Well worded and reasoned response. I agree with the sentiment that bombarding DeeJ with questions/complaints (some good, some simply insulting) and then expecting him or anyone else at Bungie to respond is a foolhardy expectation to have and many can see where DeeJ is coming from and the role he has here.
However, to your first point, the "volume of feedback" is indicative of people's disappointment and why it keeps mounting on. I mean you must see that instead of spending time playing the game and finding enjoyment in it like Bungie's past games due to modes like Forge, custom games, theater mode, firefight, etc they're coming here to vent over the severe lack of content or problems with what little content exists. So while I think most people are smart enough to understand that every post (nor most posts) can't get a response and won't get one that doesn't excuse the source of the problem being the game. I have been playing Bungie games for a long time and I can tell you never have I seen this amount of dissatisfied people all saying the same things. I mean sure, Halo 2 had it's campaign complaints (the ending that just ended) or Reach's varied complaints but the focus was more on the community around Halo, not how the games screwed up. The community just has very little else to do other than come here and complain.
To your second point, where I can see where you are coming from and is a likely reason for DeeJ's vague statements, in my opinion, and many other people's opinion apparently, is that is not the right thing to do in this case. While it is true saying something specific and having that thing not happen could end up a worse result than simply not saying the specific thing, the end result though is a slowly building tension and frustration that keeps mounting until eventually someone at Bungie says some foot in mouth thing that makes everything come back front and center and ends up making things far worse.
I think if information can be laid out in a clear and candid way most people would be fine with specifics and if mistakes happen along the way leading to changes to those specifics [b]tell the truth[/b]. That's all that people want. I think most people understand things happen and not everything can go the way we want it to, but having vague assurances without facts just puts everyone in a perpetual state of "on edge", not knowing whether or not extremely needed improvements will be made, or when. There are a lot of games coming out between the time Destiny came out and December when the first DLC is supposed to launch and people just want to know if there is any point to play Destiny over any other game.
The developer's hotfix updates are good in that they address specifics, but they're often done after the patch is pushed instead of before and while occasionally information from such updates is gleaned from DeeJ in weekly updates there still is just far too little communication about what Destiny players can expect. Please don't misinterpret the volume of feedback as "haters just hating". We want this game to succeed and we're commenting on this forum because we like this company and want it to succeed.
Your third point is rather overly defensive and also rings a little empty. We get Bungie are still actively working on the game, as are most developers for any game they plan to support post release. However, we also are aware of Activision's contract with this franchise and that only so much time will be given to Destiny before dev time needs to be spent on Destiny 2 and that is where people's concern lies. We appreciate the patches and sort of appreciate the events, despite their poor execution and marketing, and we will keep our eyes peeled for whatever awaits on in the future but again, Bungie brought all of this on themselves and it won't stop until either the gameplay experience is far more satisfying than it currently is or until Bungie straight up cuts off communication (which won't happen).
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Thanks for the response -- great post. [quote]However, to your first point, the "volume of feedback" is indicative of people's disappointment and why it keeps mounting on. I mean you must see that instead of spending time playing the game and finding enjoyment in it like Bungie's past games due to modes like Forge, custom games, theater mode, firefight, etc they're coming here to vent over the severe lack of content or problems with what little content exists. [/quote]I do see your point, and I really wasn't trying to say anything otherwise -- sorry if I implied that. My first point was really meant to address complaints that "DeeJ never responds to criticism" and similar posts that are peppered throughout this thread and this forum. [quote]To your second point, where I can see where you are coming from and is a likely reason for DeeJ's vague statements, in my opinion, and many other people's opinion apparently, is that is not the right thing to do in this case. While it is true saying something specific and having that thing not happen could end up a worse result than simply not saying the specific thing, the end result though is a slowly building tension and frustration that keeps mounting until eventually someone at Bungie says some foot in mouth thing that makes everything come back front and center and ends up making things far worse.[/quote]You make a good point. I think that the arguments are good both ways, and to be quite honest, the "most ideal" method of communicating is probably is a mix of the two. [quote]Your third point is rather overly defensive and also rings a little empty. We get Bungie are still actively working on the game, as are most developers for any game they plan to support post release. However, we also are aware of Activision's contract with this franchise and that only so much time will be given to Destiny before dev time needs to be spent on Destiny 2 and that is where people's concern lies. [/quote]I have definitely seen people express the concern you noted (re only so much time being given to Destiny before Destiny 2 ramps up). But I have also seen numerous posts saying things along the lines of "Bungie has our money, now they only care about getting more of it." Or whatever. My point was mean to refute that notion, in particular, and to just give people the same reminder that you did in your post -- we want the game to succeed, and so does Bungie. Accusing them of money-grubbing and post-launch apathy is not productive or helpful. Thanks again for the thoughtful post.