if you not only played a game with your friends, but played their story? Shaped their story? Created your own story and memorable or emotional or surprising or funny moments through your choices? There's such a deep sense of satisfaction, of creativity, and of admiration for each other when you do this.

It's something video games can never ever do.

For all their efforts to the contrary, Destiny still seems very much like a game that wants nothing less than all of your attention. There does not seem to be an acceptable middle ground when it comes to playing Destiny. You're all-in, or you might as well not bother.

Everyone should do whatever makes them happy re: playing Destiny, but I assure everyone it is possible to play the game casually. I have been doing it for years now. I still raid and do dungeons — maybe a week or two later than others. I don't do GM nightfalls because I don't have the level and I don't try to do Trials because I do';t have people who want to and I suspect I lack sufficient skill (though I sorta kept up in D1), so I don't know if it would lack the gear to compete. Still, not a lot to say you are missing out on.

For all their efforts to the contrary, Destiny still seems very much like a game that wants nothing less than all of your attention. There does not seem to be an acceptable middle ground when it comes to playing Destiny. You're all-in, or you might as well not bother.

Everyone should do whatever makes them happy re: playing Destiny, but I assure everyone it is possible to play the game casually. I have been doing it for years now. I still raid and do dungeons — maybe a week or two later than others. I don't do GM nightfalls because I don't have the level and I don't try to do Trials because I do';t have people who want to and I suspect I lack sufficient skill (though I sorta kept up in D1), so I don't know if it would lack the gear to compete. Still, not a lot to say you are missing out on.

So, there’s a miscommunication happening here. I maybe don’t mean playing it casually. Because I wouldn’t define what you just said as casual play—just doing what Destiny requires but slower.

When I say I want to play it casually, I mean that I want to be able to log on and just play the stuff I want to play. Which, in my case, meant Dungeons and GMs (or at least Master NFs), and basically anything that would be high level end game content. I am wholly uninterested in doing any more chores, no matter how they’re paced. Bungie is also wholly uninterested in allowing me to do that.

There’s certainly no accounting for taste. I’m sure there are people that just like doing Patrol Bounties or whatever (and that person should be on a government watchlist and someone needs to make sure they’re not torturing rodents somewhere), but I’m done with that side of the game. Which means I’m done with the game period, because that stuff isn’t optional.

This post is weird to me, because your sadness doesn't come from your relationship with Destiny, but rather, your addiction to it. Your dependence on it to fill the hole that it once did.
Here's the thing, though. That hole? It's not Destiny-shaped. It's not even filled by Destiny itself. More than anything, it's been filled by the people you play/used to play it with. People who don't regularly hop on anymore. People who shared the new content, who struggled by your side, and who would often end the nights with an extended trip to the tower and a "see y'all tomorrow". The Dogcows, Ottermacks, MEZes, BaghdadBeans, Up Norths, and Cougrons :(
The list of people to share these new experiences has dropped steadily.

I think that's the itch that the gaming nights fail to scratch for you. Each person you can no longer have experiences with is one more shortcoming that this game has. And those who have stuck around aren't experiencing new things, they're just on the wheel with you.
When I reinstalled the game recently, I hopped on, and didn't even bother to look to see who was on, because nobody would be doing the struggle of leveling from 1600 the long way like I was. Everybody would be doing the fifteen runs a week of the ritual activity that they needed for the pinnacles and patterns and fish and nightfalls, so they could be leveled for the raids, and Grandmasters, and Exotic quests, and dungeon, and blah blah blah blah....

I haven't been in a rush, so my goal was to go up five points of light per game session, then I'd call it and play something else. I hung out in parties, but listening to folks play destiny was a weird bummer, because I don't hear anyone having fun. It's just people doing work, discussing pinnacle drops, frustrated about loot, looking for checkpoints, ranting about Crucible, mocking Claude's builds (lol)... It's weird to see some of these folks have absolutely nothing to play besides Destiny, but so desperately need to play something besides Destiny.
So that's where I see you. "Can such good times exist elsewhere?" My guy, Destiny is probably the worst place to seek good times! You need to play something besides Destiny. There are some really fantastic gaming experiences just waiting for you, like you said, but you know why you just let them sit in your library? Because that live-service itch just keeps pulling you towards Destiny. So you know what you need? You just need to rope a friend or two into a co-op game. You need a transition game to push the Destiny addiction out, then you'd be Cyberpunking, Finalizing your Fantasy, and Ragnaroking in no time.

You may remember a player we used to play Destiny with named Sammy.
Sammy likes playing games with others, but refused to play Destiny on Bungie's terms, so when it came time for her to figure out how she would engage with gaming, she bounced to games that don't demand grinding for numbers or item rolls to play. She wants things to just work, so when a new expansion, or raid or dungeon came out, I made sure to have builds and Light levels ready for her to experience the content.
Because to her, it's playing with others that's fun, but if it means grinding for ages just to experience that tiny portion of content, nobody's worth that to her (except maybe playing with Claude, lolx2).
So recently, she convinced one of our friends who only played BRs to play a co-op game with her. I've never heard the guy have so much fun as when he was playing Resident Evil 5, which is famously remembered as a "bad" game.

So, there is something in here in your text, but you've made a lot of assertions that skim the water if you will. You keep using the word "addiction", and it's a fairly inaccurate -if close- description. What I speak of throughout is more habit, built by decades. And even then that might be incorrect as well, as, as to bring parity, I have habit of drinking water and eating food. We don't need games/sport/some-other-third-thing, but it is through such mediums that we can do the social thing, which for us all is needed in some amount, much as water or food.

And, odd as it may seem, it had to be done out loud, this public self consideration upon the social aspect of games. After all, it doesn't make much sense to lament the social aspect, and be completely silent about it, right? To bring it forth out in the open among the folks with whom I play with seemed right to me. An open realization, and an open question... both that I could very well answer on my own, but it would be all the lesser for it, I think. And Indeed, the response by cheapLEY and some of what I've quoted below really nailed it on the head here. Fresh food for thought that I would not have if I said nothing.

As for sadness? Well, I suppose I can't disagree, as I do indeed lament. But it's more from surveying the land then any "addiction" gap. Eyes that have seen some time and so forth in my mentioning. And, I'll even add that... we're Bungie fans, right? But long has it been for us to see a face that had earned admiration. I've been a fan long enough that I've seen Bungie recycled into a Theseus ship that no longer knows most of its old timbers. And so, is it really so strange that after so long, that I would poise a question and aims of where to go now? I mean, I'm here now because of Halo, and it's been nice to have a home for decades. And now I'm packing and getting ready to leave to shores I've yet even decided to know.

In light of this, I don't think any of what I say is strange at all.

We all then started playing The Forest, and listening to us play convinced another friend to get the game (as detailed in the community check-in post). So while you mentioned co-op games under the caveat of being "something you want to play", the trick is to just play one. Any. Find someone, find a good co-op game, and play it. Remnant: From the Ashes is a fantastic co-op experience. Try out Deep Rock Galactic for a night or two. Both of these games have investment systems, but unlike Destiny, the investment is not the game.

Grab anyone and run through The Division 2's free Descent mode, which is completely separate from the buildcrafting of the main game (which has long separated itself from the numbers grind in favor of targeted sets of gear and upgradeable secondary stats).

Noted.

Just sit down and play anything with anyone that's not Destiny.
You'll be free of that addiction in no time.

Might I suggest Dungeons and Dragons?

No Joke, this has absolutely filled the social gaming itch for me. Because what Korny says here is absolutely right. It's mostly the people you're playing Destiny with that made it fun.

But what if you not only played a game with your friends, but played their story? Shaped their story? Created your own story and memorable or emotional or surprising or funny moments through your choices? There's such a deep sense of satisfaction, of creativity, and of admiration for each other when you do this.

It's something video games can never ever do.

The entire time I was making my post, Dungeons and Dragons was on my mind. It's even why I made the "Hijinks" clip as I did.

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