FINAL EDIT : So, after playing for a few days with my 'Mates, going through some more raids, Iron Banner; finding out about the delayed Trials of Osiris and bumped-forward Hard Mode ... I have decided to stay. However, I have deleted two of my characters. I will also be putting Destiny on my lowest gaming priority. Star Wars Fall Out Black Ops 3 Final Fantasy Tales Of Many games to take its place. Maybe someday I can quit for good. For now, these are the reasons I'm closer to leaving : I'm going to start from the bottom and work my way up. First off, the forums. While very neat and easy to navigate, it is solely moderated from a politically correct and public relations standpoint. Posts with insane amounts of support will be ignored religiously if they do not meet a pre-determined face-value set by whatever agenda Bungie/Activision has. You will see all the time the amount of cherry-picked topics that get support or recognition, while thousands of other players will be sitting in "Why Europe Got The Shaft On DLC Price" ignored for days, weeks, months, and eventually cut from the forums altogether. Whether for money, reputation, or P.R. Insurance, the forum community is completely ignored and utterly toyed with only to the benefit of the company. That is the truth. The proof is in the history, and there is plenty to sift through. Next we have the lockout. A very predictable and forceful move to both secure profits and let the community know that there are no free passes. Bungie is first and foremost a game developer. They do not go around funding other games, they make their own games that are in part funded by companies such as Activision. What they like to do is pretend that all the bad stuff that happens is completely Activision's fault, and will ignore any and all practices of such negativity as if they have no blood on their hands. However, I'm sure the money given to them by Activision was not a gift, nor free. Contracts were signed, agreements were met, and a mutual partnership was forged. Bungie is every bit at fault as Activision for all the bad publicity and reputation. Being a veteran company that is no stranger to success and world renown, Bungie has no excuse or lack of foresight that something such as this would have happened. Not only that, but cutting the previous community off by the legs and offering prosthetic limbs as compensation with the form of DLCs is not going to award any thank yous. The only thing accomplished is driving away a portion of the community and hoping the new ones will be more generous than the last. Profit. And while I could go on for days on what is wrong with Destiny, or who is more to blame (Activision or Bungie), there is actually one direct reason why this game will fail. And it's quite simple really. [b]There is no continuity.[/b] Let me explain exactly what I mean here, as it can be interpreted in different ways. First off, before anything is said, I can understand the wealth of knowledge in the grimoire cards and out-of-game lore, however, none of this is implemented in-game; and you actually have to LEAVE THE GAME to view such information. That being said, I am judging this by way of THE GAME. When you played vanilla destiny, you didn't really know what was going on. There was a good guy, that was dead. And some unknown bad guy on the way. You couldn't interact with the good guy, on account that he was a dead sphere in the sky. And the bad guy hasn't actually been addressed at all. The Darkness, as close as it is to destroying us, has not made an appearance in any form, even with the TTK. The sole driving force of the story, even in Year 2 and DLC 3, has never had any mention of character. At all. However, after defeating the story and wiping out the Vex Heart, it is slightly understood that a raid such as Vault of Glass, and the boss, Atheon, would occur. The Dark Below, however, leaves much for wondering. It just seems to pop up out of nowhere, just because it can. And the House of Wolves, while slightly hinted at in a few cutscenes (which were already limited as they were) seemed completely out of picture, and have virtually no tie-ins with the core story other than "well it kind of makes sense, I guess" While the Taken King is obviously the successor of Dark Below, and its Raid incorporates factors from all previous end-game activity, you're still left wondering what direction this game is going, and why so many random enemies keep showing up for no reason. So here is the final word on this somewhat organized mess. [b]TL;DR ??[/b] All we know, for sure, is that The Darkness is coming. And we need to stop it. We don't know who or what the Darkness is, other than it is linked to the Traveler somehow. Random enemies keep appearing in our solar system and we fight them, along with the Darkness, or at least, a form of the Darkness that isn't the "real darkness?", never explained really, moving on. What do we actually do in each of these DLCs? We meet an enemy. We fight them. We boost our gear. We fight an activity, for even higher boosted gear, and then what? When you beat the main game, nothing changes. A few 2 second lines here and there about "The Garden" and that's it. There is no sense of continuity or advancement. Everything is exactly the same with no change outside of maybe Eris or Ikora saying something about the Heart. Defeat Atheon and you virtually get nothing. Seriously. No one ever talks about the Vault of Glass except for a Mission Ending and Petra in HOW. Moving to Dark Below, Eris seems to be the only person who recognizes this event. Increased spawns of Hive all over the solar system and only Eris reacts to this?? And on top of that, after completely this insane feat, including the raid, the only NPC that acknowledges this only has 2 lines to say about it, over and over again. Moving to the House of Wolves, and the limited rotation at the Prison of Elders, it would seem that the Wolves pose a threat to more than just the Reef. Yet the only location that seems to reflect it, is the Reef. Even though all of the battles in the entire storyline happen in other locations that are NOT the reef. You kill the boss, you kill him again in the prison, but then what? You get better gear that is only good for being better at killing the same boss ... and then what ?? And finally the Taken King. A vast story and expansion (compared to previous releases) that leaves you wondering what really is going on? You talk to all of these NPCs that normally are stoic and say nothing, you do all these random missions that don't tie into each other at all. You keep repeating the same missions over and over again on different difficulties to obtain exotics and legendary gear, and then when you finally defeat Oryx a 2nd time in the Raid, ... what happens? There is an end-game reality that is never addressed. A finality of silence and underwhelming that just kills the mood. [i][b]OKAY, THE LAST TL;DR WAS A LIE[/b][/i] This game has absolutely no driven plot or continuity. It's a bunch of random ideas thrown together that sometimes mention each other in passing. Each time you play the new expansion to its completion, you feel as though everything you did has been forgotten. There is never an after-party. There aren't any core mentions of your exploits or changes to the game-world because of it. And all the insane gear you earned from the end of the game? It only benefits the activity you got it from, and on top of that, is utterly useless in previous content? Why? Because there are distinct damage caps in this game, that you cannot bypass. Head back to level 1 territory at level 40 thinking you are 40 times stronger than when you started the game at level 1? Think again. Think VERY again. When we defeat the Heart, the vex should subside. When we defeat Atheon, they should flee altogether. When we defeat Crota, the hive should subside. When we defeat Skolas, the wolves should join exile. When we defeat Skolas AGAIN in the Prison, the other houses should respect us. When we defeat Oryx, the Taken should vanish, completely. When we defeat Oryx AGAIN, not only should they already be gone, but the effects on the worlds should dissipate. [u][i][b]THE FINAL WORD[/b][/i][/u] Having a shared world, where nothing is connected to your actions breaks the experience. I will never truly believe my actions mean anything when everyone running around me looks at the universe from a different time lapse and crisis parallel. I'll never believe any of my actions have meaning when nothing ever changes in the world around me no matter how much I achieve. Not to mention that mandated-repeat activities completely make no sense. The immersion has already worn off, Destiny is an artistic testing ground. Activision will never sacrifice profit intentionally in order to make the game better. Bungie will never grow a spine and sacrifice profit to regain their old reputation and magic. Players will not take action until it is too late. And Destiny will never be the game it was meant to be. I gave over a year of my life to this game. The good times, the bad times, the times I couldn't decide either way. I was the bad guy, the good guy, and the bad guy again. I tried hard, I gave up, and I came back. No matter which way you spin it, no matter how hard you try. This game is money first, players second. With the character limit within reach, I just wanted to say that I did have a lot of fun with Destiny. I played this game more than any other game I have ever played. Spent more on it too. But it wasn't because of the game. It was because of the dream. The potential. Faith in a realization. But it never happened, and now it's time for goodbyes. Thanks for the memories. ~SM~