General Gaming Official Destiny 2 Thread - Blad's Best Friend Club, update: significant layoffs hit Bungie, including composer Michael Salvatori

[AlwaysDyingX]

7 hours ago, Brick said:

Destiny 2 (@destinythegame) • Instagram photo

WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM

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27K Likes, 393 Comments - Destiny 2 (@destinythegame) on Instagram: "The Witch Queen expansion, its unforgettable campaign, and all 14 powerful Exotics are now available for free until February 26...

 

 

The Witch Queen expansion is free until Monday, and I highly recommend it as the campaign was the best they've ever done. Honestly better than The Taken King and Forsaken, and those were already really good. 

 

 

 

Your still always welcome to clan up with me and Strife. We grouped up with some solid people. Or just play. Hopefully we will catch up in lightfall!

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

8 hours ago, Brick said:

The Witch Queen expansion is free until Monday, and I highly recommend it as the campaign was the best they've ever done. Honestly better than The Taken King and Forsaken, and those were already really good. 

definitely good for anyone already invested in the lore. Story wise anyways. I don’t know how much a person would enjoy it that may be new if they hadn’t played the previous and still available campaigns. 
 

gameplay wise it’s good, only because you can opt into the legendary difficulty. Honestly as far as story and tone I think the Red War campaign is still the best. Bungie probably can’t top it either unless they release an entirely new game vs just an expansion.  

[AlwaysDyingX]

2 hours ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

definitely good for anyone already invested in the lore. Story wise anyways. I don’t know how much a person would enjoy it that may be new if they hadn’t played the previous and still available campaigns. 
 

gameplay wise it’s good, only because you can opt into the legendary difficulty. Honestly as far as story and tone I think the Red War campaign is still the best. Bungie probably can’t top it either unless they release an entirely new game vs just an expansion.  

 

I think shadowkeep and witch queen were infinitely better than Red War. 

[Brick]

6 hours ago, BasemntDweller2 said:

 

Your still always welcome to clan up with me and Strife. We grouped up with some solid people. Or just play. Hopefully we will catch up in lightfall!

 

Your new clan is Moon's Haunted, right? I saw I had an invite to it, but I didn't realize it was your guys' new clan before the invite expired. Send me another invite, and a Discord link to their server (since I'm sure they have one), and I'll join. 

[AlwaysDyingX]

1 hour ago, Brick said:

 

Your new clan is Moon's Haunted, right? I saw I had an invite to it, but I didn't realize it was your guys' new clan before the invite expired. Send me another invite, and a Discord link to their server (since I'm sure they have one), and I'll join. 

 

 

Im AlwaysDying btw on Discord and steam. I'll get the invites to you 

 

Sent discord. Its called the Cave. 

[SoberChef]

Until the 26th, Witch Queen is free, pretty spectacular!

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

On 2/24/2023 at 11:37 AM, BasemntDweller2 said:

 

I think shadowkeep and witch queen were infinitely better than Red War. 

I mean the Red War is stacked. An adventure that took us to the EDZ, Titan, Io, Nessus, the farm, and fighting through the Almighty to save all of SOL. Meeting a cast of new characters. I still really liked the beginning siege on the Tower and having to ‘escape’ the last city. Then fighting our way through the city to get to Gaul. It had a good sense of character progression too, with getting one light power back through almost like a trial that felt steeped with lore as our vanguard told us what it meant to embody each power for out class. 
 

The Red War was a much longer campaign too, but it was also quite easy by comparison to Witch Queen. I’d say the two things WQ has that’s an edge of Red War is difficulty/challenge and Savathun is a more interesting antagonist than Gaul. 

[SoberChef]

So my sis in law got around to gifting us our holiday items, which included a $50 Gamestop card which I parlayed into an Xbox credit and it ended up costing me $50 for another years' worth of Destiny content. Here we go again...

[Brick]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:00 AM, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

I mean the Red War is stacked. An adventure that took us to the EDZ, Titan, Io, Nessus, the farm, and fighting through the Almighty to save all of SOL. Meeting a cast of new characters. I still really liked the beginning siege on the Tower and having to ‘escape’ the last city. Then fighting our way through the city to get to Gaul. It had a good sense of character progression too, with getting one light power back through almost like a trial that felt steeped with lore as our vanguard told us what it meant to embody each power for out class. 
 

The Red War was a much longer campaign too, but it was also quite easy by comparison to Witch Queen. I’d say the two things WQ has that’s an edge of Red War is difficulty/challenge and Savathun is a more interesting antagonist than Gaul. 

 

All good points, although going to so many locations is a benefit of it being a campaign to a brand new game instead of just an expansion, so they needed multiple new locations. If we ever do get a Destiny 3 I'd love to see what they come up with for the launch campaign given what they've learned the past few years, and if they ever bring the Red War back I'd love to see them update it with a Legendary campaign. They did harder versions of some of the missions during the first Solstice/Moments of Triumph in 2018 right before Forsaken, and that was still the best Solstice event. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

10 minutes ago, Brick said:

 

All good points, although going to so many locations is a benefit of it being a campaign to a brand new game instead of just an expansion, so they needed multiple new locations. If we ever do get a Destiny 3 I'd love to see what they come up with for the launch campaign given what they've learned the past few years, and if they ever bring the Red War back I'd love to see them update it with a Legendary campaign. They did harder versions of some of the missions during the first Solstice/Moments of Triumph in 2018 right before Forsaken, and that was still the best Solstice event. 

yeah that’s why I originally said I don’t know if the Red War can be topped without releasing a whole new game vs just an expansion. Red War just had so much going on for it. More would probably remember it more fondly than they do if it hadn’t been for double primary meta, it was too easy to just run through, and no end game to speak of. 
 

also it’s been like 6 and half years since it came out. lol I’m sure even I’ve forgotten some of its other finer points. 

[AlwaysDyingX]

For xbox players you might want to read this thread:

 

Follow the steps

[Brick]

19 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

yeah that’s why I originally said I don’t know if the Red War can be topped without releasing a whole new game vs just an expansion. Red War just had so much going on for it. More would probably remember it more fondly than they do if it hadn’t been for double primary meta, it was too easy to just run through, and no end game to speak of. 
 

also it’s been like 6 and half years since it came out. lol I’m sure even I’ve forgotten some of its other finer points. 

 

The Ghaul fight was just way too easy too, which is a shame since I thought he was a compelling antagonist. The fact that the arena had pools of Light to recharge all your abilities, including your Super, made it a cakewalk. 

 

If they do a Destiny 3, Xivu Arath would make for a good villain. Have her invade the system, and fight back against her war campaign across different planets, with a Hive War Moon being one of the final destinations, and then the Raid can take place in her Throne World. 

[CitizenVectron]

Is this game still fun to just get into for casual exploration/gunplay? I played it on release for a bit and remember the core gameplay loop being pretty fun, but I am not serious about end-game or playing with others, etc.

[AlwaysDyingX]

6 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Is this game still fun to just get into for casual exploration/gunplay? 

 

 

Absolutely! Best gunplay hands down still but they do a bad job of reintroducing the game to returning players. Maybe that changes today but doubt it 

[JPDunks4]

9 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Is this game still fun to just get into for casual exploration/gunplay? I played it on release for a bit and remember the core gameplay loop being pretty fun, but I am not serious about end-game or playing with others, etc.

 

It's still very good, just very hard to get into if you've been gone for awhile.  Hard to figure out what to do, where to go ect.

[JPDunks4]

18 minutes ago, BasemntDweller2 said:

For xbox players you might want to read this thread:

 

Follow the steps

 

How do I know if I can't sign in?  Its telling me server is offline, but not sure if I'm signed in.  Probably should just uninstall that shit anyway if it's not used.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

20 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

 

How do I know if I can't sign in?  Its telling me server is offline, but not sure if I'm signed in.  Probably should just uninstall that shit anyway if it's not used.

well you can’t sign in now because it’s not online again yet. They just already know you won’t be able to unless you do those things. 
 

the game has been offline for 24 hours, even though we could download the update yesterday. I assume they spent the day testing to try to catch or minimize these types of things before hundreds of thousands of people tried to sign on. 

[SoberChef]

So they had initially done this in The Witch Queen, wherein you choose your level of difficulty. Considering I hadn't really played since that last huge piece of content, fml am I rusty at this game. May end up going back & re-selecting the easier difficulty just so I can play through without sweating it.

[AlwaysDyingX]

6 hours ago, SoberChef said:

So they had initially done this in The Witch Queen, wherein you choose your level of difficulty. Considering I hadn't really played since that last huge piece of content, fml am I rusty at this game. May end up going back & re-selecting the easier difficulty just so I can play through without sweating it.

 

Im loving the master difficulty but if you don't do builds or min/maxing I could see it being tough especially solo

[SoberChef]

Yeah they've brought about a fuck ton of changes, nearly all really solid & well thought out positive QoL changes, yet for someone being out of it for a year, I feel like I have to do my homework just in terms of how to play all of a sudden, or at the very least a refresher course.

[JPDunks4]

I got throught he campaign up to doing the Stirke.  Solid fun so far.  Decent challenge but not overbearing on Legendary.  I do have a decent build though from playing the last few seasons.  

[CitizenVectron]

I tried to get back into it yesterday, but couldn't. Gunplay is fine, but man the game is hard on the eyes. Way too much bloom, which of course can't be disabled. I also hate games that change the exposure based on where you are looking. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

I don’t know how far I am through the campaign yet, but it’s kind of “meh” so far. The city feels so lifeless and empty. It doesn’t feel like a war is happening. It doesn’t feel like there is an huge occupying force and the fighting is over. It feels like it was designed with the limitations of Halo 2’s New Mombasa level. 
 

Rohan and Nimbus aren’t doing anything. It’s like they barely care. Osiris’s blood pressure sounds through the roof every time you hear him. Nimbus is written like they’re an immature child. They’re basically Billy Batson, except I don’t think they’re trying to act like an adult. 
 

The way strand is being introduced it feels more like I’m just finding it laying around, like a crate of heavy ammo, rather than something I’m slowly learning how to detect and feel, and then even wield. It doesn’t help that many times they’ve had me using it the whole thing feels faaaaar less powerful than the build I was already using. 
 

I also hate that grapple uses grenade, since as a Warlock main grenades have always been a huge part of powerful builds. It also sounds like grapple goes down to having normal grenade cool down times after the campaign. So WTF bother? 
 

Boy they nerfed the hell out of build crafting with this Armor Charge mess. I think some of the mods are bugged too and not working. I can equip multiple copies of a mod to generate orbs that say it improves the effect but they neither create more orbs or create them with increased regularity. 

 

on top of the other stats and ability nerfs, this doesn’t feel anything nearly as good as it used to. I have to use more mods to commit to abilities and so I can’t use as much for ammo or improved weapon behaviors. 

[Brick]

I didn't watch because I want to go in as blind as possible, but they revealed the next expansion last week

 

 

Here's the full showcase, starts just shy of the 57 minute mark

 

 

 

[Remarkableriots]

@Brick That's coming out just in time for my birthday! 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

As part of today's round of layoffs at Bungie, it appears that composer Michael Salvatori has been let go.

 

Quote

Michael Salvatori's website no longer includes any descriptions of his work at Bungie. Now says: "GONE FISHIN'

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

On 8/31/2023 at 12:56 AM, Remarkableriots said:

@Brick That's coming out just in time for my birthday! 

 

It's been delayed to June 2024.

[Remarkableriots]

16 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

It's been delayed to June 2024.

Hopefully Final Fantasy VII Rebirth doesn't get delayed.

[jaethos]

Bungie really likes to lay off their composers.

[Keyser_Soze]

Gonna go with an AI composer and make some awesome tunes

[Remarkableriots]

Sony president wants Bungie to be better at ‘assuming accountability for development timelines’ | VGC

WWW.VIDEOGAMESCHRONICLE.COM

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Hiroki Totoki says there’s “room for improvement from a business perspective” at the Destiny…

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“I visited the Bungie studios and had meetings with [the] management,” he said, “and I saw that employees working at the studios were highly motivated, showing great creativity as well as an impressive knowledge of live services.

“However, I also felt that there was room for improvement from a business perspective with regard to areas such as the use of business expenses and assuming accountability for development timelines. I hope to continue the dialogue and come up with some good solutions.”

 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

34 minutes ago, Remarkableriots said:

Sony president wants Bungie to be better at ‘assuming accountability for development timelines’ | VGC

WWW.VIDEOGAMESCHRONICLE.COM

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Hiroki Totoki says there’s “room for improvement from a business perspective” at the Destiny…

 

so upper management is is doing dumb shit like flying across the country for something that could have been an email, taking “work”  lunches and dinners, all while failing to plan development work or changing a bunch of shit requiring more work, and then blaming everyone else or “uncontrollable” factors. 
 

[AbsolutSurgen]

I played a LOT of the original Destiny, but never got pulled in the same way with Destiny 2.  Sounds like I wasn't the only one.  I hope they can turn it around.

[Remarkableriots]

48 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

so upper management is is doing dumb shit like flying across the country for something that could have been an email, taking “work”  lunches and dinners, all while failing to plan development work or changing a bunch of shit requiring more work, and then blaming everyone else or “uncontrollable” factors. 
 

Hopefully, that changes when Sony takes over, which is very likely at this point.

[Brick]

Again I'm on a media blackout so I didn't watch, but from what I heard this was a very good showcase with a lot of great reveals. Seems Bungie was indeed holding some things close to their chest to save for later.

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday they also released their new horde mode gametype called Onslaught, and it's a lot of fun! They're also bringing back fan favourite exotic missions The Whisper, and Zero Hour, and at the end of the month they are adding Panatheon, which sounds like a Raid boss rush mode, so good for people who don't/can't raid to get some raid weapons, including raid exotics.