I have been playing nothing but Death Stranding since release. Until today that is. I logged into Destiny to work on Undying title. I want to point out major differences in the two experiences. Yes, I know the games are very different, please hear me out. 1. This is pure speculation, but D.S. feels like it spent half of its life in development, and the other half in playtesting and polishing. I do understand the difference between a live game and a stand-alone release. The point, however, is that basically every aspect of D.S. feels good. In Destiny, the majority of character control and gunplay feels good as well, but much else about it feels terrible. Limited situational awareness because of small FOV on console is super frustrating. The current Crucible experience is painful. And Gambit, oh Gambit. I'm going to move along and then try to tie this all together. 2. Playing D.S., at least for now while it's new and fresh, is FUN. I want to go back in and play more. Logged in to Destiny and went into Gambit Prime for title. Right away, I find myself frustrated and angry. Playing a game mode I do not like, trying to make progress on pusuits I don't care about, basically spending time of my life doing things I don't want to do just to get a title. Whatever population D.S. has and will have in the future will be people playing because it's compelling. Destiny feels good to control, but the actual experience, chasing the carrot and doing things Bungie "forces" you to do is horrible. I have a large amount of time spent on this series, and if you take away time spent on annoying, frustrating grinds, my time logged would be a fraction of what it is, or at the very least would be spent in activities I actually ENJOY. 3. Servers, Eververse, nerfs and buffs. I am NOT qualified to talk about what does and does not work for a game like Destiny where servers are concerned. I AM qualified to speak about the experience. It is terrible. Laggy Crucible, and like others have pointed out, laggy PvE. When you factor in how the Bright Dust economy has been destroyed, and the large prices charged in Eververse, I personally think the server situation should be improved with funds from Eververse. Zero Hour or not, it's the only way I can justify Tess's existence. As for buffs and nerfs, while they are necessary in this type of game, as many have said, Bungie always goes too far in the opposite direction, and often destroys things that could have been left alone factoring changes that came later. (Ex. Luna's Howl and Not Forgotten would probably not be an issue after the hand cannon nerf in Shadowkeep if they had never been changed.) There is plenty more I want to say, but this is already getting longer than Luke Smith's directors cut. To tie it all together, again I am speculating here, but I can see no reason for the annoying, long grinds in Destiny other than to inflate player counts. Trophies I go for in Death Stranding I do because they are FUN or CHALLENGING. Most things in Destiny are a boring, time-consuming, frustrating grind. Aside from boosting player counts, I also think this is to get more mileage from less content. I would say 70-80 percent of the time spent logged into Destiny is to "accomplish" goals. Titles, checklists, etc. Very little is spent doing things I consider fun or enjoyable. Maybe I approach the game wrong, but being a completionist, I don't see how else to approach it. To conclude, people will naturally play the game if it is a fun, rewarding experience. Destiny CAN be that, but generally is painful to play, and what keeps me doing it more than anything is the investment I have already put in, not the smiles and laughs that I get out of it. Bungie, please stop being abusive to us. This game requires a rediculous amount of time to accomplish things that, when it comes down to it, don't ask you to do very many different things. It's HOW MUCH of those things that is the problem. And "forcing" people to do activities they might hate to get a reward they want is not a good practice. Many people like Gambit, but I would be very happy knowing I never had to play another match. I think I speak for everyone when I say that humans would rather spend time doing what they WANT to do rather than what they feel they HAVE to do. Thanks for your time.