A bit of reflection (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, July 08, 2014, 06:27 (3800 days ago)

For me, the only real news yesterday was the precise parameters of the beta, and although I can understand some disappointment, I wasn't surprised by the length.

Why wasn't I? Well, we already knew PS users would get four more days than anyone else. At this late date there's little point in a long beta--all that's left to do is load testing I expect. Based on the fit and finish of the Alpha, they've already fine tuned this thing. About that Alpha, I was stunned with how big it was. I'm glad it wasn't longer than it was because then we might have found the end of it. If part of the point here is that there is always more to discover, the length of the alpha was perfect because I bet few people felt like they had seen everything there is to see, as it was. It was enough of a taste, though, to answer the most important question: is the game fun? It was for me.

Xenos said something very important about scope in one of his posts. To paraphrase, given the amount of content in this game, some extra pieces might not matter very much in the grand scheme of things. That's one thing you can't expect Bungie to say. Hey, yeah, we're giving Sony fans some goodies, but don't worry, Xboxers, it ain't all that, and you'll get it, too, down the line.

Saturday night I had the most fun I've had in a while. My best friends' 12-year-old and I were playing the Reach level The Package and trying to get through the area outside Sword base. We kept failing and trying new strategies. It was exactly the kind of thing I love, which is just fun problem solving of the kind that Bungie has never failed to deliver. I think we can expect more of the same, no matter how much we pay for it or on what we play it.

I may have been overwrought in my defensiveness yesterday and for that I apologize. I came expecting dissection of the IGN videos, I got butthurt. Lots of butthurt. There may be some subconscious thing going on, too. Deep in our hearts, some of us old timers may derive some secret pleasure from finally enjoying a Bungie game again without the Microsoft taint. That marriage always seemed to me to be one of convenience instead of love. I don't know. I'm grateful for the Xbox and the friendship it's brought me. And Bungie fans who came in through Halo certainly have their own complicated feelings about all this, but in the end, the play's the thing, as the man said. We're going to play, and I hope everyone has fun, and this ill will melts away.