Activision: Destiny 2: Forsaken "Under-Performed," Core Player Base Hasn’t Reengaged

Megalith

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Activision’s latest financials suggest that gamers are losing interest in the Destiny franchise. According to the publisher’s COO, Forsaken, the title’s latest expansion, “under-performed” and that profits have declined “year after year.” Bungie’s plan for more paid DLC won’t help matters, presumably.

A lot of Destiny players did dig Forsaken (myself included), but Bungie has proven time and time again that they have myriad issues holding the game down long term. They introduced more issues in the sequel, some of which they still haven't fixed, and it really took its toll on the player base over time. Their constant "we're listening, but not really" routine was old in 2014, much less four years later, and their communication efforts have resulted in numerous blunders that have soured the core.
 
I've been playing for the last few days and it's not bad (for a solo player).

Me too. It is fun. I just think it's funny because I posted on Blue's News (I don't anymore) back during beta: wait a year or so on this game if you're a PC player, it'll be in the bargain bin and the problems will be fixed. I got such vitriol for saying that, I decided to leave the site for good. And here we are a bit over a year later...and I guess I was partially correct. They did fix the issues especially if you get Forsaken, but the base game is actually FREE.

Go figure.
 
Most of the people I played with in D1 either only shortly played D2 or didn't bother. That core base was really mad that their toon was wiped back to zero between games.
 
D2 was fun... until you play though the content once. Then there's just nothing left worth doing. And there really is no point to grinding to the absolute final equipment.

I might have enjoyed it more if they released weekly quest updates or... something. But I don't really understand how or why they think people will keep playing? It's pretty much a one time through quasi-multiplayer co-op game.
 
D2 was fun... until you play though the content once. Then there's just nothing left worth doing. And there really is no point to grinding to the absolute final equipment.

I might have enjoyed it more if they released weekly quest updates or... something. But I don't really understand how or why they think people will keep playing? It's pretty much a one time through quasi-multiplayer co-op game.

This. But the "expansions" were the last straw (for me, at least).
 
Thar she blows!

Take all the stuff out and sell it back to the whales!

We'll have our oil yet, lads!
 
Thar she blows!

Take all the stuff out and sell it back to the whales!

We'll have our oil yet, lads!


2m8z1l.jpg
 
Biggest problem is for me is finding a Clan, their existing system of having to use forums is garbage. Give better in game access to Clans and more events with group finder. You can only do so much single player.
 
I tried my hardest to get into the first Destiny, but it felt off in many ways. It may just be me, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a fully persistent-world MMO rather than a small hub and separate maps with small player limits.
 
I tried my hardest to get into the first Destiny, but it felt off in many ways. It may just be me, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a fully persistent-world MMO rather than a small hub and separate maps with small player limits.
Agreed.

Also I am personally done with the business model of:

Pay $65
Play for 1,000+ hrs = says = weeks = months played.
Boom
DLC pay again for the same thing but 'slightly more.
Now anyone new has the same stuff as you

Mad cycle of craziness that makes it less enjoyable. All about creating expansions but make my past time meaningful and not a grind that never ends.

No one wants to grind and do everything over and over again.

Just my two cents.
 
I've played it off and on since it became free, the public events are the same thing over and over. I just started the campaign so hopefully it will keep my interest. Just glad i didnt pay anything for it.
 
They gave me destiny 2 for free and while I did claim it, I don't plan to play it ever unless someone specifically asks me too. Grinding in RPGs stopped being fun many years ago.
 
Put about 40-50 hours into Destiny 1, which I didn't even touch until after The Taken King had come out. I didn't own the game, I used my friend's copy and his XB1. I just couldn't get into it. It failed to grab my attention. The gunplay felt good but there was little else to hold me there. Destiny 2 being on PC means I could use a mouse and experience the gameplay for realz, but even now that it's free I just haven't bothered to even try it. Yet here I am, still having a blast with Halo 1 and 2 on PC all these years later (I use the Project Cartographer version of Halo 2). I still fuck with the Marathon games using Aleph One, and had some fun doing co-op in the Marathon games at a LANParty a couple years back. I enjoyed Master Chief Collection co-op with some buddies in recent years. I still enjoy playing Halo ODST and Halo Reach (really fucking wish I could play them on PC). Bungie's Halo and Marathon games continue to capture my interest, and their gameplay remains incredibly fun to this day. What Bungie needs to do is go back to making epic single-player experiences again. Not sure why they fired Marty O'Donnell but that was a big mistake too. Jason Jones doesn't really seem like the kind of guy/developer he used to be. Bungie as a whole just seems off somehow.

I think this whole Destiny experiment has run its course. Time to go back to making some proper shit. And while you're at it, see if you can get Epic to give me an Unreal 3 or at the very least put some serious, real development effort into UT4. Activision would have loved to turn Destiny into the next Call of Duty but Activision seems to be too damn good at shoving the same shit down gamers' throats until they get sick of it. With Destiny that started happening with the second freakin' game. Color me surprised that this Destiny expansion isn't selling to Activision's expectations. I got quite a few friends that put good time into Destiny 1 but ended up leaving Destiny 2 relatively quickly. Some still fuck with it now and then, and still their opinions haven't changed. I got other games that demand my attention so I probably won't be getting around to trying out Destiny 2, even for free. I guess with Destiny I was kinda hoping for more experiences like Halo and Marathon but they clearly had something else in mind. From what I read about the troubled development of the first game, it sounds like Destiny didn't go off as they had originally planned and hoped for either. I assume EA is taking note of what has been going on with Destiny and applying it to Anthem. That would be the smart plan. Well one of you guys shall have to tell me how Anthem turns out cuz I'm not really too interested in that game either.
 
F'ing in love with D2 now. Forsaken is so damn good. All three classes at 600, done the raid, done the shattered throne dungeon and still so much to work on.

Bravo Bungie!
 
You can't fix what is fundamentally broken. The game is about grinding, and nobody likes to grind. Micro-transaction systems just encourage game designers to put grindy mechanics into games. Better to drop Destiny 2 and make a good game.
 
Played d2 when it was in the humble bundle, story is uninspired and boring, with characters I never cared about, played through the entire campaign expecting the game to get harder, and it just didn't. Far too easy gameplay with an uninteresting story. Thought the end game might have something but it didn't, not played again since I completed the campaign.
 
I have had this game for a while - got it as part of a Humble Bundle I think. I haven't even installed it yet. It is on my backlist...which means I will probably never get to it unless I somehow find a lot of free time (not in the foreseeable future).
 
Biggest problem is for me is finding a Clan, their existing system of having to use forums is garbage. Give better in game access to Clans and more events with group finder. You can only do so much single player.

this is the same issue i am having, i got it for ps4 as gift but pretty , much soloed it so far. i got it on pc via humbbudle subs but the fact that you cant use your avatar from ps4 version to go along is killing it for me. bungies had its head up its arse for a while now so glad someone else deals with halo now 343 are great with communicating with thier fan base
 
I tried this game a long time ago when it went on sale for $18. It was really fun until I made it to a central hub area... and then I had no idea what to do. So I never played it again and eventually uninstalled it.
 
Agreed.

Also I am personally done with the business model of:

Pay $65
Play for 1,000+ hrs = says = weeks = months played.
Boom
DLC pay again for the same thing but 'slightly more.
Now anyone new has the same stuff as you

Mad cycle of craziness that makes it less enjoyable. All about creating expansions but make my past time meaningful and not a grind that never ends.

No one wants to grind and do everything over and over again.

Just my two cents.

That model worked for many years in old MMORPGS nlike WoW, EQ and FFXI. Since then they have ton down the grind a lot to appeal to more people. FFXIV follows that model but it isn't too grindy. It is a little grindy but people still blow through new expansions in a month and new patches in less then a week. It is why it is common why people unsubscribe for months in end before patches.
 
Hence why its free until November 18th.

At that price, I was happy to download it and play...but I don't see myself buying the Forsaken DLC. I am tired of chasing the carrot in this game...it's literally endless, and at a certain point (reached right before Taken King for me), it just becomes a chore rather than entertainment. When you groan when your friends ask you to play, it's time to move on.
 
Only reason I payed it was cuz I got it for free on PS4. The story has so much potential, but ended up feeling so crappy I gave up. Played through all of D1, enjoyed it, wouldn't call it great but I didn't feel robbed. Even at free, I don't think I've put more than 5 hours into D2.

Whenever Activision gets involved, good gaming devs die. It's just taking longer for Blizzard and Bungie to go the way of so many other great studios ruined by Activision because they're devs with such a rich, respected history.

For clarity sake, I recently uninstalled every Blizzard game and I'll never go back after the shit show that blizzcon was this year. We've been seeing it for years that Activision was slowly killing Blizzard. Blizzcon removed any doubt that Activision was doing their best to kill Blizzard while maximizing extraction of money from the playerbase at the expense of what made Blizzard great to begin with.
 
Absolute Trash of a game. Left me wondering why the fuck people liked Destiny 1
 
I'm enjoying it since they handed it out for free. It's nice being able to play for an hour and accomplish something and then head back to IRL shit when I need to.
 
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