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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.
Edited by x Sir G Omer x: 6/10/2013 12:09:29 AM
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A Guardian's Identity in Destiny

For a thread like this, I really wish I was more tech-savvy so I could put together a comprehensive visual to organize my thoughts. Unfortunately, though, I will have to continue with just my words and several links to pictures/art/etc. [i][b]TL;DR[/b] - To make players truly feel like legends -and therefore make Destiny a place that people will want to return to day after day- players must have purposeful/meaningful identifiers and customization that follow their Guardian.[/i] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [u]From the beginning[/u], Bungie has stated that they desire to give every single player a chance to make them self a legend, and that a big part of this mission was to give the player a unique identity in the universe. While games often strive to do this, it is rarely accomplished because either: [quote]A) the items that "set you apart" are too minuscule and are therefore not noticed[/quote][quote]B) there is a lack of difficult unique identifiers, leaving one final destination that all players eventually reach (eg. Inclement Weather in Reach).[/quote] [b]The following are ways that I believe will help Bungie succeed in the goal of making us all feel like legends:[/b] [i]Disclaimer: Most of these things are already being done by Bungie; these are not necessarily original ideas.[/i] 1. [b]Meaningful Social Identifiers[/b]: [spoiler]Over a year ago, Bungie started dropping visuals of that we quickly learned were factions within the game. Since that time, we have seen many additions to this list that are not necessarily limited to factions. At this point, we have confirmed symbols for: factions, enemy races, Guardian classes, guilds, gun manufacturers (okay, that one's not confirmed), and personal symbols (like in Halos). Much like real life, identifying yourself with a group of people or ideals is as simple as wearing a shirt, necklace or insignia. Many people also go to extremes like tattooing or branding their skin as a sign of dedication. In Destiny, I believe that Bungie will need to (they probably already are) create meaningful social identifiers that allow for infinite visual possibilities with my Guardian. [/spoiler]2. [b]True Armor Variation/Customization[/b] - [spoiler]This is one area that I feel has lacked in Bungie's history with the Halo games. I know there has been drastic improvement over the years, but I never truly "bought in" to armor customization (with the exception of Recon, which I will touch on next). I always thought: "I'm gonna look so BLAMin' awesome once I get this armor" until one day I realized that I NEVER looked at or noticed my opponent's armor. Occasionally I would glance over before a match started, but all that really mattered at the end of the day was Red or Blue. For Guardians to feel truly unique in this new universe, armor variation/customization must be OFF THE CHARTS. Creating a few things here or there that [i]technically[/i] give hundreds of thousands of possibilities is not what I'm talking about either. Guardians in Destiny need the chance to say they are literally one-of-a-kind in a sea of thousands. I cannot begin to understand how they will pull this off, but from what I have seen so far, they are well on their way.[/spoiler]3. [b]Prominent & Impressive Consequences[/b] - [spoiler]This last point is more of an overarching theme for all visual identifiers, but I wanted to set it apart because of it's importance. As games become more social, it becomes drastically more important for identifiers to have real meaning. Throughout the Halo's, we saw many identifiers, but not all of them were necessarily meaningful: In Halo: Reach, if you saw someone with Inclement Weather, it simply meant they played A LOT of Halo. Or maybe someone had a flaming helmet, so you knew they downloaded the Bungie app or purchased the legendary addition of Reach. In Halo 3, if someone had Recon, you knew they were patient and skilled enough to dominate the campaign ViDoc challenges with some buddies. In Halo 2, the rank system seemed to be a key indicator of skill, but it didn't really follow that soldier onto the battlefield. It became quite easy to lose track of who was who when you were actually in the fight. It almost seems like Bungie was testing out these identifiers separately over the last 10 years. However, for Destiny to truly create legends, I believe one look at a character should show me all of these things. We need events/achievements/stats to immediately reflect upon our character in a way that gives people a true and full representation of how we play this game.[/spoiler] [b]Let me paint a picture of meeting a true legend in Destiny:[/b] [spoiler][i]Dust spits about everywhere and I back up slowly to give room for the magnificent craft landing mere feet in front of me. This ship is nearly four times the size of my own, and you can tell that it's seen its share of warfare. As the dust settles, I notice 15-20 battle insignia's under the cockpit window, three of them look familiar; I fought hard in those battles as well. The blood-red Cabal Skull brings goosebumps as I remember how heated and intense the battle was and how close we were to failing our mission and foregoing this prize for good. My thoughts are interrupted by the opening of the cargo bay hatch. In perfect unison, the Seven Seraphs BloodLust guild walks out with guns slung over their shoulders, moving with purpose to the Tower Shop where I imagine they will be trading in substantial loot from their last raid. At the rear of the group is the guild leader, signified by his stature, but also by his BloodLust founder cape and Seven Seraphs Sargent chest piece. I also quickly realize that this Guardian is quite proficient on the battle field, for he hosts a trail of black particles dissipating feet behind him, marking him as a Warlock who holds total MP k/d spread of 2.0 or more. What I'm experiencing is not rage towards a player who simply has more time than me, but respect for a player who has invested deeply into this universe we share, and who has kicked some ass along the way. As he leaves my sight, I take one last look at his battled war horse and decide quickly that it is time once again to leave the safety of the Traveler and venture out to earn the legendary status that awaits me.[/i][/spoiler] So what do you think? Do you think we will have the chance to become legends in this new universe? What are some ideas you have that would make YOU feel unique and awesome as you interact with people all over the world? [u]Don't forget to [b]LIKE[/b] the thread so we can bring more people in on the conversation![/u]

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  • great read. loved it.

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    • Trust in Bungie. After Halo: Reach I "Know" they can do this right.

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      • Very good article OP. I completely agree with what you're saying and have raised a good question. How are we going to become legends in a sea of thousands, if not millions? I don't pretend to be the best player on the planet, far from it, but I know I'm above decent. But is it enough for me to stand out? I hope to find out when the game come out. question? which faction will to join? I like the Dead Orbit personally.

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        • Edited by Sammoth: 6/9/2013 8:42:19 PM
          Aaaahhh snap, i just got goose bumps from reading this.

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          • That short story is great OP, really gave a visual of what you meant by customization and standing out in the crowd. That mental image of the guild walking from their ship is impressive. I hope that Bungie puts forth it's best effort to make us each feel unique for what we've done in game.

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            • I think you NAILED IT :-)

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              • Damn, great post. I hope bungie stumbles on to this one because they need to see this stuff. Or atleast lets go get OP a job at bungie

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                • Allow me to make my own weapons/ammo and armor, personally If I decide to buy I don't want to even remotely look like any other character. When it comes to weapons you could use something similar to dead space 3 weapons customization.

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                • You never cease to amaze Father Franklin. Great thread once again.

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                  • A level of pure detail and immersion like that would be beyond spectacular. I actually believe, and hope, there will be something like that in Destiny, the whole character effects thing and the cape sound very much like a possibility. A way to make clans and the like more personal would be custom emblem editors, but the problem there is that you'll get some idiot kids making Marijuana leafs and penises all over capes and armor.

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                    • I would like to announce a new faction called the lambada rescistence it will be a player run democratic cult whose goal to create multi racial, multi play style, we all help each other and leader will be elcted via polls on bungie forums

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                      • This thread is A+ 100% Five Stars of Awesome. Might I point out my FAVORITE part of the entire bit though? [quote]I also quickly realize that this Guardian is quite proficient on the battle field, for he also hosts a trail of black particles dissipating feet behind him, marking him as a Warlock who holds total MP k/d spread of 2.0 or more. [/quote] The idea that such a tiny yet extremely noticeable detail would come as a reward from something like having a positive K/D (or anything else, really) is awesome. It's not something that most people would really think of. I always thought the weird helmet effects in Reach were overboard sometimes, but something like that in Destiny fits perfectly, especially with a Warlock. I can only imagine that if they did do something like this, they would likely have different forms of the same thing for the Hunter and Titan. Perhaps (optionally) the Hunter can choose for his cloak to by dingy and tattered if he has such a good K/D. Maybe the Titan gets the option to have a dense amount of armor scarring. Who knows? Regardless, that one sentence was spectacularly visual and pretty well sold your thread to me. Good read.

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                      • this like this would be a great step to making this very unique. you pose a great argument and I agree with you. So far bungie has proven my trust in them right and I cant wait to have it proven more tomorrow

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                        • This is exactly what I wish to see in Destiny, EXACTLY, eveyr word, every sentence. I want to be able to make my own character unique. I want everything to bring individuality to my character because you are absolutely right in saying that in Halo, I dont look at my opponents or allies armor except for the color. I want to look at someone and tell who it is by their armor and if not exactly who then where they are from. Such a think may be impossible with the sheer number of players but I can hope.

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                          • One of the few threads I LIKE.-slowly claps as tears run down my eyes-

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                            • I cannot wait to see this in action and like you I am hoping that I will have a formidable ally to keep me wanting to get stronger and stronger to be a legend too. Also for me to be a legend for something starting of and challenging them along the way. I cannot wait to see who of us will be the first legendary status Guardian.

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                              • I completely agree. We should be able to customize a tattoo and place it on our character as a sign that he is part of the So & So clan/faction/ect.

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                                • Customisation is a huge factor in most games now-a-days. But it is practically impossible to have so much customisation that everyone can be different, they can come pretty BLAMing close though. However, with that said, Bungie also stated a while back that they have created more concept art for Destiny than all of their Halos combined, so who's to say there isn't endless customisation. We will have to wait and see. Bring on E3 !!

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                                  • I don't know why, but this thread title made me think of Identification, such as an in game ID Card, for your Guardian. Then that got me thinking about how you could introduce yourself to other players and become in-game contacts and/or friends with them. Phantasy Star Online had players exchange "Guild Cards" in order to introduce themselves and become friends. I was thinking that maybe Guardians could have something similar, like a device similar to a badge that could dispense/display a holographic card showing your Guardian's face, name and stats, etc. These "cards" could be exchanged/uploaded to other players to help them compile an in game "friend's list" and maybe there could be different styles of "Badges" for the different Factions. Just some random idea I got from reading the title, sorry for the rant, not intending to threadjack or anything.

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                                    • ***Slow clap that begins to grow into a roar of agreement***

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                                    • I have faith in Bungie, it already sounds like the perfect game. Must sleep til tomorrow night. See you guys afterwards.

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                                    • SOOO AWESOME. Really good ideas and analogies, these factors really should be a part of Destiny. These types of modifications will undoubtably be phenomenal to the overall experience, as earning specific mods for specific achievements will keep everyone invested in their OWN character.

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                                    • I concur. I have faith in Destiny. Well-placed faith.

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                                    • [quote]From the beginning, Bungie has stated that they desire to give every single player a chance to make them self a legend, and that a big part of this mission was to give the player a unique identity in the universe. While games often strive to do this, it is rarely accomplished[/quote] This isn't a game. Its a game made by Bungie. End o story. Loll

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                                    • You're really good at making threads. Nice job.

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                                      • The last part titled "let me paint a picture of a true legend in Destiny" got me quite pumped even more for this game. I have some friends who are skeptics of this game. They say they won't know till they play it. I told them that they should have some faith. It is after all a Bungie game, and everyone knows that Bungie only produces the best products. E3 is going to be such a joy this year with Bungie presenting something for the world to enjoy once more.

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