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Destiny Game Update and Community Insight

You know, I do one of these videos every year, most of the time, I feel like my feedback tends to be similar. This time, I'm simultaneously out of things to say and yet I have so many things to talk about. I'm not too sure how I'm feeling about Destiny, or even how to feel about it in general. Episodes seem to have taken their toll on the community, the game is certainly in a fatigued state right now, player counts feel like they are the lowest we've seen in a very long time, if not downright the lowest ever, things are not great.

What happened in 2024? We had the second half of Season of the Wish, which was above average in my eyes. We had Into the Light, one of the greatest updates the game has ever seen, with a new activity, fan favorite weapons returning and a raid gauntlet activity. We had Final Shape, which I think Bungie navigated pretty well.

Then came Episodes, which are meant to serve as a transitional period between the old story and the new. These episodes have not done much to get players interested in the game. Post-expansion fatigue has come in a more brutal than usual way, with most of what we've been getting safely classified as more Destiny, in a time where we desperately need a shakeup. A shakeup that is seemingly, maybe, coming to some degree. In the summer, armor is getting updated, weapons are getting different tiers, they're redesigning the flow of the game, they're doing a lot to try to bring us into the next stage, the next era of the game in a multitude of ways that we'll learn even more about in the coming months.

Which is why it really feels pointless to discuss basically anything that has happened since Final Shape. and why it'll feel pointless to discuss episode 3 at length, we know that the episode format is not sticking with us. This was just meant to be a thing to tide us over until the next story begins. It's the epilogue of the final shape. I think part of the issue is that having another year of wrapping up this story and tying up loose ends that most people probably don't care that much about is...

A very long time to have to wait for the new story if the gameplay experience isn't gonna shift that much, if at all. All of our story investment and our energy went towards The Witness and when that concluded, we were just kinda spent on that story. The other part of the issue is how little the game has really changed and how we continue to have the same kind of activities, the same kind of events.

And it all just gets purged at the end of an expansion cycle anyway. Episode 1 ended pretty unceremoniously. While episode 2 actually felt like it had its situation mostly resolved, or at the very least had a somewhat conclusive conclusion, episode 3 seems like it will be the episode that connects us to the next stage of the game based off of what Bungie has said and it's also where things are going to be at their strongest, potentially.

a plot line based on The Hive. We're going back to a well-loved location that we haven't been to in quite some time, we're maybe dealing with villain characters that people enjoy a bit more as opposed to Fikrul, who I never really considered any kind of a fan favorite. Sure, the relationship between Crow and Fikrul now is very different because Crow is an Uldren, but the events where Fikrul first showed up as THE main gameplay villain happened so long ago that some people might not even know who he really is because that content isn't in the game anymore, save for one mission.

It is not necessarily a plotline that I really cared that much about, nor a villain. villain that I particularly enjoyed, nor was I interested in really exploring it further. It also feels like Fikrul and Qrow barely interacted in the episode anyway, so at least with episode 3, we might be getting some plots and some characters and some interactions that we care about a bit more. Right now, episode 1, episode 2, just kinda feels like we're waiting. Yet, the game is still the same as it's ever been, same kind of seasonal content.

Couple of weapons worth getting for the min-maxers. Same kind of this, same kind of that. I can only do so many variants of the same activities so many times before I just tap out, I can only hit so many Synthesep proc'd consecrations, I can only squeeze out so many Bleakwatcher turrets, I can only combination blow so many punches and I can only come up with so many variations to these setups before I tap out. And I've definitely been tapping out a lot more than I ever have.

I don't think what we've gotten is actively bad or anything, but it's beige, it's unassuming, it doesn't break from expectation, it is safe, familiar, predictable. It's possible that Bungie cannot afford to take gambles at this time, despite them needing to take more gambles and actually win. on them, which is what it feels like they're doing in the summer.

Why it's so predictable, so samey, I'm not too sure. Maybe it's wanting the game to be same same, but different, but still same. Perhaps the disposable nature is part of the reason, the game is purged of a large swath of content every year. If something is only going to be in the game for a handful of months, how much time do you really want to invest into it?

The game doesn't change anywhere else, Nessus getting morphed permanently would've been cool, even just the one section, that didn't happen. Still got the same damn planets with the same damn missions. For how much stuff cycles in and out, you can't really tell.

You would think there would be more of an impact or something, but it's just the same. That's not to say that Bungie hasn't done some good, Vesper's Host was a fantastic dungeon, probably the best thing to come out of episodes so far, although it's not actually included in the episode directly, which is a whole other problem. Episode 1 and 2 exotic missions were ok, that's not really going to sustain people.

They've put out some decent new weapons and exotics and all that as well. And it's not like the other parts of the game. that tend to be good aren't good, but rather they aren't pushing people to play more.

Things just feel like they're on a loop. The state of the game since Final Shape I think has been a low point also due to the proliferation of bugs and issues in the game that have come since the layoffs. It is blatantly clear that QA on the game is at an all time low.

We did have issues with Season of the Deep, but that was a different kind of instability for the game. It feels like Bungie is having to fix things way more than usual. I have almost no confidence in being able to just read something in game at face value and assume that it works the way I'm reading it and if I have no confidence, imagine other people who are trying to play the game. Now I acknowledge that Bungie is doing their best to fix these problems, but I'm not sure But, as I've said before, it is not the responsibility of the consumer to feel sympathy for the plight of game development. People paid for a thing, they want the thing to work as well as it can work.

And then you have some stuff that needs to be fixed because it was just not implemented well, the most recent example, the new exotic mission giving ONE of a currency you need quite a lot of to get all of your tonics from episode 2 completed. Yeah, they fixed it pretty quickly, but why was it going out the door like that to begin with? Someone had to have thought of how many of this currency should've been rewarded upon completion, right?

It's such a small thing and yet it keeps happening. Wow. How can we expect more from Bungie if these kinds of issues continue to plague the experience?

How can there be any confidence? Bungie is at the mercy of the community right now, needing to do everything they possibly can to make them as happy as possible, lest they update a game without an active player base. I was a big advocate of dialing back crafted weapons so that I would actually interact with the game and go back to doing what we used to do.

do, grind some weapons. While I'm still an advocate, the community response on this issue has been so overwhelming that I think it is impossible for Bungie to do another episode of No Crafted Episodic Weapons. That is no longer a door that Bungie can close, you might as well take it off the hinges at this point.

I can argue all the points I want to argue, it literally does not matter anymore, just bring back the crafted seasonals, episodics, whatever, and at least get Bungie to do another get one positive interaction with the community. At the same time, I am exhausted by this community, especially during November and December, the hyperbolic reddit posts day after day, the hyperbolic reddit posts day after day, the hyperbolic commentary, the theatrics, the drama, I have never wanted to engage less with the community as I do at this very moment. Does anyone else Bungie bad?

Upvotes to the left. Yeah, man, I hear you, you want the seasonal crafted weapons back. No, I don't think Bungie is doing whatever they're doing to torture you.

I'm sorry you're experiencing FOMO out of some mediocre weapons. that you would never craft anyway, I truly am, because to me, it's not that deep. Bungie tried something at a not great time, it didn't work.

Yeah. Tonics didn't work either. No, Joe Blackburn's legacy isn't being destroyed and how lame of you to place all of the things the franchise did get right in the hands of a single person as if he was standing up to every other developer and designer.

Every time I see one of these posts, I just want to find more ways to distance myself. I'm embarrassed to have been a part of it over the past 3-4 months. Don't hold me.

Maybe it would have been more combative, I would have maybe taken some of the points I've seen, formed counter arguments and tried to establish some kind of back and forth in some videos. Nowadays, I pretend I need to use the bathroom and I leave the party instead. These posts.

These sentiments, this hyperbole is exhausting. I think it's fine to voice some frustration about the game, it's better than not caring at all, but some of this is just next level eye roll inducing stuff and it's not like I disagree with everything being said, I actually agree with a lot of things, but I think I get better conversation from the Destiny Circle Jerks subreddit and I don't know what the hell they're saying half the time. I have definitely not played as much Destiny as I used to in general.

At the time of writing, I have a small handful of triumphs to do to get the rest of the titles that I don't have and that's about it. I have no Trials or PvP related ambitions, most of those have been placed in other games. Deadlock. Marvel Rivals, to name some recent things, I have ventured out into roguelikes, hell, if Destiny Rising was actually developed for PC, who the hell knows what my 2025 would look like, although I don't think we have a release date for that.

It has been very difficult, most of all, to stay positive and stay upbeat about the franchise, about my own career, about my own well-being, especially when more negative-driven content tends to do way better. Let's face it. People want to hear about how bad Destiny is right now way more than they want to hear about anything else about the game.

Usually I try to enjoy the times where we get new things added to the game, even if I know they're not going to be the most thrilling and I try to be entertaining and upbeat. But now, not even new content day can bring up my mood anymore, in fact, it brings me down. It makes me sad.

I can't even enjoy the content. because I gotta race with other creators to put out 6 videos on the same day on whatever the hell drops, so I can't even sit there and enjoy the content. On top of feeling like I should feel ashamed for even attempting to enjoy the new thing, regardless of what it is, because game bad. The Destiny 3 discourse is back, the Destiny 1 remaster discourse is back, I'm not anti-Destiny 3. I just still don't think it's ever going to happen with Bungie's current plans. I would love a fresh start, I would love for them to get rid of a bunch of tech debt, I just don't think it happens.

I am not anti-Destiny 1 remaster, I just don't think that's what the franchise needs right now. I keep getting asked about playing Warframe, as many other Destiny creators have ventured over. I do not have any plans on playing or covering Warframe at this time. I am beyond burnt out on this genre of game in general and the last thing I want to do is pick up another. I have 60 hours on Warframe over a long time, I got nothing against Warframe, I got nothing against the frame heads, but if I have to look at another weapon mod, I WILL defend a straight.

I'll keep it a buck with you here too. On the business side, I'm seeing less and less value from my time on YouTube vs my time livestreaming, even with my livestream viewership also at all time lows. Sponsors are really the only thing keeping YouTube competitive. This is my job after all and I gotta do what's best for me in every aspect. For example, in October, my editor and I pumped out 18 videos on the channel.

which, over the past 3 years, is significantly above average for 1 month. I spent a ton of time in Vesper's Host, spending more time in there than most people will spend playing all 3 episodes combined. I worked a ton for the sole purpose of making YouTube content with hired help.

YouTube was 20% of my total revenue for October, the rest was live streaming. If we remove the day 1 dungeon race stream, which had an emblem for gifting a subscription to someone, then YouTube was 33%. In 2024, Twitch live streaming revenue was more than double my YouTube revenue and I work about 10 times harder doing YouTube content. It's why I've been uploading more things from my streams or trying to film more things on stream to convert into YouTube content or doing more live commentary style content. It turns out all that scripting and editing takes a lot of time, time that I have less of.

People are just not engaging with my YouTube as much, combined with the fact that I just really don't have that much to say on the game right now. What actually sucks is that I still really want to make YouTube content, I think I'm a WAY better YouTuber than I am a streamer. even close and I'm gonna continue to make content here because I don't wanna let you down. But it gets tougher and tougher every single day for literally every reason. I know that this is a Destiny focused video, but Marathon is also something I continue to be worried about because if it doesn't end up working out for Bungie, that is just not really good.

So what do I want to see from Bungie going into 2025 for Destiny? Put some damn money into getting some QA back. Bring back the seasonal crafted weapons and get people off your back, they could be the worst trash garbage of all time, just bring them back.

Otherwise, I just want to see you make it to the summer without a full blown community mutiny. Whenever you put out episode 3, good or bad, we all know we're entering a new era of the game, new storytelling, new campaign style systems. revamp this, new that, revamp this other thing, the only feedback I feel like I'll be able to give is if I liked something or not.

I'll let you know, I guess. Just survive. That's all I want to see, that's all I feel like I can ask of Bungie to do at this point.

Live, survive, make it there. Beyond that, I'm not too sure. It feels irresponsible to even ask for other things while the game is in the state it's in.

I'm sure there are plenty of other franchises who add auxiliary auxiliary progression systems or activities to their game, where or when do we start to see Bungie go a little wider with this game? Where do they start to add more features, more auxiliary progression besides 40 runs of Onslaught 50 for a few dinky triumphs? Usually I feel like you can only add that kind of stuff if you're stable. Destiny has been everything but stable, which is why they need to get stable, but that's dare I say. Incredibly boring for players.

As for me in 2025, I plan on trying to make some improvements to myself. First, I'm going to be livestreaming more, exact schedule still pending. I have brought back multistreaming on YouTube when I stream Destiny, but I have no plans to change the pace at which I push out YouTube content.

You might see some more stuff ripped from my stream, you might see fewer scripted pieces, I'll still have them, but I want to keep uploading. I do not like what I've become over the past 4 months. So, I'm gonna be working on improving myself this year, both in and out of content creation.

I'm 11 days in as of me writing this and so far, so good. That's all I got about Destiny going into 2025. Just survive, man. Just survive and get some wins.

Get some wins somewhere. Get people talking, at least neutrally, about the game again. Positively would be better, but like, dude.

And when we get to the summer, man. I hope Bungie got some special stuff in store because it's dire out here, man. It is dire. Thanks for listening.

I'll see you next time.

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