Destiny Ushers in a New Era of Blatant Cash Grabs

[WildFire15]

I find it depressing that I found this article immediately after reading an article that says it the best selling new IP of all time and that it smashed records.
Now I don't know if people are stupid or Yahtzee is being overly cynical, since both of these are the case 90% of the time.

Most of the 'best selling New IP' and 'Smashing records' stories relating to Destiny seem to be marketing twaddle to me as they don't actually back the statements up with figures.

The TV advert in the UK though, that really shows desperate scrapping of the very bottom of the barrel and some of the floor as well with perfect 100s from newspapers displayed prominently and maybe one or two actual video game publications/websites mentioned (with lower scores, of course).

So I agree, Destiny is the perfect example of a modern AAA game, though I wouldn't be surprised if that gets slapped on the inevitable Game of the Year edition box without them realising it's not a compliment.

 

[Flutterbrave]

Does anyone know how this thing cost half a billion dollars to make and market?

I think the marketing was probably most of it.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I'm going to go with "highway shooter", because paying all that much money to that many people (Activision, Sony) is basically highway robbery.

 

[Homosapian]

I find it depressing that I found this article immediately after reading an article that says it the best selling new IP of all time and that it smashed records.
Now I don't know if people are stupid or Yahtzee is being overly cynical, since both of these are the case 90% of the time.

Most of the 'best selling New IP' and 'Smashing records' stories relating to Destiny seem to be marketing twaddle to me as they don't actually back the statements up with figures.

The TV advert in the UK though, that really shows desperate scrapping of the very bottom of the barrel and some of the floor as well with perfect 100s from newspapers displayed prominently and maybe one or two actual video game publications/websites mentioned (with lower scores, of course).

So I agree, Destiny is the perfect example of a modern AAA game, though I wouldn't be surprised if that gets slapped on the inevitable Game of the Year edition box without them realising it's not a compliment.

All this stealthy marketing just confuses me.

I can't look at reviews nowadays without hesitating to beleive them. Cross checking that its sources are reliable can be surprisingly difficult and you have to wonder whether the writer has actually been paid off by some subsidiary of the company that is making the game.

Its probably doing even more damage in the long run. How are we supposed to beleive games journalism when we're dealing with publishers with wallets so big that they could tuck just about anyone in their pocket? Just this week when Shadow of Mordor started getting positive feedback before it was even released I was convinced it was some webwide conspiracy run by Ubisoft.

So much uncertainty with game hype is likely to drive sales away from games in the future and thats bad for everyone

 

[IamLEAM1983]

In Shadow of Mordor's defense, it actually is a pretty solid game, and it does have a lot of soul. Not just Tolkien's, but also Monolith's. You can tell there was a lot of passion involved in the project, and it reflects in the end-product. Yes, its mechanics are fairly reminiscent of other titles, but there's moments that are clearly the product of someone coming up with a concept they were passionate about. I can't really describe it - it's in the combat, the art style, the voiceover work... There's a lot of effort in there.

Destiny, in comparison, just feels like someone ticked off boxes in a spreadsheet with about a few million bucks per tick. The Borderlands series has similar mechanics, but there's so much moxie packed in each square inch of Pandora that you just can't hate the finished product. I'm looking forward to the Pre-Sequel not because of its mechanics, but because I'm hoping there's going to be the same basic concentration of clever writing, unashamed brain-farts, badassery and silliness.

 

[FoolKiller]

What's wrong with calling Destiny a lackluster MMORPG? Whats in a MMORPG that isn't in Destiny? It's massive, multiplayer, it's online and you're role playing. And it reflexively insists on being called a game, so what's the deal?
Destiny is a first person shooter(wish there was a shorter way of saying that) massive multiplayer online role player game.
I don't see the need for a new phrase when we have plenty of swears and phrases to use already.

The person who suggested Angry Joe's review is spot on. I'll summarise:

The problem is that this doesn't even tick off MMORPG boxes. Those tend to have stories. The problem here is the story is not in the game. It seems as though it has been yanked, and then put on a website for you to go and read. There is one decent cutscene in the middle that is just basically an ad for the DLC. The matchmaking and such are almost non-existent. You can't do any clan related things from the game. You have to visit the website to do it.

Warframe is free and is better at this.

The problem is that they built it up as something it isn't. And the parts of an MMO that they do have are so broken that lacklustre would be an improvement.

 

[Robyrt]

If Destiny had been a little more brazen in its cash grabs, they could have made a bunch more money. Think how many people would pay $5 to get legendary items!

 

[Darkness665]

I got tired of all the hype and started another pass through Fallout 3. Quite fun and while green and brown it is more entertaining than the modern bits. I still cannot bring myself to get the dream crusher perk though.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

People keep bringing up that the game will be added on over the next 10 years. But for me, i want the game to be good now.....not in 10 years time. People have just paid full price for what is a husk of a game.

 

[Solkard]

People keep bringing up that the game will be added on over the next 10 years. But for me, i want the game to be good now.....not in 10 years time.

Yeah, saying it's ok that a game has gaping holes all over it, because they will get plugged up in 10 years, just means the game shouldn't have been released until it is done, in 10 years.

 

[Something Amyss]

People keep bringing up that the game will be added on over the next 10 years. But for me, i want the game to be good now.....not in 10 years time. People have just paid full price for what is a husk of a game.

Yeah, if I have to wait a decade for a full game I just don't care more.

 

[NiPah]

Destiny, to me, represents a poster child is wrong with the AAA industry. It's got everything that I absolutely despise about video game, and it doesn't have one crucial thing - a fuckin' soul. It's a soulless and completely unoriginal cash grab. How the fuck did so many people fall for the hype?

Heh doesn't have a soul, but it sure if fucking fun to play.

How did so many people fall for the hype? Shit maybe because they find these types of games fun? I know I've been having a blast and looking through this thread it's almost a diagnosable mental illness to enjoy the damn thing.

But then again this is the Escapist, a pit of bile and hatred for any and all video games, not that I mind since it's also pretty damn entertaining seeing all the posts about how horrible things are.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

The person who suggested Angry Joe's review is spot on. I'll summarise:

The problem is that this doesn't even tick off MMORPG boxes. Those tend to have stories. The problem here is the story is not in the game. It seems as though it has been yanked, and then put on a website for you to go and read. There is one decent cutscene in the middle that is just basically an ad for the DLC. The matchmaking and such are almost non-existent. You can't do any clan related things from the game. You have to visit the website to do it.

Warframe is free and is better at this.

The problem is that they built it up as something it isn't. And the parts of an MMO that they do have are so broken that lacklustre would be an improvement.

Wait, WOW had a story?! OMG since when? I played it a bunch, and Warhammer Online. I was never aware of a story beyond "Go" at any point. I honestly don't think it's fair to cite needing a story as part of an MMORPG check list. The whole point of the grind in an MMORPG is that story is irrelevant. And how good can any story possibly be when you need to collect 30 plant seeds and 10 different pig feet to continue it?
I'm not saying Destiny is an MMORPG but writing it off as not one because of it's lack of story doesn't hold much water.
I think it wasn't marketed as a MMORPG because you'll never get investors to greenlight ANYTHING that sets out to compete with WOW. I mean imagine if Destiny said it was the new WOW. It would have been laughed out the door, but because it's categorized as an FPS expansion type game, it's given a free pass so to speak.

I'm not saying it's a good game at all, but it would have been treated even worse if it had been called an MMORPG.

 

[crypticracer]

Yeah. You only fight enemies in a corridor once in the game. In the tutorial level. After that you just move from room of enemies to room of the same enemies to room of maybe some enemies from another part of the game. It can be fun, but soulless is the correct word, along with tedious and repetitive. At least the second two can be forgivable in a game with soul.

 

[kael013]

Does anyone know how this thing cost half a billion dollars to make and market?

It hasn't. Not yet anyway. That $500 million tag is for the development of everything over the game's planned 10 year lifespan. Though I wouldn't be surprised if 3/5 of that was already sucked up in marketing.

 

[doomrider7]

Does anyone know how this thing cost half a billion dollars to make and market?

Development was in all probability 1/5 and the rest all went into marketing.

 

[JoJoDelight]

It says on the back to refrigerate ketchup after opening Yahtzee, that's why I do it.

 

[Muspelheim]

I got tired of all the hype and started another pass through Fallout 3. Quite fun and while green and brown it is more entertaining than the modern bits. I still cannot bring myself to get the dream crusher perk though.

I felt the same, really. That or boot up Stalker again. To me, sandboxes have always felt a bit needless if I'm not made to search every nook and cranny of them for cigarettes or old potato crisps to keep me alive. Or potions and rare books in the Elder Scroll's case.

It says on the back to refrigerate ketchup after opening Yahtzee, that's why I do it.

I don't know if Worchestershiresauce needs to be refrigerated or not, so I shove it in just in case.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

'Spunkgargleweewee' remains on the lips of the world.

You'd think it would've wiped that off by now.

Destiny is a list of gameplay elements that look good to investors.

It really does look like they built the game around the blurbs they planned to put on the box. Including...

Four words: "from the makers of...".

Yeeeeah, pretty much this.

 

[Vault101]

[quote/]The meadow shooter feels utterly lifeless, but for the sprinklings of baddies that have been scattered about like seeds upon barren rock. It's not like a sandbox game that also populates its world with visual storytelling and NPCs, so that when you encounter a living thing you have to take a moment's reflection before opening fire.[/quote]

as much as I like Borderlands 2 I will somewhat agree with this...art direction aside there isn't much life in the world....

I think the difference between me being into a game like this and not being into a game like this is the presenace of a begging middle and end

that's why something like evolve or titanfall isn't for me, I don't want to grind at the same thing until I get sick of it...give me an actual ending so I can move on