Trying to organize End Game

There is lots to do in Destiny's end game, but like any good MMO it's a little confusing and requires some thought and planning to ensure precious playtime isn't wasted.  Here is my first cut at how to herd these cats:

* #0 - Crucible - Complete easily achievable Bounties left over from previous session - Goal is to clear put bounty list to fill it back up
* #1 Get Vanguard Bounties
* #1.a One Public Event Gold Rating - Legendary Materials
* #2 Patrols for Faction Rep
* #2.a Complete Vanguard Bounties - Exp + Rep
* #3 Strike Playlist - Vanguard Marks + Exp + random drops
* #4 Get Crucible Bounties
* #4.a Beat Head against wall - Crucible Marks + Bounties

That's what I'm thinking right now...

It's official! Level 3!

17 hours to go!

I'm somewhat envious of those that have the game waiting for them on their hard drives already, as I have a number if hoops to still jump through.

I have to trust that the Best Buy store that didn't know it was doing a midnight opening just 3 days ago has everything in order: all the orders, all the physical copies, the copy I'm supposed to have,  etc. But if they do, I'll end up with my Limited Edition, a $10 off coupon, a free Destiny t-shirt (that'll make 3 that I have) and get to play 3 hours before PS downloaders would get to (minus travel time and Day 0 patching).

So I'm going to do my best to look at a half full glass today as the time ticks down to zero.

Destiny on Remote Play

This PlayStation Blog article marks the second I've seen about how well the Destiny Beta played on the PS Vita.  The first was right here at DualShockers and what inspired me to help out the economy by being a good consumer.  I consumed my way into a factory-sealed PS-1000 (I think it was actually -1010 because it was built for Region 4, Central/South America; fortunately the hardware is region-free), a case, a headset, a battery, etc. etc.

This is another reason that I am seriously considering making this my only game, because I'll be able to take it with me wherever I go: with my hotspot cell phone, I can link the Vita to either Wi-Fi or 4G LTE.  I plan to test this all out shortly after launch during some travelling to see how well Remote Play works outside of the home network.  Should be interesting....

Bungie makes my infrastructure upgrades look pedestrian

So in preparation for this game, I'm getting a hardline ethernet connection set up for my PS4 and a new TV for the console as well.  It's a Sony KDL-W700B, a stripped down version of the W800B, which has a great reputation as a gaming TV with very low input lag.  I was feeling a little ridiculous doing all of this, but I have justified this in a few ways.  First is that this could easily become the primary game/electronic entertainment that I partake in.  I say that now in the full throes of pre-launch hype, but the game concept is terribly appealing, having both FPS and MMO elements as core components, and is also a social experience, being on the console the clan plays on.

That rationale got me pretty close to feeling comfortable, but then I read this article about Bungie setting up bunkers and now I feel just fine. :)

Weekly update

Bungie has put out their latest weekly update here. A number of interesting tidbits are found in it, including:

• Bungie employees already have access to the game
• Reviewers aren't getting access until Tuesday like everyone else.  I really sympathize with their rationale and personally think that a game company shouldn't have obligations to allow reviewers to review their games on the reviewers terms.  Perhaps that is a price you pay for the privilege of being reviewed, but that seems silly to me.
• The Vault of Glass won't be open until September 16th, a week after launch to force players to enjoy the rest of the game.
• There are emblems that none of us will be able to get.
• And there are lots of other end game goodies that we can start worrying about in a few weeks.
• One final note, it seems that there are going to be Daily activities abound with rewards of some time.  We'll have to keep an eye out for what things we can or should be participating in.
• The real final note: Apparently Factions will have end game gear available, so picking a gear set early may have some advantages, in that we can help our faction along as we level.  Something to consider.

Lots of goodies!  Enjoy!

Planet View Reward and other (older) goodies

So the internet has already beaten the Planet View pinata and let free its goodies.  This reddit post has the details for those who are impatient.

In the comments of that post is a link to another set of information about codes that were given out a various times in 2013.  You can redeem them for vague promises on Bungie's website like the current code from Planet View.  Check it out here if you're interested.

Google Streetview for Destiny??

Destiny's latest YouTube video plugged an interesting online pseudo-game, Destiny Planet View.  It's actually made with Google tools.

Destiny Planet View - The Moon

I'm curious what happens when you get all of the points explored.  Hopefully something interesting.  I haven't tried this on a tablet and I seriously doubt this will work on a phone, but who knows? Maybe you can pull it off.

YouTube Video
Destiny Planet View

Raid Gear; Useful Links; and Server Open Explained

Looks like some of the raid gear details has already been ferreted out by the community.  In a reddit post, user cdmcnama listed out some of the details reddit link

Weapons

• Assault Rifle - Atheon's Epilogue
• Hand Cannon - Fatebringer
• Pulse Rifle - Praedyth's Timepiece
• Scout Rifle - Vision of Confluence
• Fusion Rifle - Praetorian Foil
• Shotgun - Found Verdict
• Sniper Rifle - Praedyth's Revenge
• Machine Gun - Corrective Measure
• Rocket Launcher - Hezen Vengeance

---

Blue Vex Set (Normal)

---

Blue	Hunter	Titan	Warlock
Head	Mantic Zealot Helm	Faceguard of Kabr	Cowl of the Hezen Lords
Chest	Mantic Zealot Cuirass	Kabr's Might	Cuirass of the Hezen Lords
Gauntlet	Mantic Zealot Gloves	Kabr's Defending Grasp	Grips of the Hazen Lords
Legs	Mantic Zealot Greaves	Kabr's Lifegiving Treads	Boots of the Hezen Lords

---

Gold Vex Set (Hard)

---

Gold	Hunter	Titan	Warlock
Head	Prime Zealot Helm	Battlecage of Kabr	Facade of the Hezen Lords
Chest	Prime Zealot Cuirass	Kabr's Wrath	Robe of the Hezen Lords
Gauntlet	Prime Zealot Gloves	Kabr's Brazen Grips	Gloves of the Hezen Lords
Legs	Prime Zealot Greaves	Kabr's Forceful Greaves	Tread of the Hezen Lords

You can check out some of these item's details at the Destiny Database Website.  This looks to be a good place for data, that will hopefully get support and updates when the game goes live.

Here is a short list of sites that look promising for post-launch info:

• Destinypedia - Wiki
• Destiny Hub
• And the aforementioned database, Destiny Database Website

In regards to the Server Opening, I thought it a little curious that Bungie promised to have everything ready regardless of timezone.  In a Pax Panel this weekend, titled "So Our Game is Called Destiny. Now What?", the developers let it slip that they will have early access to the game; before the 9th.  This makes their comments make a lot more sense.  Check out the video a little bit before the 39:00 minute mark for the slip.

2014 Bungie Pax Panel

The panel was an interesting discussion about how Bungie works from the perspective of three individuals, so if you're interested in that kind of thing, it may be worthwhile.  Otherwise, there wasn't much Destiny info.

Bungie Weekly Update drops knowledge on Raids

In this weeks' update, Bungie has provided more of a glimpse into their Raid philosophy, including some concrete details on how long clans will have to complete them:

Bungie Weekly Update for 8/29/14

Some major tidbits from this interview:

• As we've heard before, Raid progress can be saved and resumed at a later time.  However, we now know there will be a Weekly Reset each Tuesday where Bungie will wipe Raid progress.  So, if a clan has any incomplete Raids, they better get finished prior to the Weekly Reset.
• Each Guardian class has a set of gear (weapons and armor) to obtain across Normal and Hard Raid modes.  They also specifically called out "Legendary" weapons, which I assume will be awarded for completing Hard Raids.
• Once you obtain loot from a Raid, you are not eligible to get more loot from that Raid for the remainder of the week until the Reset, which they refer to as a "Lockout".  However, loot is class-specific, so the Lockout does not apply if you complete the Raid again with a different character (assuming that character is leveled up enough to be eligible for the Raid in the first place).

Bungie also provided some sweet hi-res artwork in the update.  They're all pretty good, but I'm partial to this shot of a Mars encounter:

Well that's it for this week.  Only 10 more days to go until Destiny ends our personal lives as we know them :)

Destiny will be a Marathon...

There's another article talking about the long term vision that Bungie and Activision have for Destiny.  It was again, Jonty Barnes, fielding questions; this time to the Total Xbox website http://bit.ly/Destiny10years

Barnes: "We said that we were a ten-year game, and both Activision and Bungie have committed to being wholly behind the large effort"

We've covered this in the past, but I've been thinking about the idea of the Marathon versus sprint in the context of launch.  

There will be considerable pressure on the interwebs for people to see content first. I think there could be such a thing at a smaller scale amongst our group. I typically consume things at ridiculous speeds. This includes books, games, heck even food.  But the long term mantra Bunkie keeps relaying has me wondering if I can change things up this go-around?

Bungie developers have told us they created this world to be enjoyed at a slow place, in addition to FPS monster-slaying speeds.  The beta was undoubtedly the nicest looking game I can recall playing. So I'm really tempted to stop and smell the roses; to look through the nooks and crannies; to find hidden spots; and take the time to let it all sink in.  

I'd really like to enjoy the aesthetics. I think this game will reward players for trying to appreciate the details the developers haveve put into the game.  This is going to be my goal when the game launches: "It's a marathon, not a sprint".

What will be yours? 

Destiny Playstation-Exclusive Content Trailer

Playstation Blog released a new trailer today which details the Playstation-Exclusive content that will ship with the game:  http://youtu.be/pp3-3oXiZyU

For your convenience, I've detailed the items below:

Exodus Blue - exclusive MP map.  Hard to tell from the short footage, but visually, it looks similar to the Rusted Lands Earth map that was in the beta (lots of brown, dilapidated buildings).

Dust Palace - exclusive Strike.  From the looks of it, you'll fight those big, hulking guys from Mars,

Guardian Armor - exclusive, class-specific gear

• Titan - Vanir rare gear set

• Hunter - Argus rare gear set 
  
• Warlock - Manifold rare gear set 
  

Guardian Weapons - exclusive set of exotic weapons

• Monte Carlo - exotic auto rifle, with a cool-looking bayonet attached
  
• Hawkmoon - exotic hand canon, matte black with gold accents on the barrel and etchings of feathers in the gold
  

Legos and Trading

Here's a test blog for the clan. Got some sweet links to new tidbits about Destiny...

Destiny Lego minifigs? Another reason to buy a 3D printer.

Players can't trade items in Destiny.

Original Jesse Van Dijk interiew: Why 6-man raids, level cap, Old Chicago and more

I did a little sleuthing around the interwebs and found the original interview that Van Dijk and Director of Production Jonte Barnes gave during Gamescom.

In there they mention Mercury and Old Chicago as places that may get visited in the future of the story component of the game.  Also, the level cap is 30 at launch (20 regular + 10 light levels).  They also gave some frustratingly reasonable answers for why fireteams and raids are 3 and 6 people respectively.

Jonty Barnes: Let's talk about the three-player fireteam. If you look at social circles and our ability to find players, we found doing four-player co-op in the metrics we had in previous Bungie games, when you look at trying to make sure there's always a great encounter for people to have, three was a sweeter spot than four. But also, I can get one or two friends to organise with me in an evening. But as soon as I try and get another person, there's a bigger barrier than you would think.

That sounds fairly well reasoned unfortunately.  As to the still controversial decision to not include matchmaking, I'm going to provide a lengthy quote:

 Jonty Barnes: We're going to see people self-organise. We're seeing people in the Tower already gathering saying, who's going to commit for a raid?

It is about that commitment part. If you just casually matchmake... you can see people jump out of competitive multiplayer games in matchmaking. In Strikes you can continue with two if somebody jumps out. You can still have that experience and not feel robbed. A raid requires six. If you've got five players in the raid, you're not going to win. You're not going to get through. I can tell you now, it's really tough, and it's intentionally meant to be that way. We've all got roles to play. So it requires a commitment of six people. That was very intentional.

It's about the group dynamic. It's not just about a casual dynamic. It's about an understanding of people committed to playing the roles in raids. And preparing. With raids, you don't just jump into them. You've got to prepare before you go in, and decide, what are you doing? What am I doing? Let's all talk about it in orbit. Okay, what role are you going to play? Well, I'm an x Titan, whatever type of Titan I am, and I'm going to be defensive and hold positions. And, have you played this before? Yeah, I found success when I did it this way.

Again, I understand what they are getting at here.  They designed this content to be challenging and for the more serious folks.  They also included content that doesn't require the commitment raiding will.  Bungie intentionally created barriers to entry into their raid content, beyond the typical gear minimums; I can understand that.

It's all moot until we hit level 20 though, so... enjoy the article until then!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-21-bungie-on-the-destiny-level-cap-raids-and-game-size

Mercury and sequels

An interview with Bungie artist Jesse Van Dijk revealed that Mercury will only be available to players as a multiplayer, pvp map.  That's kind of disappointing.  But in the same article Van Dijk also appears to mention that the map is the only Mercury content at launch for Destiny 1.

I would guess that Destiny 2 & 3 would be the expansion packs, so perhaps we'll see Mercury there, although expansion pack #2 seems to be heavily geared towards the Moon as you're supposed to dive into the Hive story.  Perhaps the 2nd expansion pack, The House of Wolves?  Time will tell.

The multiplayer map does sound cool though: it has a dynamically changing landscape.  That will add a pretty interesting twist to pvp.

http://www.examiner.com/article/bungie-says-destiny-beta-was-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-mercury-s-role-discussed

Updates on launch times and pre-order bonuses

Bungie has been busy clearing up the details on both launch time and Vanguard Armory access.

Protect the Last City. Get early access to the Vanguard weapons and gear by pre-ordering #Destiny: http://t.co/nR3HulO4rC

— Destiny The Game (@DestinyTheGame) August 24, 2014

Destiny servers will admit Guardians as soon as it is September 9th somewhere in the world. When you play is between you and your retailer.

— Bungie (@Bungie) August 24, 2014

This last bit is interesting because I'm still pretty sure that PSN digital download pre-orders go live at Midnight PST. Which still sucks like I said earlier.

Spoiler Alert!

Who says that reading can't be fun? While we were out at Barnes & Nobles I found this in with the magazines.  Now the real question is, do I read it before launch and risk story spoilers or wait until I've seen everything in game??

Best Buy pre-orders get the Vanguard access too!

I noticed this last night when I was looking into midnight openings.

http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/forums/forumtopicprintpage/board-id/Lets-Talk-Games/message-id/7196/print-single-message/true/page/1

Looks like there is less and less reason to go digital. I might have to contact Sony customer support unless Corndog comes through on buying the "used" disk.

Either way I'll be at the Gulfgate at midnight! Maybe I'll see you there!

Destiny launches at Midnight EST! Or is it CST? Or PST? Huh??

This is from the latest Bungie mail bag.

ninjadragonkllr  What time will the servers be open for the public in North America and worldwide?

When it is September 9th somewhere in the world, and you have access to your very own version of Destiny, it will be time for you to create a character that will keep you company for a good, long time. Retailers will stick to time-zones. Our servers won't know the difference. Retailers will break street date. Our servers won't.

Personally I'm a little confused by this. It sounds like the east coast will get to play first.  Isn't the PSN download tied to midnight PST? Kinda sucks if that's the case.

You can read the confusing response and more here: http://www.bungie.net/en/News/News?aid=12054

Official Destiny - Launch Gameplay Trailer

Bungie has uploaded another great video. While it calls it the Official Gameplay Trailer, I hope that doesn't mean they are going to stop posting videos until launch! We need our goodies to tide us over!!

Hello world!

This is the inaugural post at The Tower Chronicle blog!

We are going to transition the email issues to a blog format in order to get news and info to our readers faster.

We also hope to make this a place that we can talk about things regarding our PlayStation clan, Space Dadness.

Welcome to the new home of The Tower Chronicle and Space Dadness!