EDIT: Attached the video. Hello Bungie Community, Devs and Players alike. I'm here to make a case for a very simple feature that I think would provide immense 'bang for our buck' in terms of improving the Destiny experience. While there is no shortage of extremely important feedback in these forums which I believe deserves serious attention, some of which echoes and/or harmonizes with what I am about to suggest, I wanted to lay out what I think is a very strong, common sense case for an extremely easy way to help better achieve the number one pillar co-founder Jason Jones identified as key to Destiny's vision. Discussion of those pillars can be found here: [url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-20/entertainment/sns-201302201930--tms--invideogctnzs-a20130220-20130220_1_pillar-community-activities-adventure]The Seven Pillars of Bungie's Destiny[/url] I want to focus on just the first. [quote]"Pillar 1: A World Players Want to Be In -- The most important stories we tell aren't going to be told by us. They're going to be told by players; their personal legends built from shared adventures."[/quote] I couldn’t agree more. I pre-ordered Destiny and bought a PS4 (in that order) essentially because of this. The lead up to release convinced me this would be a great platform to create and share stories from. I firmly believe this is still true, but I would like to request a simple creative tool to help in this aim. [b]Please allow us the option to turn off UI elements.[/b] This isn’t my idea. In fact, I think Bungie has already recognized the power of such a feature. Please consider sections of this gameplay trailer: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeDaevD7cEot]Devil's Lair Strike Gameplay Trailer[/url] Specifically the following times - 1:49-1:52; 2:03-2:07; 3:30-3:34; 3:53-3:55; 6:04-6:06 Each one of those pieces has no UI elements. Currently, those kinds of shots can’t be experienced in the game. So why put them in a trailer? [b]Because they look cool[/b]. They remove a barrier to suspension of disbelief and [b]immerse players in the world[/b]. In other words, they go a long way towards achieving the goals of Pillar 1. There’s another couple of examples I really like: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3G3V5PCJbk]E3 Gameplay with Commentary[/url] The entire interaction with Player 2 at the beginning has no UI elements, and the fights lack the white and yellow damage indicators we are used to in the full release, particularly noticeable in the fight against the Devil Walker towards the end. These are great examples of removing the abstractions of the HUD and making the experience more visceral. I am a fan of Destiny’s minimal UI. It provides the information I need to better succeed, particularly with group content. But Destiny’s overall design seems extremely well suited to the option of turning it off when desired. - Customized appearances can be made more meaningful when you can potentially recognize an individual by their choice of visuals, instead of a floating name and level above their head. - The game is full of non-abstract, visible indicators of the effects of your actions; Walker legs blowing off, core being exposed; colored shields on mobs which disappear when depleted; exploding heads and juice-boxes on critical hit kills. - Many of the game’s beautifully realized guns have ammo counters included directly on them, a great example of taking a HUD element out of the abstract, and putting it right in the world. Other games have found great success with this sort of feature. When Skyrim came out, even though it wasn’t a multiplayer game, communities dedicated to sharing the game’s amazing visuals (sans UI elements) sprang up all over the place. Destiny is no slouch in this department. Even prior to full release I found awe-inspiring gameplay screenshots from the Beta with all the UI elements Photoshopped out, proof that players really want to see the world in this way. It’s an additional and compelling way for the community to ‘build shared adventures’, and that is good for Destiny. [b]So I humbly request that an option to turn off the UI be considered for some time in the future[/b]. From the referenced footage, this already seems like something that is immediately achievable and so wouldn’t require heavy additional development, but can go such a long way to improving the immersion players experience when playing Destiny. If you would like the option to turn off (or adjust transparency of) the UI, please like and/or comment. Thank you very much for your time. See you out there.