VERDICT REACHED (But feel free to share your opinion still) After reviewing everybody's answers it looks like: The light RPG elements in Destiny do not, in any way, scare off people who rarely play games. (Post verdict: I was not complaining about the game, neither in the sense that I couldn't understand the game (quite a gamer since 5 years) nor was this a secret attempt to whine about game chat. It was simply a question: does Destiny scare away casuals with it's mechanics or nah?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I realize they want as many people as possible to play, but it seems like there's a few things that gear this game towards an audience that will get deeper into to the game than halo. First object on the list of rejection of casuals *ahem*: The leveling up system an advantage to players who actually study stats and understand what's going on. It's not just "whoah I found an awesome gun, bro!" It's "Whoah I found an awesome gun, bro! Now I need to level it up and choose the best perks to enhance this weapon! I wonder what they are?" Second object on the list of whatever I called it *cough cough*: The procuring of armaments. You don't just level up and get new guns like in popular shooters (obviously this is an FPS RPG but there are so many people comparing it to call of duty and halo..and titan fall for that matter. It's a different type of game, people!) So you actually have to peruse the different ways to get your weapons and which ways give you the best results, which requires more thought, scaring away casuals who just want to PEW PEW! (Which bungie might want a more hardcore audience, I can't read minds) Third and final item on the list of birthday cake oreos *munch munch*: The most controversial aspect of destiny (unless they change it): no talking to randoms. While at first this might seem like an over sight, WHAT IF bungie did this on purpose so those little secrets like "this gun is a two shot kill!" Or "hey I know a secret area" wouldn't get spoiled for newbies? You know you hated it when your buddy who had call of duty ghosts told you what the best gun was, or that random in halo 3 who spoiled the campaign secrets while playing mutiplayer. Maybe bungie is trying to keep casuals away from the secrets so pros can feel like they're special? Anyways, main point (edited): Destiny is a game, in my opinion that will be a turn-off for players that don't want to dig deep into the game to be become legend, and just want to grab a preset gun and shoot. Agree? Disagree? Tell me. Do you think Destiny is for a hard core or casual audience? Edit: well since nobody understands what I meant by "casual" and "hardcore" apparently, I'll explain. My def. of Casual: Someone who plays only mainstream games and is basically a beginner at, well, everything. I do not mean someone who plays for fun, but has played quite a lot, which seems like the accepted definition. I'm talking about someone that's knowledge of halo is limited to the name of Master Chief XD Def. of "hardcore": Basically all you need to know is that "hardcore" in my case does NOT mean competitive XD It doesn't matter if you're playing PvP or offline by yourself. I don't mean someone who follows mlg or anything like that. "hardcore" for me is just someone who spends plenty of time on games, even if they aren't competitive at all. Edit 2: Hey guys, if you read this thinking I was using "casuals" as a derogatory term, go back and read it again knowing that I DON'T HATE CASUALS. I was merely using the term to refer to a group of gamers who don't play games very often and I was in no way trying to make them sound stupid. Okay? (: