Community Focus: The 100

Apr 20, 2015 - DeeJ

When you step into the world of Destiny, you need a fellow Guardian to watch your back.

When that Fallen Captain is closing in for the kill, is there someone at the ready to deal some Arc damage that will save your life? If the answer is “No,” you might want to join a Clan. Of course, not everyone has the patience and time to court a group of people for an invitation. Thankfully, the community has creative solutions for just about every challenge that confronts a Guardian.

For instance, check out this brand of social alchemy…

Who are you? To which Faction are you loyal?

100: My name is Mike LaPeter. I'm the creator of www.the100.io. You can find me online here or usually lurking in the Destiny subreddit during the day, which I'm a huge fan of. I pledge loyalty to no faction, but living in Portland, if I did I'd have to go with the hipster style of Dead Orbit.

Good choice. Personally, I was into Dead Orbit before it was cool. But let’s talk more about you. How do you serve the Destiny community?

100: We basically provide auto-generated clans for Destiny players. You enter your details like your age, your time zone, whether you're a casual or serious player, etc. We then automatically match you with a group of 100 similar players. What's cool about that is you end up with a group of people to play with and it’s easy to find things in common. Most members are incredibly understanding about life challenges like kids/spouses/jobs, which are a lot tougher to navigate than any Raid! People also love that they have the ability to schedule games in advance, so you can look forward to that Saturday Raid all week and know that you have a solid Fireteam locked down.

How has this flash-mob style of Clan recruitment worked out? Got any success stories from your community?

100: We match you with people similar to yourself in real life, with the same play style and same age. Instead of a one-off game with strangers, you keep playing with the same people and really get to know them. I think there's no better way to experience great content like the Raids than with a group of friends, and that's what you get when you combine Destiny with The 100. I've even gotten an email of thanks from a Bungie developer who uses the site himself! He's keeping his identity secret though.

We’re launching an official investigation to expose them! Not really. Many people on our team use the helpful resources that the community provides. Who are some of the people on your team?

100: Huge thanks to matthewdubya and so many other redditors for supporting the site and helping it grow! The 100 is all about people, and we've been lucky to start with some of the friendliest and fun people on the internet. There's too many awesome groups to list but a few are Echo Company 184, Charlie Company 651, and Echo Company 754. Don't worry if those groups are full, when you sign up at www.the100.io you'll get auto-matched into the perfect group for you.

Over the past couple months people have really gotten to know each other; one group was even half serious about setting up a real life meetup!

It’s always fun to hang out with friends, no matter how they met. What’s your favorite way to meet up in the game?

100: I freakin' love Vault of Glass. I love the level of immersion and detail in the level and huge range of experiences; it's almost like being in a movie. What I really love, though, is the cooperative aspect of it, and how great all the people I've played with have been. Higher leveled people are totally willing to help out beginners and there's just an incredible sense of camaraderie about the whole thing. I've always found playing games with other people so much more fun than single player stuff. That's the reason I bought Destiny in the first place. I think with Vault of Glass and the game in general, you guys have created the best cooperative gaming experience I've ever played.

But it can get better. Right? We always think so. What do you think?

100: I think you guys have totally nailed the fighting mechanics and gunplay and just the feel of everything. I love Destiny's cooperative stuff so much I built a website for it, so it's probably no surprise to say I'd love to see more Raids. Even being a programmer, it's hard for me to imagine how much work it must take to make such a complex experience like a Raid, and I just want to say thanks to all the people making those. I'm really looking forward to what's coming down the line in terms of Raids and new endgame experiences.

What do you want to know most about the House of Wolves?

100: I'm really interested in learning more about The Prison of Elders. I love fighting hordes of things in waves, so this sounds right up my alley. I think the competitive aspect will be really cool. I'm really curious how it will work. Will it be endless waves of enemies or will there be a way to beat it? How insanely hard will the later waves be? And of course, how does the loot work? Because that's why we're all here, right?

There’s no one answer for why people play Destiny, but loot seems to be high on the list. Spending time with friends is another, so it’s nice to see you leading people toward that experience.

If you need friends to play Destiny with, there are literally 100 people who are waiting to make your acquaintance. You have nothing to lose, and only teammates to gain.