No offense to Bungie here, but is a person legitimately qualified to make broad sweeping changes to the weapon loadouts, sandbox, crucible, raid design, when they barely play the game?

D2 has many similarities with the Pontiac Aztec. https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a6357/bob-lutz-tells-the-inside-story-of-the-pontiac-aztek-debacle/

I’ve seen an interview in which Luke Smith said he had to be convinced of Jon Weisnewski’s vision. They were both sitting together... though can’t seem to find it atm. We may be seeing very conclusive changes even beyond the March update. There’s a job listing on bungie net for the job title Jon W currently holds. Also, they’ve kept his name almost entirely as possible out of any the sandbox updates.

Your first point is what I think a good portion of the community is not fully understanding. Bungie never thought they would be in this situation 7 months post launch - effectively having to reset their own game they claimed would improve on what the previous did. I don't think it will ever be as simple as "make it like D1". They built D2 with the mindset of never reverting back to D1. Now they have to work with what they have. Not easy. P.S really glad to see more constructive arguments here on the forums. We all don't have to agree, but integrity is a must.

If you think for a second Luke Smith worked on TTK you are dead wrong. There are reports that he barely came into the office during its conception and didnt really help with much. Vog was due to the team around Luke. Its like George Lucas in star wars. Sure it was his idea but without many of the talented people around him it would have never succeeded (I mean he had chewbacca talking with a normal humans voice and Darth Vader as a middle aged white dude voicing him)

I always like reading your comments. You can always have a decent, intelligent conversation.

Stop defending the man who wants you to throw money at the screen. He’s the CD so he’s the lead period. Aka as Boss man, what goes in or out is his call

1. Luke Smith is the kind of guy who tells you what he thinks, even if it isn't the most tactful thing he could say. No personal disrespect to DeeJ, but I'd rather deal with 10 Luke Smiths than one DeeJ. Because I'll always know EXACTLY where I stand with Smith....whereas DeeJ strikes me as the kind of guy who could seriously dislike you, and you'd never know it. Until its too late. 2. If you think being a middle-manager----like a Creative Director---gives you ultimate authority of a product that a corporation the size of Bungie makes? Then you've never worked in that kind of environment. No executive is going to have his own fate---and salary----subject to decisions that some guy who works FOR him makes...and makes on his own. The reality is that the executives make the STRATEGIC decisions....and then middle-managers are left to do the work necessary to REALIZE that vision. If they don't...then they get replaced. What likely happened is that the suits at Bungie fell in love with the success of Overwatch...and saw their association with Activision as a fast track to the MLG stage....and interpreted "Sweaties" as this ready made audience for the Crucible as an e-sport. So they basically decided that they were going to REBRAND the game. That Destiny 2 was going redesigned to provide a "Sweaty" version of the Crucible that was all teed up and ready for e-sports.....then those changes were going to be passed on to the PVE side of the game, and sold to the public as a "simplified" and "less time consuming" version of the game. IOW, that the game was going to be rebranded as campaign/competitive shooter looking for e-sports success...and then try to get the PVE community to accept the changes and go along for the ride. 3. NO EXECUTIVE WORTH BEING CALLED THAT NAME, WOULD ALLOW A MID-LEVEL MANAGER LIKE SMITH TO COMPLETELY CHANGE THE NATURE OF THEIR **ONLY** PRODUCT LIKE THAT. Also, Smiths own background doesn't suggest that he'd ever think that this kind of change would be a good idea...and if you listened to his interviews...he was clearly NEVER really "on-board" with the changes made to PVP...and where it seemend to be headed. He just got handed the shitty-end of the stick of trying to find a way to make a catastrophically BAD PLAN work somehow. ...and he managed to find a way to keep it all together and make it work right up until the end-game. Then the fundamental flaw in the strategy for the franchise finally revealed itself.

[quote] The reality is that the executives make the STRATEGIC decisions....and then middle-managers are left to do the work necessary to REALIZE that vision. If they don't...then they get replaced.[/quote] How many times do we need to explain project management to people here. People see the title "Director" and think that's where ends. A director guides the vision of the company. I know because am one. I use my experience, creativity, and knowhow to decide how I'm going to do that but it's all for what the business wants.

Then you must work in a privately owned company...where "Director" is synonymous with "CEO". Because what you just said, is not true in a large corporation that is publicly owned. In THAT setting---as a mid-level manager---you do NOT have the freedom to basically re-brand a product without securing the approval of those in the executive suite. ...and depending on their management style, you could very easily find yourself being handed marching orders for strategic decisison that were made in the executive suite.... ...and your job is simply to IMPLEMENT that vision, and make the day-to-day 'practical" and "creative" decisions necessary to realize that vision. Bottomline: If Pete Parsons allowed Luke Smith to so aggressively re-brand Destiny----Bungie's ONLY product----in this fashion completely on his own? Then Parsons is an idiot, incompetent...and was completely asleep at his post. But I don't believe that any of what I said is true, because I don't believe he did that.... Because if you listen to the various interviews that the Departments head gave about the development process, there was a clear conflict between them about what direction to take the game.....and those conflicts need to be resolved from the top-down. And if you listen to Luke Smith, he was clearly not on board with the changes being made in the name of PvP. Because he always refers to the Crucible team and Weapons team under his leadership as "THEY"....not "WE". Which you almost NEVER hear a department head say about the people he is leading. Which means something happened that he is (probably unconsciously) distancing himself from.

[quote]Then you must work in a privately owned company...where "Director" is synonymous with "CEO". Because what you just said, is not true in a large corporation that is publicly owned. In THAT setting---as a mid-level manager---you do NOT have the freedom to basically re-brand a product without securing the approval of those in the executive suite. ...and depending on their management style, you could very easily find yourself being handed marching orders for strategic decisison that were made in the executive suite.... ...and your job is simply to IMPLEMENT that vision, and make the day-to-day 'practical" and "creative" decisions necessary to realize that vision. [/quote] I've worked for both but yes my current position is for a private company. I am not equal to "CEO" but I do report to a C level person. We discuss what the business needs/wants. I plan design and strategy and cost and with approval implement. Working in both types I'd never go back to large corporate structure again.

If you were a lawyer, you might have established reasonable doubt with one or two jurors. Certainly enough to win a acquittal for a crime. Problem is, On Sept 6th the community found a smoking gun, found lying next to the body of Destiny 1, with Luke Smiths fingerprints on it, which was found in the trunk of his car, with his phone records tracking him to the scene of the crime, multiple tweets, bungie vidocs, and interviews documenting the slow torture and murder of a mature and robust game with him at the helm. Just didn’t realize they were watching the crime. Couldn’t have pulled it off without Noseworthy and Nerfsniewski, and might have gotten away with it had it not been for you meddling consumers.

Dead on

Psyggie!!

Hey friend I'm still here!

Good to see you! I pop in from time to time. See what’s going on as far as updates. How’ve you been?

Sweet yep hopefully this upcoming one makes it more exciting. I'm good! Just finished an online degree.