Hi Nomad you have no idea how this video resonates so much with me, i am 32 as well and quit D2 for the same reasons as you. Surely playing other games made things even clearer to me and am glad you came to the same realization with D2. Am not sure you will read my comment but do know that you are not alone feeling this way and always appreciate your honesty and transparency in your videos. If you feel like you want to talk about it further let me know we can connect on discord or whatever ;)
Yeah I think this is just GernaderJake's video/pov repeated with all of the backlash and criticism of that equally valid here. Yes taking a break might well help you feel more positive (if that's what you're seeking of) and criticism may get more views even if you're adverse to said "negativity". However both are subtle or not so subtle ways of avoiding the many valid issues, and instead "Victim" - blaming (nb in quotes, in terms of consumer-blaming) rather than having of an honest look at the DEVASTATING MISTAKES Bungie choices made on an otherwise stellar or potentially stellar game. So, yeah, enjoy your break and your temporary high on return, but all those clangers are there ready waiting for you and everyone else. Those are REAL endemic issues that need real action and real steering of course to correct. Possibly Sony will end up having to do this for better or worse.
Really touching grass would mean to recognize that Destiny 2 is too expensive for what it delivers and stop playing NOW. Instead he wants people to play less for the same amount of money, just like Gernader Jake. I begin to see a pattern here... .
What makes me cry sometimes is it wasn’t like bo2 or titanfall or other games from my childhood that were a blast and I remember only the best times. Cause for other games I just don’t remember when I stopped playing. They’re like frozen in a nostalgic part of my brain. So is destiny 1, but d2 isn’t. I’ve watched all my friends slowly fade away from it. My little corner of the destiny universe is gone. I will always remember my d1 days, I hope I never forget them.
This was spot on. I hope Final Shape goes out with a bang big enough to bring back friends I’ve lost that no longer play, so we can have one last moment of Destiny magic before walking away for good.
I’m 54 and just started playing Destiny 2 a couple of months ago. I’ve been having a blast and wish we had games back in the 1980’s like this. The graphics, weapons, maps, all of it it’s crazy. Yes, I suck but I don’t give a good god dam. I play PvP for a while every day and even have had a couple of good games. Life goes by so fast, enjoy it or it will eat you up.
With you, I'm finishing up the DLC and then retiring from gaming as a whole. IRL is finally moving the way I want, and it's going to start getting in the way. Plus, gaming isn't fun to me anymore. I wish everyone well in the game and IRL.
Nothing beats that dopamine hit of playing a new game for the first time, and genuinely having fun. Still remember that feeling of playing on First Light in the D1 beta and thinking "this is FUN". Always good to play new games and get a change of scenery every once in a while.
I come back to Destiny every once in a while to see how things are. I don't really watch videos on it, I try to avoid discourse over it on social media, etc. After stepping away like I have, I realize the only thing that kept me playing was two thing: -The want for things to be like they were -My clanmates I don't really have anyone to game with, especially outside of Destiny. But Destiny has my clanmates who do get on every once in a while. So I would stay on the game so I wouldn't have to game alone. But eventually I couldn't do it anymore and needed to leave the game. And it was the best decision I could've made. I'm still working on it, but I'm enjoying gaming again. And with all of these new indie games being released, it's a greater time than ever to play new games. Destiny is always going to have a special place in my heart because of the memories I have and the milestone it represented. But I think after The Final Shape, my time as a Destiny player is likely over. I'm growing up, and the game has grown up in a different way that doesn't fit me, anymore.
Great video! I too just came back from a month away from the game and it definitely made me reflect on why I play it, and the point you made about the memories is spot on. Here's hoping TFS is a banger and we can all make it out of the content trenches!
It's definitely true that disconnecting yourself from online discussions surrounding anything you enjoy, will allow you to enjoy that thing for longer. And that's not to say that by looking at why it's actually bad, and agreeing with that it's bad, means that you're not thinking for yourself, and just taking other people's opinions. It's merely just a matter of multiple heads being better than one. So by staying ignorant of the issues, you'll come to realize them a lot slower than if you look up what the hundreds of thousands of heads are thinking and analyzing. I think back to my first two years in Genshin Impact, my first gacha game. I had no idea what I was doing back then, and so, many others were ahead of me by a long shot. But I was still enjoying the game despite that. Only once I eventually did get involved in the discussions, learning the game faster, realize why certain things are bad, etc, did it affect my enjoyment with the game. I got burnt out faster, probably due to having gotten better at the game, and spoiling the fun of learning for yourself, in combination with being aware of more of the game's issues for long periods of time, with no improvements being made by the developers. TL;DR; Ignorance is bliss. I think for future games, I'm going to ignore any online discussions, and just enjoy the game for myself, even if it's wrong. I want to see for how much longer a game can be enjoyed when played this way.
The thing is with gacha games, the story is the easy part. But at some point you need to prepare for the second season, since the game will get harder. Unless you always want to do the optional content, which means using the meta or paying to get awesome units (if you are unlucky with your rolls). But in this case the expectations are different (story vs optional content). So gacha games, while very good, need to be approached with this mindset. What is your end goal, what are you prepared to do. For instance for Genshin, it can be the first area. Or the second or the third. In the end, your worst enemy is yourself, especially if you are dropping money into the game. Or you have an addictive personality, for example must collect everything or must conquer everything or you like to show off. Online games that emphasize ginding (looter shooters like Destiny or Borderlands, hack & slash games like Diablo) need to be approached with the same mindset. I dont know what you did with Genshin Impact that affected your enjoyment, but at least you learned something about yourself, what to avoid in the future (perhaps in a different game), or perhaps in Genshin impact itself.
Gaming has become so much more fun since quitting destiny about 10 months ago,I’ve played and enjoyed many more games from my backlog and it made me realise what a chore (almost like a second job)it was to play destiny.
@@dukenukem19888I don’t think that’s entirely on the player. Most of the seasonal quests now are; Listen to dialogue, do mission, do playlist stuff, do that mission again, listen to dialogue, see you next week. Hell even some of the campaigns make you go do busywork just to pad out the playtime. The game is great but that doesn’t make the encouraged gameplay loop feel any less like a chore.
I really appreciate how honest and level headed you are. You’re such a wonderful part of the Destiny community, whatever part that looks like in the future.
Been playing destiny since I was 16, I’m 27 now & everything you explained in this video completely mirrors what I’m going through with the game. Those memories of amazing friends, the community, aimlessly running around with your fireteam trying to discover something beyond the unknown. I’m grateful for those epic moments.
This video is exactly what I needed to hear. I've been spending all of lightfall thoroughly enjoying my time in destiny, yet feeling suffocated by a community trying to convince me it's awful. I've felt barrated by the Tiktok hivemind that I should stop playing Destiny and play Helldivers 2 or Elden Ring instead when those games simply aren't as fun to me. This constant blaring of the mainstream video game audience making me feel like I'm somehow wrong for finding good things to say about destiny and finding flaws in those other games gets really exhausting. Disconnecting from every one of these larger communities probably really is the healthiest thing for me to do, and that is exactly what I will be doing.
As a WoW player of well over 10 years at this point, your lesson 2 rings especially true to me. I still have fun in that game, in spite of the negativity, because I don't concern myself with it. Cataclysm and Pandaria were two of my all-time favorite expansions, contrary to what you hear, because I don't let others tell me what is or isn't fun for me. Which is also why I'm still enjoying D2 and loving having another extra long season. I have so much going on outside of video games that 3 months is HELL to try and get everything done and often I'll neglect things irl just to add a few more hours in game to try and get all the content finished.
after logging over 7500 hours across destiny 1 and 2 i came to this realization myself. after taking a step back i realized that i too was forcing the fun to happen whenever i played. the last time that i can remember genuine organic fun from destiny was d2 year 1. destiny 2 had gotten to the point for me to where it didn't feel like i was playing a game anymore, but rather it was a chore. the times i would lie to myself saying it's going to get better, change is coming, the fun will return, etc it never did. even after it started to feel like a chore i continuously threw myself at it like a masochist. i was truly addicted to it. i will always look fondly on the memories of completing a raid for the first time or my first flawless trials, but every time i see it in my steam library or think about it i just get the feeling that i've grown out of it and moved on.
I have not booted the game since 5/23/23 (I know because it was the day after my son's birthday which was on a Monday last year). I played the intro mission for the season that Tuesday, saw it was more of the same thing and uninstalled. I'm 100% done. I'll watch someone play The Final Shape on twitch to find out what happens, but I have zero interest in spending any more of my money, or especially, any more of my time in Destiny. I can't believe it's been almost a year.
BRO THIS IS THE EXACT THING I ENCOUNTERED! Got bored, played The Finals, then Halo, now addicted to Hell Divers, but still returning to D2 every now and then.
Ascendant, you are speaking the language I speak. I am glad you have put this out there because I am not a streamer and only have so many friends, so I can't reach people to tell them how important it is to enjoy the ride while you can and accept the valleys when they come. Nice work.
I think the biggest deterioration of my love for destiny came from playing and trying to justify continuing to play, PVP. The PVE in this game is incredibly fun, i like playing it with my friends, I love doing it, Raids are fun, dungeons are fun, GMs are fun, getting my triple hundy stats was fun. Playing trials? Spending hours upon hours screaming at my screen, raging, getting mad, burnt out, tired, all for a ship, sparrow and ghost shell. After getting two of the three, then the skimmer came out, I ended up deciding to quit trials for good, especially after realizing the reason why i ever flawlessed on my own in the first place was because of the "crutch" Weapons that the community universally loathes, I feel no satisfaction in what i did, i feel like i never improved, i just cheesed. However, playing with my buddies in PVE is always nice. i'll love this game for that, and probably wont ever be burnt out.
My friends moved on.. and I came back to chase that feeling again but I’ll never feel that excitement again. I’ve not touched destiny 2 in 6 months I think and don’t think I ever will again. I was going to get the next expansion but genuinely don’t have any excitement in my body.. I loved destiny, played it since I was 16 and had my ups and down with destiny 2 but I’m hanging my boots.. got a kid on the way and for me.. just an end of an era. Thanks for everything 🙏
Leaving destiny has massively helped me improve my mental health and I now go to the gym. Playing destiny since 13 (I’m 22 going on 23 now) and having that become a comfort game to enjoy something while life sucked - the game over that time became something that ended up just fuelling my depression. Ever since I quit and got to focus on myself and my life rather than keeping up to a game full of FOMO I’ve never felt better. Just felt like the video to share this on. I feel like it’d resonate with a lot of people
Bet they will not sunset half of the game and not microtransaction the game to death. Also bet they will release more weapons and costumes that will not be 20 bucks a pop. Companies and developers that listen will always outlast ones that just tell you what you want to hear
@@CazadorHex That's probably because every update shakes things up a ton, unlike D2. The parkour system added way back,the second dream,Mechs,Nemesis system,New frames, the railjack system, Kahl of duty,Zariman update, New war hitting the "Together we fight, Together we fall" type story. Duviri being a Roguelite Dark Souls like system. Then the 1999 stuff, man in the wall enemies, duviri enemies, and almost every type of weapon under the sun and adding more in march 27. I find it weird how Warframe can just poof new enemies to existence, meanwhile the shadow cabal is just the 4th reskin? of cabal.
World of Warcraft (2004) EVE Online (2003) League of Legends (2009) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012) Dota 2 (2013) Path of Exile (2013) Final Fantasy XIV (2013) Warframe (2013) Rainbow Six Siege (2015)
I'm exactly in the same spot. I stopped playing D2 in late November and played other games. I feel much better for taking that break, and I'm not touching D2 until the next expansion.
As someone who has played since D1 launch, I learned as a solo player, I had to play Destiny and D2 in spurts. If I played too much, I got salty seeing all the raid gear, dungeons completed, hard content being done solo and realizing, I just couldn’t keep up. Partly my own fault and partly cause my friends would get it and grind 24/7 while I worked, had kids etc… leaving little time for me to even catch an activity and before I knew it they were done with D2 again. Up until recently, I had never even completed a dungeon. My girlfriend recently showed interest in playing and she’s by no means a gamer. She’s loving it. I have all the DLC and she recently just got Forsaken/30th Anniversary. Carrying her through things, helping her with her build, seeing how excited she gets when we complete stuff has breathed new life into D2 for me. I’m hardly someone who should teach anything about this game but helping her along has been awesome. And we play in spurts. Couple hours here and there. Last night we completed the shattered throne, got wish ender and she’s so hyped for her new bow. I’m getting the joy of doing things I couldn’t do before solo and watching her learn and enjoy the game. It’s been a great change with my Destiny experience.
I quit Destiny 2 right before Witch Queen, big life stuff happened. Didnt touch any games for 6 months... And its been the best decision for enjoying games that I've ever made. I've played so many games from my back log and have actually FINISHED so many titles. Nothing beats the feeling of actually completing a full game. I realized how much I hate the "endless evolving storyline" and enjoy shorter, more detailed and meaningful story and characters.
The biggest reason I left was the story. I am so sick of them removing previous expansions/seasons, so I was very lost when I came back at the end of WQ and the start of LF. D1 base story was broken up, so when TTK came out with a solid story, I was so happy. RW in D2 was so satisfying (that it was a story, the story itself was meh) but I left shortly afterwards. Second reason I left... the price tag to play the entire game. $120 for a full expansion experience? No thank you. The Battle Pass mech in Live Service games was the worst idea. Plus, most of the DLC is found in some other DLC you can end up spending $500+ because they were not clear on what is in each DLC. I just cannot stand it any more because I have spent more $$$ here than any other game I have ever played.
I almost didn't watch this because I'm so, so, so weary of how prevalent this "negativity puts bread on the table" problem has become on RUclips, but it's you, so I did. But scrolling through my RUclips feed has started to feel like fighting through a crowd of people yelling about how I'm doing everything wrong and everything is trash. For me, Destiny is still fun. It's RUclips that's killing me. I've got to figure out how to change my algorithm or maybe just bookmark Lindsay Nikole's channel and call it a day. I still enjoy Destiny. Watching all these content creators, I know I don't want to make it my job. I do wish you every good thing and I hope you find the fun again.
For people that still don't see Forsaken was the start and catalyst to the seasonal model and now for the Final shape they went back to it essentially just called it Episodes. Basically it's slight fresh coat of paint.
Hey Ascendant, I’ve been a viewer for years and played Destiny since D1 beta and wanted to say that this is such a refreshing take. I stepped away from the game around six months ago for many of the same reasons and it’s honestly been great having the new point of view for when I do play the game occasionally now.
Hey Nomad. Long time viewer here. I just wanted to say that I empathize with a lot of what you said here. I've been playing D2 as my main game for way too long and I've felt it was time for a change. I always hoped that they would bring things to a definitive end, but their episodic model seems to suggest otherwise. If I'm going to get the perfect ending to Destiny that I've always wanted, I'm going to have to write it myself. I do believe TFS is going to be my final DLC, and I'd like to bug all my old Destiny friends to join me for one last fire fight. Together, I hope we can finish a story we started 10 years ago. Here's to the perfect ending. The one we choose, not the one we're given. Thank you for your words, and I hope these words find you well.
Dude i realized that after i left the game the entire game was centered around trying to keep my attention but i always tell myself the same thing that the old Nintendo ceo used to say "if it isn't fun why bother". I loved the dungeons but not everything can be centered around horde based things and i was happy when they announced the horde........but it had a timer and who cares about all these craftable weapons when I've been using the same thing for about a year absolutely decimating all bosses solo in my dungeons. And like most d2 players i explored and found Warframe and dude i can have a custom area suited to my need like a whole liveable area to test things out and everything and i was shocked that everything was free in Warframe
The problem is that the magic of the beginning sooner or later gives way to everyday gameplay, after which you optimize your stats and chase metas to overcome increasingly difficult challenges. The game is reduced to numbers, an Excel with graphics. What's more, motivation in the endgame is a delicate plant: the opinions of others quickly drag you down. You see one and the same thing completely differently. A reboot, mentally, helps to escape this. I used to smile at people who took forever and three days to complete a campaign or level up - but these people play longer than me on average. Since I joined them, I've been doing better. But that was a process. Don't be too hard on yourself, we live to learn.
This was so very relatable. I'm also in my 30s now and I realized that I was trying to chase the nostalgia of my D1 days during my 20s. I have also come to terms with the fact that The Final Shape will be my "last ride" so to speak, then it will be time to move on.
Pretty spot on. For the last bit, since Lightfall dropped, I finished the campaign, check out each seasonal activity and find it variations on a theme, then log out and come back when the next season drops for a few days. I will play final shape but I suspect at that point I will be done after the campaign.
I checked out about a week into Season of the Wish. I've just started playing again this last week. Destiny is a comfort blanket for me, that has completely burned me out over the years, especially the last two. I've been playing a lot of smaller, indie titles, a bit of Tekken, I've got my eye on Helldivers, but running through Starcrossed last night with a friend who has been doing much the same, with no expectation, it dawned on me... there really is nothing quite like Destiny. 10 years, and its never truly been replicated. It has its issues, loads, and for long time players it feels like a part of life that isn't going well, but a break and zooming out a little, I've got a little bit of that energy back for the game. Now to catch up! This was a great video man
I quit destiny 2 a long time ago but the one thing I remember is how the guns _felt_. Like the sound, the feedback, the design, it was my favorite part of the game. No other fps really has that and I still miss it.
Really hope you’re not done when Destiny is done. There are other games (maybe Marathon) that I’d like to see you cover and someday Destiny 3 will be out and I want to see you cover that
I'm kinda the opposite to a lot of the comments. I'll play other games for a bit but then they always seem to get kinda boring or stale quickly. Then I start D2 back up again and I'm like wow, this is still so so good. Even with the flaws you just can't beat the gameplay.
Once upon a time, I played daily. At one point, I was running two accounts actively. One year I got the Solstice shirt on both and it damn near cost me my relationship with my wife. I dumped countless hrs into this game, was up on all the lore. After Lightfall, something happened. My whole outlook on Destiny changed. I no longer cared to max out my season pass, or even do weekly ritual activities. Nowadays I haven't even started the current season. Totally oblivious to current lore and have no idea what the current meta is. I'm starting today but I've been saying that for weeks now. I branched off and went back to Division 2 and fell back in love. Started a new character on Skyrim and plan on getting Helldivers 2. I'm not walking away just yet, but anybody that knows me can tell you, this ain't what they're used to seeing. I can honestly say that I don't feel guilty for playing other games like I used to. Is this truly the end? 😢
I felt this to my core, I also recently stepped away and am exploring such a vibrant library of rpgs and metroidvanias on switch, scratching a different itch I didn't know I still needed. Hopped back on this past weekend to try the new sandbox in pvp, and even though I did enjoy myself after a lengthy break away from destiny, I was glad I could turn it off and hop back in to Bravely Default 2 or Dead cells when I started to feel that pvp rage again lol, I went from hours upon hours, every bit of my gaming life spent in Destiny, it made me forget why I game. I will always run some matches in the crucible, even after final shape, but u 100% right, there shouldn't only be 1 game. Awesome video my dude.
The biggest reason for why I stepped away is because they gutted my entire build that I spent the better part of 2 years making. With solar 2.0 removing the warlock charged healing grenades and the removal of warmind cells my fantasy inspired pyro battle mage build was destroyed. I had spent months grinding for the right armor, weapons and mods to create something that felt unique and fun. Hard hitting bow, a glave in my energy slot and the perfectly rolled trials sword so that im consistently spawning warmind cells. My mods built out for self and team healing on explosion only to multiply cells upon explosion. A dual use healing and damaging grenade on full up time as well as a set of orb generators so that im always ready to pop wells. This build took me up to the release of Witch Queen to finish then a few months later they gutted the most important parts of it. I have no motivation to make a new build after this. I'll play Final Shape then I'm done with the game for good. It sucks.
I mained Destiny since the D1 beta came out, and finally gave it up a couple weeks after lightfall came out. I still jump on time to time to send out clan invites (site never works for me) but that's about it. I just get inundated with 7+ pop ups about all the same shit that I've already played and done, plus whatever latest expansion they're trying to sell. I can't get myself to play it anymore. The same tedious seasonal grind. The dripfed story. The constant rotation of doing X activity X amount of times per character, per week. The games foundation is solid, the gunplay phenomenal. They just aren't innovating enough, and it's been that way for years. I had enough and moved on to other games, permanently.
You hit all the right notes Nomad. Honestly I spent probably 20+ hours a week on D2 for years. But eventually I just felt like I was falling behind on everything else while playing D2. Now, I come back to it every few weeks or for at least a few hours every week. And I fall in love with the gameplay all over again, but I don't get so into it I become addicted again. D2 has been here since 2017, and so many other games have come out in that time. Trying to only stick with D2 now isn't good for anyone IMO. I still love the destinations, the atmospheres, the gameplay, style, and all that. But the passion I had for it as definitely gone past it's prime, and I have slowly detached myself. Honestly, The Final Shape will probably be my last DLC as well. I want to see the ending to the story, and unless some big changes happen in the game's system and everything, IDK if I can continue afterwards since I have a lot more on my plate now than I did when the game launched.
As someone who trys to avoid looking at destiny community conversations about the game I can agree with your findings the game in the right moment is really good and that's what keeps me playing, and by avoiding the negativity I can focus on what I like about it and keep it for me.
Nomad, thank you for everything. I'm glad I have had the opportunity to meet you online. Your content has always been great with your different takes on the decisions and community. But, eventually all games get to a point where it just isn't the same as it once was. Anyways, no matter where content creation takes you, I will remain a loyal viewer. Besides, you can't get rid of us that easily ;)
Sometimes these things are about the journey. For I & many others TFS will be our last chapter, but I like to think our legend will live on. Imagine a blueberry many years from now, questioning who were the guardians that defied The Witness & preserved the Light beyond. Makes it a little easier to hang up the gauntlets.
I haven’t played in 6 months. Stopped right on September 1st. I’ve picked up FF XIV instead and omg I’m loving it. Theres an insane story that keeps me wanting to go back for “one more quest” before logging off for the night. The onboarding system makes it so easy to learn the game, and there’s an immense amount of depth to it that is highlighting how shallow some of the systems are in D2.
Its funny tbh. I started with Destiny 1 and consider myself a massive, MASSIVE casual. I quit Destiny 1 after the initial grind fest. Came back for destiny 2 initially and basically immediately quick back when there was a leveling system. I ended up coming back for beyond light extremely casually. I ended up day 1'ing witch queen after seeing the hype and pre-ordered lightfall only to quit before even actually starting the story for lightfall. After that I thought I was done. It was always the grind that would turn me away. After Lightfall I got into ARPG's like PoE and sunk in over a thousand hours into it. Recently took a hiatus from PoE and tried helldivers, and then from helldivers went to exoprimal, about 20 hours in warframe which led me back to..... The thing about Destiny from a casuals perspective is that there really isnt any other pve shooter that feels as good. Not Helldivers, Not Exoprimal, not Warframe. Trust me when I say I totally understand the absolute frustration and rage from the hardcore/end game players of the game (being I'm a hardcore end gamer in PoE). But when you look at it from shiny noob lenses, from a newcomer, or just a fresh set of eyes, D2 is an absolute banger of a game. It just feels so damn good. It really is a shame all the stuff that needs to be improved especially for people who want to main the game. The model of the game is really difficult to pull off. You cant have seasonal content that feeds you bread crumbs in an ARPG and expects you to keep coming back with such an absolute RNG fest of a run. Thats where a game like PoE shines. Yes there is extremely rare loot. But there is a trade system and there is ways for you to get the stuff. The "seasons" have you reset your character completely. There technically is an overarching story for the game as well even though you are resetting and making a new character every time. Idk how to explain it. Like yes (even from my very own perspective) I know the end game for D2 has let a lot of people down. But man when you leave and come back to it as a casual you can truly appreciate the gunplay they have for the game. It really is a bittersweet disappointment of a game. Bittersweet because you know the unequivocal potential, and where it solidifies itself in one aspect. But then you think about the other passionate dev teams of other studios, and how if they got their hands on a goldmine like D2 (Helldivers team, Larian, Fromsoft etc.) they would put their absolute all into it. They would add all kinds of new species, subclasses, lore, loot etc. Obviously the comparison is incomprehensible. I'm just saying you can tell that bungie as a company just fell to corporate greed and it shows in their games. Developers at the end of the day are at the mercy of the people that have stake in the company. Reading up on the state of D2 (after having about 50 hours in the game this past week) its really so sad. The devs have been begging the overlords of bungie to allow them to fix the game to bring players back. At the end of the day Bungie is just another corp in a sea of corps that decided to screw the devs, screw making a good game, and screw their fans that supported them in making them as huge as they actually are.
My entire friend group and I fell out of D2. I played AC6 and HL and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed playing them. Not to sound dramatic, but I think dropping D2 actually gave me drive I thought I'd lose. I think it was just buried underneath my burnout and the jaded apathy D2 gave me
I’ve stopped playing Destiny for around 2 years now, and stepping away has really made it clear to me just how much the game hasn’t changed. I don’t see myself ever coming back, the current Bungie management isn’t committed to making fun games, they’re committed to getting people into the microtransaction store and making the bare minimum amount and quality of content. It’s actually kinda crazy to think that D1 used to have no microtransactions, I wonder what path this series would be on if they were never introduced and management never had people like Justin Truman who were convinced that avoiding making the best content they could was a good idea.
Definitely my favorite narrative you have created so far. I have been dipping in and out of your content since I tried to follow the Crucible Doctor tips to improve my abysmal PvP gameplay, and I fell out of love with your work due to the insidious negativity that was prevalent and ubiquitous in D2 coverage for too long. Wasn’t just you, it was everyone - including D2 superfans, biting firmly at the hands that were putting bread on their table. Your work has been much more objective of late, and while I am saddened by some of your conclusions, it is evident they come from a balanced and grounded place and I can have nothing but respect for them. As for myself, I always look at the positive aspects of D2 and in my self centered opinion, they outweigh the negatives. I suspect we are past the peak of D2, and while hope The Final Shape will be the opus in the D2 saga, I am prepared for it to be just OK. And it will give me hundreds of hours of escapism and great moments with the fireteam I play with regardless. Wishing you lots of unbiased objectivity and positive experiences along your journey. See you starside.
As someone who left over the sunsetting I am increasingly happy with my decision every time I check back and see what shenanigans they're up to recently. They ruined my favorite franchise and Bungle will never see another cent from me.
What i did recently that made me realize the current state if destiny 2 is a mess (i haven't played since witch queen) was hopping on destiny 1 LAST NIGHT and seeing the tower filled with people, new and old, it was a beautiful thing to see honestly
Had 5k hours in d1, but decided to quit when d2 came out. I had my reasons, but "jumping off point" is the gist of it. I was eventually convinced to play a bit of d2 by my then girlfriend, and have since been an on and off player. This most recent comeback was to accompany a friend for the final shape, and the end of destiny as we see it. I'm currently having a lot of fun with it. I'll remember this game fondly.
i feel this now more than ever. i've stopped playing since they announced content vaulting. Forsakem and its subsequent DLCs have been the most fun ive ever had in the entirety of my time playing D2 similar to how age of triumph was for me in D1. I'd rather stop playing and hold onto what good memories i have of the game in the state that i loved it the most, rather than chase the fleeting idea of unfulfilled/unrealized potential that D2 has become. I've moved on.
I took a 4 month break and only came back recently to finish the seasonal story since I already paid for it. That time away, i was so much happier than when i was actively playing the game. Even now i only feel neutral or bad after i finish playing. The spark is just gone
Taking breaks is the best thing Ive ever done for myself and my love of Destiny. Last time I took a full season break, and when I came back i jumped into a seasonal activity with randoms. I was taken aback when i got that old "yes! Take that alien scum! My fireteam and i will destroy you! (Insert firey elmo meme)" I was having FUN again! Take breaks, stay healthy, and eyes up, guardians.
I just came back several days ago after 5+ months away. With no expectations or worries about fomo, I just wanted to play and for the first time in a while, I'm having fun. The new Fireteam Finder has helped with that immensely. But you are spot on about it being part of a rotation instead of a "the only game". I think the world itself is fighting back against live service, engagement based games. You saw it with WoW, you are seeing it with Sony and their failure with live service. Games like Helldivers, Last Epoch, Bdalur's Gate 3, and the slew of other great games that came out this year gave us options we were lacking in previous years. It's honestly what the video game industry needed. Sadly, the corporations who own these companies are using it as an excuse to lay off record amounts of people, but I feel they are shooting themselves in the foot.
I learned some of these lessons when my dad passed back in 2020. I stopped gaming pretty much as a whole for about 2 years. And when I heard about Witch queen, I was STOKED. Eris is my favorite character and I was so friggin excited she was FINALLY getting her time in the spotlight. I was looking forward to the story missions to running the story with my friends that I have been playing with since TTK in D1. But I ended up running the missions and the story solo because my friends were just… not enjoying it. Or speed running (which in their defense is what they do and they struggle to slow down lol) These lessons are hard to learn and experience. But it’s important that they are. Very well worded, articulated, and thought out. ♥️
I've been playing Destiny since Destiny 1 and like many who have had Destiny as their main game I too have had burnouts where all I was doing all day every day was play the game and complain about it at the same time. Good video. You've made some good points. PS: I've followed many Destiny RUclipsrs over the years but you've only just come up in my feed recently. I clicked off the first video I watched of yours because I couldn't get over seeing your bed in the background of your videos. A young gamer kid in his bedroom is one thing, but a grown man making gaming vids with his bed clearly in the picture just gives off a sad and creepy AF vibe in my opinion (but hey, that's just my opinion!).
For me, stepping away from destiny 2 showed me how much I love the game. I started a new character and experienced the campaigns all over again. I fell in love all over again.
11:32 I'm realizing this right here is the biggest factor that led to me finally just throwing it in the bin. Not even just the vaulted content, but also taking away experiences - power creep trivializes pve, and the only real challenges there now are self-imposed, especially compared to when GMs and master raids first launched. PvP's social experience is LONG gone due to matchmaking among other things. The list goes on, and saying anything more will just go down the entire cycle of negativity. The experiences we loved that the game offered us are just frankly no longer available. The game's evolved into something for a completely different audience than those who've been playing for years, and it's time to (mostly) shelve it.
One of the things that made me fall off was realizing that the whole "this game has so much potential" and "were playing for what the game could be" stuff has been being said since 2014 and it never stopped after 10 years.
I stopped playing the game over a year ago and I have never been especially tempted to turn back. It’s so cleansing. I still appreciate the community I was a part of and I love my two raid jackets still but my time with Destiny is just done, and that’s alright with me.
You saying that you were trying to recreate those fun times blew my mind. That's exactly it. It might be like 80% of D2 for me. D1 was the first online multiplayer game I actually enjoyed, and I'm chasing that experience of Gjallarhorn dropping, my first Atheon clear, etc. Then in D2 the first experience I had that was close to that was getting Whisper of the Worm from the secret mission, The Last Wish raid, and then the Rhulk raid. That's really it. Those things are amazing and I have no real comparable experiences from other game, don't get me wrong! I think the gaming community as a whole is fed up with live service games.
Super well spoken; I agree with every point mentioned. To the premise of your first "Lesson", I wholeheartedly can say the same for myself. Whenever I log into Destiny, I tend to spend my time aimlessly drifting in the void of space, watching my ship in orbit... I think to myself 'wow, remember when this game was fun?'. And so, I reminisce. I started playing in Season of Arrivals full time, having first learned of the game the season prior. I knew very little and took far too long a time to become adjusted to all of the activities and mechanics at the time, but eventually got very into raiding. The people I played with initially never taught me what exactly a "raid" was, or that it was more than just one boss encounter. Due to this unfortunate miss in learning, I didn't ever get to do a full run of Scourge or Crown before the great content vaultening. I feel like I did miss out on a lot during that time, as I scrambled to try and finish as many activities and triumphs as I could before their removal from the game. This being said, the things that I *did* get to experience are memories that I'd never forget. The guy who taught me Leviathan had such an incredible spirit. His sense of humor and method of incorporating relatability and comedy into his mechanic-teaching practices was so enjoyable. He is the whole reason that I went on to teach other people raids for so long. It's not as many as some other folks, but I have 258 Deep Stone clears, 90 being sherpas. I love that raid. When I say that, though, I'm often met with a combative "But that raid isn't hard." I said clearly that it was FUN, not CHALLENGING. I loved learning every little thing about DSC after it came out; every exact timer, optimal strategies, studying the things that make the raid go smoothly and implemented them into my runs. I'd hoped to do a lot more sherpas for that raid in particular, but I got too sick to keep up my constant carries every day, so I stopped. teaching raids, to me, is one of the most truly fulfilling experience I've had in D2. To those I've taught (not just DSC) to... people who actually *listen* and ask questions, and get involved and aren't afraid to fail their role because I'd let them have another go, those people have truly made memories for me. I never like when someone refuses to partake in mechanics and ONLY do ad clear. I always made a point that I'd be there as long as they needed to in order to get through the encounter, and intentionally taught each member how to do as much as possible so they had the confidence to go on without me. Such a rewarding thing to have a part in. I've even met people in LFGs who have told me stories about how they recognise me because I taught them XYZ raid, and they've gone on to teach others the same way. That shit means something to me. I always think back on each of those times... I miss when every encounter felt positive. Now it's just LFGs grumbling about how awful the game is, groveling about how much they hate it, simultaneously whilst playing it. The Destiny content community has gotten so stale and repetitive, revolving mostly around negativity. A vast majority of videos nowadays are focused solely on complaints. Sure, anger and pain can be POWERFUL motivators, but in this context, it doesn't create that driving spirit. It doesn't encourage anyone to play, it doesn't make anybody want to innovate and make fun content. Outside of just the state of the game, the community seemingly is of a dimmer light too. but we're fed up with Bungie, and that's the root of the issue, so it's to be expected. When the game does bad, the fanbase does too. There's so few creators bothering to make creative content, most opting to just report on the news for the members of their audience that begrudgingly still check in with the game once in a while. I completely understand and totally RESPECT not wanting to further fuel this abysmally depressing train they're all riding on. The fact, too, that creating content is the sole income that most Streamers/RUclipsrs have, they've sort of trapped themselves. It's not *entirely* their fault, but having no escape plan or backup job or qualifications is a daunting thought. We've seen a lot of creators in the D2 space recently take a dive into variety content in panic as we await The Final Shape. They have no choice at this point, not just because Destiny is "coming to a close", but because even whilst it carries on, it's not exactly thriving. Either go full variety, or roll in the shit with everyone else. And most of them do! We've all been encapsulated by this negativity, the best thing to do is just move aside. Branch out, even if not for content creation. Go play other things, seriously. Or, the old classic that not enough people listen to... "Go touch grass". Walk your dog. Enjoy life. I, too, have taken a step back, prioritizing my mental and physical health as I've gone through so much BS that wasn't being helped by the way that Destiny doesn't make me feel RELAXED any more. I'm not confident that it will ever go back, which pains and saddens me deeply, as I truly love Destiny. From the moment I first jumped in, back on the Tangled Shore, I was utterly enamored. I fell head over heels for this game, despite having never played D1. The atmosphere, the design, the true uniqueness it always had... Gambit!? Gosh, Gambit, my beloved... How you've fallen... I unfortunately come from the Land Down Under, and the PvP matchmaking is less than passable. It takes me 20-40 minutes to find a match every single time, often resulting in a timeout error due to struggling to find players on this area's servers. Due to this, even if I WANTED to play PvP, despite all of it's recent shortcomings and poor performance within the community, I can't even resort to that aspect of the game when PvE is lacking. But that love is still very much in tact, just bruised. Time may heal and bring it back to life, but for now, we settle for this. I love Destiny, hell, I edit my own clips on it. I wouldn't represent it if I'd fully turned away. I wouldn't waste energy just screaming bitterly into the void on social media, whining about the good old days or bashing anyone that still actively plays and enjoys the game. I do log in every so often, and I do have a semi-decent time. That's not exactly ideal, but I hunger for the Destiny. I crave the Destiny. and I reckon that I always will.
Fully agreed. Played the game since Destiny 1's Beta and in recent years, I had such a toxic attachment to the game, even when it was very clear that it was not hitting the same as it used to. In the end, it turned out walking away from it was the best decision I could've made. The Final Shape will almost certainly be my final stint in the game and I think it's safe to say we'd all love to see the light and darkness saga go out with a bang. Like yourself, I've made so many friends throughout my time playing this game, many of whom I'm still regularly in contact with and often game with on other games.
As a primarily solo player who only plays 3-6 months a year I’ve actually been enjoying Destiny 2 more than I ever have. I understand that’s not how most of the community engages with this game. The build crafting has more options and is more satisfying than it ever has been.
Great video. I’ve been doing a similar detox myself, and I just had a baby. Got on for the first time last night and ran around for an hour with the buddies, it just wasn’t hitting. I felt myself wishing I was spending time on anything else. As nice as it was to hang with the guys for a bit, the game wasn’t as fulfilling as it used to be. At 36, I’m starting to come to terms with the best days of this game being behind me, and that’s ok. There are still so many other games, other media, other experiences to be had in my life, and Destiny just doesn’t get to dominate my life anymore. It’s tough, but kind of freeing to admit that. All that being said, I love to watch videos, and your content has always been awesome, and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Keep up the great work.
After 4000 hours pvp I can say I made some players so angry that they left in the middle of the game, they scream, cry, they broke controller, mouse, monitor, keyboard. All these are my triumphs, my motivation to keep playing this game.
I needed to watch this video today. I really feel what you’re saying. I decided to step away, I’m not the best player but it seems I’ve forgotten why I played. I was getting mad when PvP wasn’t going my way, and I’d log off in an awful mood. It’s a game and it’s supposed to be fun. Somewhere along the way I’ve forgotten that so maybe it’s time to move on. Thank you, I’m going to be checking out the titles you’ve mentioned. Hope you’re doing well and thank you for all you’ve done for the community
tbh ive stepped away several times.... its taught me that stepping away is critical to enjoying destiny with my clan on the weekends. And from the lack of logins my clan is making, it appears they realized it to... and this is all at a time we're stepping into higher tier content with RAIDS and Dungeons. And i think that says a lot about the state of Destiny when the ones who wanted to experience the end game, are checking out mentally as they delve into it. I seen in the comments someone saying "he touched grass" But touching grass doesnt necessarily mean you logged out and went outside and enjoyed reality... it could be that you realized there's other games out there, that are jus more deserving of your time
Play War Thunder now with my link, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more: playwt.link/ascendantnomad24
U can hop on Warframe, Palworld, or Helldivers for a bit. Kick back and relax my guy, and have fun.
Just no.
Hi Nomad you have no idea how this video resonates so much with me, i am 32 as well and quit D2 for the same reasons as you. Surely playing other games made things even clearer to me and am glad you came to the same realization with D2. Am not sure you will read my comment but do know that you are not alone feeling this way and always appreciate your honesty and transparency in your videos. If you feel like you want to talk about it further let me know we can connect on discord or whatever ;)
I think I'm gonna try this out. Looks clean!
Yeah I think this is just GernaderJake's video/pov repeated with all of the backlash and criticism of that equally valid here. Yes taking a break might well help you feel more positive (if that's what you're seeking of) and criticism may get more views even if you're adverse to said "negativity". However both are subtle or not so subtle ways of avoiding the many valid issues, and instead "Victim" - blaming (nb in quotes, in terms of consumer-blaming) rather than having of an honest look at the DEVASTATING MISTAKES Bungie choices made on an otherwise stellar or potentially stellar game. So, yeah, enjoy your break and your temporary high on return, but all those clangers are there ready waiting for you and everyone else. Those are REAL endemic issues that need real action and real steering of course to correct. Possibly Sony will end up having to do this for better or worse.
this man touched grass
fuck yeah
You mean the virtual grass in other games, right?
Fuck yeah
Well….touched sand lol. Not much grass in Dubai.
Really touching grass would mean to recognize that Destiny 2 is too expensive for what it delivers and stop playing NOW.
Instead he wants people to play less for the same amount of money, just like Gernader Jake. I begin to see a pattern here... .
Exotic: 9R4SS acquired
Exotic ability joy
You get be happy again..... :)
The headboard for your bed looks like an ice cream sandwich.
What if it is
@@AscendantNomadcan I get a bite?
Factual
Now I can't unsee it LMAO 😂😂
I was rushing to the comments to say this exact thing
What makes me cry sometimes is it wasn’t like bo2 or titanfall or other games from my childhood that were a blast and I remember only the best times. Cause for other games I just don’t remember when I stopped playing. They’re like frozen in a nostalgic part of my brain. So is destiny 1, but d2 isn’t. I’ve watched all my friends slowly fade away from it. My little corner of the destiny universe is gone. I will always remember my d1 days, I hope I never forget them.
We also didn't play these games for a decade straight.
We've been playing Destiny literally five times longer than our other golden age games, it's only natural that we'd get burnt out eventually tbh
😢😢😂😂😂
Modding old consoles took some of my time.
Because youre playing Destiny for a lot longer than these games.
Even playing D2 for a lot longer than D1.
In the end it really was about the friends we made along the way.
What if you’re a solo player or play with your family
@@BuffGenji 💩 🧠 🎉
@@BewitchedNyiok it was a joke… and I usually play destiny with my brothers, lets us do stuff together while they’re away at college
@@BuffGenji Yeah alright that is fair enough 😎👍
And they all quit playing because the game is fuckin stale asf
This was spot on. I hope Final Shape goes out with a bang big enough to bring back friends I’ve lost that no longer play, so we can have one last moment of Destiny magic before walking away for good.
I’m 54 and just started playing Destiny 2 a couple of months ago. I’ve been having a blast and wish we had games back in the 1980’s like this. The graphics, weapons, maps, all of it it’s crazy. Yes, I suck but I don’t give a good god dam. I play PvP for a while every day and even have had a couple of good games. Life goes by so fast, enjoy it or it will eat you up.
Per audacia ad astra, wherever you may go. We look forward to seeing you again.
The destiny fan base having life changing journeys while they wait for the next big dlc
My friend and I took a several month break, best thing we ever did. We now only play when we have a specific thing we want to do.
This is what I started doing and it's SO much better. In the off D2 times I've been enjoying FFXIV and No Man's Sky.
Nomad brings balance to the force. Or at least the crucible. Well... maybe not that.
When I quit destiny two I felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Then I realized who was making my life worse.
Finally, I’ve waited for sometime for any of my fav destiny content creators still playing or not, to make this video. It needed to happen.
With you, I'm finishing up the DLC and then retiring from gaming as a whole. IRL is finally moving the way I want, and it's going to start getting in the way. Plus, gaming isn't fun to me anymore. I wish everyone well in the game and IRL.
Nothing beats that dopamine hit of playing a new game for the first time, and genuinely having fun. Still remember that feeling of playing on First Light in the D1 beta and thinking "this is FUN". Always good to play new games and get a change of scenery every once in a while.
I come back to Destiny every once in a while to see how things are. I don't really watch videos on it, I try to avoid discourse over it on social media, etc. After stepping away like I have, I realize the only thing that kept me playing was two thing:
-The want for things to be like they were
-My clanmates
I don't really have anyone to game with, especially outside of Destiny. But Destiny has my clanmates who do get on every once in a while. So I would stay on the game so I wouldn't have to game alone. But eventually I couldn't do it anymore and needed to leave the game. And it was the best decision I could've made. I'm still working on it, but I'm enjoying gaming again. And with all of these new indie games being released, it's a greater time than ever to play new games.
Destiny is always going to have a special place in my heart because of the memories I have and the milestone it represented. But I think after The Final Shape, my time as a Destiny player is likely over. I'm growing up, and the game has grown up in a different way that doesn't fit me, anymore.
Great video! I too just came back from a month away from the game and it definitely made me reflect on why I play it, and the point you made about the memories is spot on.
Here's hoping TFS is a banger and we can all make it out of the content trenches!
Was anyone else distracted by how clean that room behind him was?
It's definitely true that disconnecting yourself from online discussions surrounding anything you enjoy, will allow you to enjoy that thing for longer. And that's not to say that by looking at why it's actually bad, and agreeing with that it's bad, means that you're not thinking for yourself, and just taking other people's opinions. It's merely just a matter of multiple heads being better than one. So by staying ignorant of the issues, you'll come to realize them a lot slower than if you look up what the hundreds of thousands of heads are thinking and analyzing.
I think back to my first two years in Genshin Impact, my first gacha game. I had no idea what I was doing back then, and so, many others were ahead of me by a long shot. But I was still enjoying the game despite that. Only once I eventually did get involved in the discussions, learning the game faster, realize why certain things are bad, etc, did it affect my enjoyment with the game. I got burnt out faster, probably due to having gotten better at the game, and spoiling the fun of learning for yourself, in combination with being aware of more of the game's issues for long periods of time, with no improvements being made by the developers.
TL;DR; Ignorance is bliss.
I think for future games, I'm going to ignore any online discussions, and just enjoy the game for myself, even if it's wrong. I want to see for how much longer a game can be enjoyed when played this way.
The thing is with gacha games, the story is the easy part. But at some point you need to prepare for the second season, since the game will get harder.
Unless you always want to do the optional content, which means using the meta or paying to get awesome units (if you are unlucky with your rolls).
But in this case the expectations are different (story vs optional content).
So gacha games, while very good, need to be approached with this mindset. What is your end goal, what are you prepared to do. For instance for Genshin, it can be the first area. Or the second or the third. In the end, your worst enemy is yourself, especially if you are dropping money into the game. Or you have an addictive personality, for example must collect everything or must conquer everything or you like to show off.
Online games that emphasize ginding (looter shooters like Destiny or Borderlands, hack & slash games like Diablo) need to be approached with the same mindset.
I dont know what you did with Genshin Impact that affected your enjoyment, but at least you learned something about yourself, what to avoid in the future (perhaps in a different game), or perhaps in Genshin impact itself.
Gaming has become so much more fun since quitting destiny about 10 months ago,I’ve played and enjoyed many more games from my backlog and it made me realise what a chore (almost like a second job)it was to play destiny.
You made it a chore. The key to enjoying Destiny is to let go of the FOMO
@@dukenukem19888I don’t think that’s entirely on the player.
Most of the seasonal quests now are; Listen to dialogue, do mission, do playlist stuff, do that mission again, listen to dialogue, see you next week.
Hell even some of the campaigns make you go do busywork just to pad out the playtime.
The game is great but that doesn’t make the encouraged gameplay loop feel any less like a chore.
@@dukenukem19888destiny is majority FOMO. To let go of the FOMO is to let go of a majority of destiny’s content.
The game systems themselves are designed specifically to enforce that. @@dukenukem19888
@@spartacus6256 lmao no.
Another gun will come around that’s equal to or better than the one you missed. There’s literally hundreds of viable options.
I really appreciate how honest and level headed you are. You’re such a wonderful part of the Destiny community, whatever part that looks like in the future.
beautifully written and spoken, this resonated with me a lot. fantastic video, you handsome devil.
Been playing destiny since I was 16, I’m 27 now & everything you explained in this video completely mirrors what I’m going through with the game. Those memories of amazing friends, the community, aimlessly running around with your fireteam trying to discover something beyond the unknown. I’m grateful for those epic moments.
At this point I'm too invested, so many years, to not finish the story. But I think after that I'm out unless there are huge changes.
This video is exactly what I needed to hear. I've been spending all of lightfall thoroughly enjoying my time in destiny, yet feeling suffocated by a community trying to convince me it's awful. I've felt barrated by the Tiktok hivemind that I should stop playing Destiny and play Helldivers 2 or Elden Ring instead when those games simply aren't as fun to me. This constant blaring of the mainstream video game audience making me feel like I'm somehow wrong for finding good things to say about destiny and finding flaws in those other games gets really exhausting. Disconnecting from every one of these larger communities probably really is the healthiest thing for me to do, and that is exactly what I will be doing.
As a WoW player of well over 10 years at this point, your lesson 2 rings especially true to me. I still have fun in that game, in spite of the negativity, because I don't concern myself with it. Cataclysm and Pandaria were two of my all-time favorite expansions, contrary to what you hear, because I don't let others tell me what is or isn't fun for me. Which is also why I'm still enjoying D2 and loving having another extra long season. I have so much going on outside of video games that 3 months is HELL to try and get everything done and often I'll neglect things irl just to add a few more hours in game to try and get all the content finished.
after logging over 7500 hours across destiny 1 and 2 i came to this realization myself. after taking a step back i realized that i too was forcing the fun to happen whenever i played. the last time that i can remember genuine organic fun from destiny was d2 year 1. destiny 2 had gotten to the point for me to where it didn't feel like i was playing a game anymore, but rather it was a chore. the times i would lie to myself saying it's going to get better, change is coming, the fun will return, etc it never did. even after it started to feel like a chore i continuously threw myself at it like a masochist. i was truly addicted to it.
i will always look fondly on the memories of completing a raid for the first time or my first flawless trials, but every time i see it in my steam library or think about it i just get the feeling that i've grown out of it and moved on.
I have not booted the game since 5/23/23 (I know because it was the day after my son's birthday which was on a Monday last year). I played the intro mission for the season that Tuesday, saw it was more of the same thing and uninstalled. I'm 100% done. I'll watch someone play The Final Shape on twitch to find out what happens, but I have zero interest in spending any more of my money, or especially, any more of my time in Destiny. I can't believe it's been almost a year.
BRO THIS IS THE EXACT THING I ENCOUNTERED! Got bored, played The Finals, then Halo, now addicted to Hell Divers, but still returning to D2 every now and then.
As a graphic designer, i've always loved how you do the graphics on your videos, just so clean, anyways great videoo!!
Ascendant, you are speaking the language I speak. I am glad you have put this out there because I am not a streamer and only have so many friends, so I can't reach people to tell them how important it is to enjoy the ride while you can and accept the valleys when they come. Nice work.
I think the biggest deterioration of my love for destiny came from playing and trying to justify continuing to play, PVP. The PVE in this game is incredibly fun, i like playing it with my friends, I love doing it, Raids are fun, dungeons are fun, GMs are fun, getting my triple hundy stats was fun.
Playing trials? Spending hours upon hours screaming at my screen, raging, getting mad, burnt out, tired, all for a ship, sparrow and ghost shell.
After getting two of the three, then the skimmer came out, I ended up deciding to quit trials for good, especially after realizing the reason why i ever flawlessed on my own in the first place was because of the "crutch" Weapons that the community universally loathes, I feel no satisfaction in what i did, i feel like i never improved, i just cheesed.
However, playing with my buddies in PVE is always nice. i'll love this game for that, and probably wont ever be burnt out.
My friends moved on.. and I came back to chase that feeling again but I’ll never feel that excitement again. I’ve not touched destiny 2 in 6 months I think and don’t think I ever will again. I was going to get the next expansion but genuinely don’t have any excitement in my body.. I loved destiny, played it since I was 16 and had my ups and down with destiny 2 but I’m hanging my boots.. got a kid on the way and for me.. just an end of an era. Thanks for everything 🙏
Leaving destiny has massively helped me improve my mental health and I now go to the gym. Playing destiny since 13 (I’m 22 going on 23 now) and having that become a comfort game to enjoy something while life sucked - the game over that time became something that ended up just fuelling my depression.
Ever since I quit and got to focus on myself and my life rather than keeping up to a game full of FOMO I’ve never felt better.
Just felt like the video to share this on. I feel like it’d resonate with a lot of people
It’s been 10 years, guys. There is no surprise. Play helldivers for 10 years straight and tell me how “amazing” it is.
Bet they will not sunset half of the game and not microtransaction the game to death. Also bet they will release more weapons and costumes that will not be 20 bucks a pop. Companies and developers that listen will always outlast ones that just tell you what you want to hear
Man, they deleted half of the game we “bought “, y’all just tripping
Ive done so with Warframe and its still amazing.
@@CazadorHex That's probably because every update shakes things up a ton, unlike D2. The parkour system added way back,the second dream,Mechs,Nemesis system,New frames, the railjack system, Kahl of duty,Zariman update, New war hitting the "Together we fight, Together we fall" type story. Duviri being a Roguelite Dark Souls like system. Then the 1999 stuff, man in the wall enemies, duviri enemies, and almost every type of weapon under the sun and adding more in march 27.
I find it weird how Warframe can just poof new enemies to existence, meanwhile the shadow cabal is just the 4th reskin? of cabal.
World of Warcraft (2004)
EVE Online (2003)
League of Legends (2009)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012)
Dota 2 (2013)
Path of Exile (2013)
Final Fantasy XIV (2013)
Warframe (2013)
Rainbow Six Siege (2015)
I'm exactly in the same spot. I stopped playing D2 in late November and played other games. I feel much better for taking that break, and I'm not touching D2 until the next expansion.
As someone who has played since D1 launch, I learned as a solo player, I had to play Destiny and D2 in spurts. If I played too much, I got salty seeing all the raid gear, dungeons completed, hard content being done solo and realizing, I just couldn’t keep up. Partly my own fault and partly cause my friends would get it and grind 24/7 while I worked, had kids etc… leaving little time for me to even catch an activity and before I knew it they were done with D2 again. Up until recently, I had never even completed a dungeon. My girlfriend recently showed interest in playing and she’s by no means a gamer. She’s loving it. I have all the DLC and she recently just got Forsaken/30th Anniversary. Carrying her through things, helping her with her build, seeing how excited she gets when we complete stuff has breathed new life into D2 for me. I’m hardly someone who should teach anything about this game but helping her along has been awesome. And we play in spurts. Couple hours here and there. Last night we completed the shattered throne, got wish ender and she’s so hyped for her new bow. I’m getting the joy of doing things I couldn’t do before solo and watching her learn and enjoy the game. It’s been a great change with my Destiny experience.
I quit Destiny 2 right before Witch Queen, big life stuff happened. Didnt touch any games for 6 months... And its been the best decision for enjoying games that I've ever made.
I've played so many games from my back log and have actually FINISHED so many titles. Nothing beats the feeling of actually completing a full game. I realized how much I hate the "endless evolving storyline" and enjoy shorter, more detailed and meaningful story and characters.
The biggest reason I left was the story. I am so sick of them removing previous expansions/seasons, so I was very lost when I came back at the end of WQ and the start of LF. D1 base story was broken up, so when TTK came out with a solid story, I was so happy. RW in D2 was so satisfying (that it was a story, the story itself was meh) but I left shortly afterwards.
Second reason I left... the price tag to play the entire game. $120 for a full expansion experience? No thank you. The Battle Pass mech in Live Service games was the worst idea. Plus, most of the DLC is found in some other DLC you can end up spending $500+ because they were not clear on what is in each DLC. I just cannot stand it any more because I have spent more $$$ here than any other game I have ever played.
I almost didn't watch this because I'm so, so, so weary of how prevalent this "negativity puts bread on the table" problem has become on RUclips, but it's you, so I did. But scrolling through my RUclips feed has started to feel like fighting through a crowd of people yelling about how I'm doing everything wrong and everything is trash. For me, Destiny is still fun. It's RUclips that's killing me. I've got to figure out how to change my algorithm or maybe just bookmark Lindsay Nikole's channel and call it a day. I still enjoy Destiny. Watching all these content creators, I know I don't want to make it my job. I do wish you every good thing and I hope you find the fun again.
Lesson 3 is why i am a variety gamer. Variety is the spice of life.
For people that still don't see Forsaken was the start and catalyst to the seasonal model and now for the Final shape they went back to it essentially just called it Episodes. Basically it's slight fresh coat of paint.
Hey Ascendant, I’ve been a viewer for years and played Destiny since D1 beta and wanted to say that this is such a refreshing take. I stepped away from the game around six months ago for many of the same reasons and it’s honestly been great having the new point of view for when I do play the game occasionally now.
Hey Nomad. Long time viewer here. I just wanted to say that I empathize with a lot of what you said here. I've been playing D2 as my main game for way too long and I've felt it was time for a change. I always hoped that they would bring things to a definitive end, but their episodic model seems to suggest otherwise. If I'm going to get the perfect ending to Destiny that I've always wanted, I'm going to have to write it myself. I do believe TFS is going to be my final DLC, and I'd like to bug all my old Destiny friends to join me for one last fire fight. Together, I hope we can finish a story we started 10 years ago. Here's to the perfect ending. The one we choose, not the one we're given.
Thank you for your words, and I hope these words find you well.
Maybe the Final Shape is the friends we made along the way
I went from grinding on D2 to now being in the same boat with Fifa. But you a real one. Thank you! Till the end
Dude i realized that after i left the game the entire game was centered around trying to keep my attention but i always tell myself the same thing that the old Nintendo ceo used to say "if it isn't fun why bother". I loved the dungeons but not everything can be centered around horde based things and i was happy when they announced the horde........but it had a timer and who cares about all these craftable weapons when I've been using the same thing for about a year absolutely decimating all bosses solo in my dungeons. And like most d2 players i explored and found Warframe and dude i can have a custom area suited to my need like a whole liveable area to test things out and everything and i was shocked that everything was free in Warframe
It was never about the witness or the traveler. It was always about the friends we met along the way.
The problem is that the magic of the beginning sooner or later gives way to everyday gameplay, after which you optimize your stats and chase metas to overcome increasingly difficult challenges. The game is reduced to numbers, an Excel with graphics.
What's more, motivation in the endgame is a delicate plant: the opinions of others quickly drag you down. You see one and the same thing completely differently.
A reboot, mentally, helps to escape this.
I used to smile at people who took forever and three days to complete a campaign or level up - but these people play longer than me on average. Since I joined them, I've been doing better. But that was a process.
Don't be too hard on yourself, we live to learn.
This was so very relatable. I'm also in my 30s now and I realized that I was trying to chase the nostalgia of my D1 days during my 20s. I have also come to terms with the fact that The Final Shape will be my "last ride" so to speak, then it will be time to move on.
Pretty spot on. For the last bit, since Lightfall dropped, I finished the campaign, check out each seasonal activity and find it variations on a theme, then log out and come back when the next season drops for a few days. I will play final shape but I suspect at that point I will be done after the campaign.
the issue was for me story, money focus and management of weapons.
I checked out about a week into Season of the Wish. I've just started playing again this last week. Destiny is a comfort blanket for me, that has completely burned me out over the years, especially the last two. I've been playing a lot of smaller, indie titles, a bit of Tekken, I've got my eye on Helldivers, but running through Starcrossed last night with a friend who has been doing much the same, with no expectation, it dawned on me... there really is nothing quite like Destiny. 10 years, and its never truly been replicated. It has its issues, loads, and for long time players it feels like a part of life that isn't going well, but a break and zooming out a little, I've got a little bit of that energy back for the game. Now to catch up! This was a great video man
I quit destiny 2 a long time ago but the one thing I remember is how the guns _felt_. Like the sound, the feedback, the design, it was my favorite part of the game. No other fps really has that and I still miss it.
Really hope you’re not done when Destiny is done. There are other games (maybe Marathon) that I’d like to see you cover and someday Destiny 3 will be out and I want to see you cover that
I'm kinda the opposite to a lot of the comments. I'll play other games for a bit but then they always seem to get kinda boring or stale quickly. Then I start D2 back up again and I'm like wow, this is still so so good. Even with the flaws you just can't beat the gameplay.
Once upon a time, I played daily. At one point, I was running two accounts actively. One year I got the Solstice shirt on both and it damn near cost me my relationship with my wife. I dumped countless hrs into this game, was up on all the lore. After Lightfall, something happened. My whole outlook on Destiny changed. I no longer cared to max out my season pass, or even do weekly ritual activities. Nowadays I haven't even started the current season. Totally oblivious to current lore and have no idea what the current meta is. I'm starting today but I've been saying that for weeks now. I branched off and went back to Division 2 and fell back in love. Started a new character on Skyrim and plan on getting Helldivers 2. I'm not walking away just yet, but anybody that knows me can tell you, this ain't what they're used to seeing. I can honestly say that I don't feel guilty for playing other games like I used to. Is this truly the end? 😢
I felt this to my core, I also recently stepped away and am exploring such a vibrant library of rpgs and metroidvanias on switch, scratching a different itch I didn't know I still needed. Hopped back on this past weekend to try the new sandbox in pvp, and even though I did enjoy myself after a lengthy break away from destiny, I was glad I could turn it off and hop back in to Bravely Default 2 or Dead cells when I started to feel that pvp rage again lol, I went from hours upon hours, every bit of my gaming life spent in Destiny, it made me forget why I game. I will always run some matches in the crucible, even after final shape, but u 100% right, there shouldn't only be 1 game. Awesome video my dude.
The biggest reason for why I stepped away is because they gutted my entire build that I spent the better part of 2 years making. With solar 2.0 removing the warlock charged healing grenades and the removal of warmind cells my fantasy inspired pyro battle mage build was destroyed. I had spent months grinding for the right armor, weapons and mods to create something that felt unique and fun. Hard hitting bow, a glave in my energy slot and the perfectly rolled trials sword so that im consistently spawning warmind cells. My mods built out for self and team healing on explosion only to multiply cells upon explosion. A dual use healing and damaging grenade on full up time as well as a set of orb generators so that im always ready to pop wells. This build took me up to the release of Witch Queen to finish then a few months later they gutted the most important parts of it. I have no motivation to make a new build after this. I'll play Final Shape then I'm done with the game for good. It sucks.
I mained Destiny since the D1 beta came out, and finally gave it up a couple weeks after lightfall came out. I still jump on time to time to send out clan invites (site never works for me) but that's about it. I just get inundated with 7+ pop ups about all the same shit that I've already played and done, plus whatever latest expansion they're trying to sell. I can't get myself to play it anymore. The same tedious seasonal grind. The dripfed story. The constant rotation of doing X activity X amount of times per character, per week. The games foundation is solid, the gunplay phenomenal. They just aren't innovating enough, and it's been that way for years. I had enough and moved on to other games, permanently.
You hit all the right notes Nomad. Honestly I spent probably 20+ hours a week on D2 for years. But eventually I just felt like I was falling behind on everything else while playing D2. Now, I come back to it every few weeks or for at least a few hours every week. And I fall in love with the gameplay all over again, but I don't get so into it I become addicted again. D2 has been here since 2017, and so many other games have come out in that time. Trying to only stick with D2 now isn't good for anyone IMO. I still love the destinations, the atmospheres, the gameplay, style, and all that. But the passion I had for it as definitely gone past it's prime, and I have slowly detached myself. Honestly, The Final Shape will probably be my last DLC as well. I want to see the ending to the story, and unless some big changes happen in the game's system and everything, IDK if I can continue afterwards since I have a lot more on my plate now than I did when the game launched.
As someone who trys to avoid looking at destiny community conversations about the game I can agree with your findings the game in the right moment is really good and that's what keeps me playing, and by avoiding the negativity I can focus on what I like about it and keep it for me.
Nomad, thank you for everything. I'm glad I have had the opportunity to meet you online. Your content has always been great with your different takes on the decisions and community. But, eventually all games get to a point where it just isn't the same as it once was. Anyways, no matter where content creation takes you, I will remain a loyal viewer. Besides, you can't get rid of us that easily ;)
Sometimes these things are about the journey. For I & many others TFS will be our last chapter, but I like to think our legend will live on. Imagine a blueberry many years from now, questioning who were the guardians that defied The Witness & preserved the Light beyond. Makes it a little easier to hang up the gauntlets.
I haven’t played in 6 months. Stopped right on September 1st. I’ve picked up FF XIV instead and omg I’m loving it. Theres an insane story that keeps me wanting to go back for “one more quest” before logging off for the night. The onboarding system makes it so easy to learn the game, and there’s an immense amount of depth to it that is highlighting how shallow some of the systems are in D2.
Its funny tbh. I started with Destiny 1 and consider myself a massive, MASSIVE casual. I quit Destiny 1 after the initial grind fest. Came back for destiny 2 initially and basically immediately quick back when there was a leveling system. I ended up coming back for beyond light extremely casually. I ended up day 1'ing witch queen after seeing the hype and pre-ordered lightfall only to quit before even actually starting the story for lightfall.
After that I thought I was done. It was always the grind that would turn me away.
After Lightfall I got into ARPG's like PoE and sunk in over a thousand hours into it. Recently took a hiatus from PoE and tried helldivers, and then from helldivers went to exoprimal, about 20 hours in warframe which led me back to.....
The thing about Destiny from a casuals perspective is that there really isnt any other pve shooter that feels as good. Not Helldivers, Not Exoprimal, not Warframe.
Trust me when I say I totally understand the absolute frustration and rage from the hardcore/end game players of the game (being I'm a hardcore end gamer in PoE).
But when you look at it from shiny noob lenses, from a newcomer, or just a fresh set of eyes, D2 is an absolute banger of a game. It just feels so damn good.
It really is a shame all the stuff that needs to be improved especially for people who want to main the game.
The model of the game is really difficult to pull off. You cant have seasonal content that feeds you bread crumbs in an ARPG and expects you to keep coming back with such an absolute RNG fest of a run.
Thats where a game like PoE shines. Yes there is extremely rare loot. But there is a trade system and there is ways for you to get the stuff. The "seasons" have you reset your character completely. There technically is an overarching story for the game as well even though you are resetting and making a new character every time.
Idk how to explain it. Like yes (even from my very own perspective) I know the end game for D2 has let a lot of people down. But man when you leave and come back to it as a casual you can truly appreciate the gunplay they have for the game. It really is a bittersweet disappointment of a game.
Bittersweet because you know the unequivocal potential, and where it solidifies itself in one aspect. But then you think about the other passionate dev teams of other studios, and how if they got their hands on a goldmine like D2 (Helldivers team, Larian, Fromsoft etc.) they would put their absolute all into it. They would add all kinds of new species, subclasses, lore, loot etc. Obviously the comparison is incomprehensible. I'm just saying you can tell that bungie as a company just fell to corporate greed and it shows in their games. Developers at the end of the day are at the mercy of the people that have stake in the company.
Reading up on the state of D2 (after having about 50 hours in the game this past week) its really so sad. The devs have been begging the overlords of bungie to allow them to fix the game to bring players back.
At the end of the day Bungie is just another corp in a sea of corps that decided to screw the devs, screw making a good game, and screw their fans that supported them in making them as huge as they actually are.
Bruh the outro fade-in timing hit HARD. Great video and insights, as always, but DANG.
:)
My entire friend group and I fell out of D2. I played AC6 and HL and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed playing them. Not to sound dramatic, but I think dropping D2 actually gave me drive I thought I'd lose. I think it was just buried underneath my burnout and the jaded apathy D2 gave me
I’ve stopped playing Destiny for around 2 years now, and stepping away has really made it clear to me just how much the game hasn’t changed. I don’t see myself ever coming back, the current Bungie management isn’t committed to making fun games, they’re committed to getting people into the microtransaction store and making the bare minimum amount and quality of content. It’s actually kinda crazy to think that D1 used to have no microtransactions, I wonder what path this series would be on if they were never introduced and management never had people like Justin Truman who were convinced that avoiding making the best content they could was a good idea.
Definitely my favorite narrative you have created so far. I have been dipping in and out of your content since I tried to follow the Crucible Doctor tips to improve my abysmal PvP gameplay, and I fell out of love with your work due to the insidious negativity that was prevalent and ubiquitous in D2 coverage for too long. Wasn’t just you, it was everyone - including D2 superfans, biting firmly at the hands that were putting bread on their table.
Your work has been much more objective of late, and while I am saddened by some of your conclusions, it is evident they come from a balanced and grounded place and I can have nothing but respect for them.
As for myself, I always look at the positive aspects of D2 and in my self centered opinion, they outweigh the negatives. I suspect we are past the peak of D2, and while hope The Final Shape will be the opus in the D2 saga, I am prepared for it to be just OK. And it will give me hundreds of hours of escapism and great moments with the fireteam I play with regardless.
Wishing you lots of unbiased objectivity and positive experiences along your journey. See you starside.
As someone who left over the sunsetting I am increasingly happy with my decision every time I check back and see what shenanigans they're up to recently. They ruined my favorite franchise and Bungle will never see another cent from me.
Congratulations my good sir. I quit right before which queen and haven’t turned back
Lesson 2 describes the show RWBY better than any of the 100 two hour long video essays. Really the entire video applies to a shocking degree.
mine is the remove content and lore totally wasted by bungie in EACH season, and also removing the Red War....
What i did recently that made me realize the current state if destiny 2 is a mess (i haven't played since witch queen) was hopping on destiny 1 LAST NIGHT and seeing the tower filled with people, new and old, it was a beautiful thing to see honestly
Had 5k hours in d1, but decided to quit when d2 came out. I had my reasons, but "jumping off point" is the gist of it. I was eventually convinced to play a bit of d2 by my then girlfriend, and have since been an on and off player. This most recent comeback was to accompany a friend for the final shape, and the end of destiny as we see it. I'm currently having a lot of fun with it. I'll remember this game fondly.
i feel this now more than ever. i've stopped playing since they announced content vaulting. Forsakem and its subsequent DLCs have been the most fun ive ever had in the entirety of my time playing D2 similar to how age of triumph was for me in D1. I'd rather stop playing and hold onto what good memories i have of the game in the state that i loved it the most, rather than chase the fleeting idea of unfulfilled/unrealized potential that D2 has become. I've moved on.
I took a 4 month break and only came back recently to finish the seasonal story since I already paid for it. That time away, i was so much happier than when i was actively playing the game. Even now i only feel neutral or bad after i finish playing. The spark is just gone
Taking breaks is the best thing Ive ever done for myself and my love of Destiny. Last time I took a full season break, and when I came back i jumped into a seasonal activity with randoms. I was taken aback when i got that old "yes! Take that alien scum! My fireteam and i will destroy you! (Insert firey elmo meme)" I was having FUN again!
Take breaks, stay healthy, and eyes up, guardians.
I just came back several days ago after 5+ months away. With no expectations or worries about fomo, I just wanted to play and for the first time in a while, I'm having fun. The new Fireteam Finder has helped with that immensely.
But you are spot on about it being part of a rotation instead of a "the only game". I think the world itself is fighting back against live service, engagement based games. You saw it with WoW, you are seeing it with Sony and their failure with live service. Games like Helldivers, Last Epoch, Bdalur's Gate 3, and the slew of other great games that came out this year gave us options we were lacking in previous years.
It's honestly what the video game industry needed. Sadly, the corporations who own these companies are using it as an excuse to lay off record amounts of people, but I feel they are shooting themselves in the foot.
I learned some of these lessons when my dad passed back in 2020. I stopped gaming pretty much as a whole for about 2 years. And when I heard about Witch queen, I was STOKED. Eris is my favorite character and I was so friggin excited she was FINALLY getting her time in the spotlight. I was looking forward to the story missions to running the story with my friends that I have been playing with since TTK in D1.
But I ended up running the missions and the story solo because my friends were just… not enjoying it. Or speed running (which in their defense is what they do and they struggle to slow down lol)
These lessons are hard to learn and experience. But it’s important that they are.
Very well worded, articulated, and thought out. ♥️
I've been playing Destiny since Destiny 1 and like many who have had Destiny as their main game I too have had burnouts where all I was doing all day every day was play the game and complain about it at the same time.
Good video. You've made some good points.
PS: I've followed many Destiny RUclipsrs over the years but you've only just come up in my feed recently. I clicked off the first video I watched of yours because I couldn't get over seeing your bed in the background of your videos. A young gamer kid in his bedroom is one thing, but a grown man making gaming vids with his bed clearly in the picture just gives off a sad and creepy AF vibe in my opinion (but hey, that's just my opinion!).
For me, stepping away from destiny 2 showed me how much I love the game. I started a new character and experienced the campaigns all over again. I fell in love all over again.
A lot of wise words here , I'm going to be thinking about this a lot
11:32 I'm realizing this right here is the biggest factor that led to me finally just throwing it in the bin. Not even just the vaulted content, but also taking away experiences - power creep trivializes pve, and the only real challenges there now are self-imposed, especially compared to when GMs and master raids first launched. PvP's social experience is LONG gone due to matchmaking among other things. The list goes on, and saying anything more will just go down the entire cycle of negativity.
The experiences we loved that the game offered us are just frankly no longer available. The game's evolved into something for a completely different audience than those who've been playing for years, and it's time to (mostly) shelve it.
One of the things that made me fall off was realizing that the whole "this game has so much potential" and "were playing for what the game could be" stuff has been being said since 2014 and it never stopped after 10 years.
One extreme: bloody murder
Other extreme: rainbows and butterflies
Middle ground: bloody butterflies 🩸 🦋
man's out here giving some of the most real advice for just about everything in life while talking about destiny 2
I stopped playing the game over a year ago and I have never been especially tempted to turn back. It’s so cleansing. I still appreciate the community I was a part of and I love my two raid jackets still but my time with Destiny is just done, and that’s alright with me.
Great share. Found the "middle ground". "Welcome".
You saying that you were trying to recreate those fun times blew my mind. That's exactly it. It might be like 80% of D2 for me. D1 was the first online multiplayer game I actually enjoyed, and I'm chasing that experience of Gjallarhorn dropping, my first Atheon clear, etc. Then in D2 the first experience I had that was close to that was getting Whisper of the Worm from the secret mission, The Last Wish raid, and then the Rhulk raid. That's really it. Those things are amazing and I have no real comparable experiences from other game, don't get me wrong! I think the gaming community as a whole is fed up with live service games.
Super well spoken; I agree with every point mentioned. To the premise of your first "Lesson", I wholeheartedly can say the same for myself. Whenever I log into Destiny, I tend to spend my time aimlessly drifting in the void of space, watching my ship in orbit... I think to myself 'wow, remember when this game was fun?'. And so, I reminisce. I started playing in Season of Arrivals full time, having first learned of the game the season prior. I knew very little and took far too long a time to become adjusted to all of the activities and mechanics at the time, but eventually got very into raiding. The people I played with initially never taught me what exactly a "raid" was, or that it was more than just one boss encounter. Due to this unfortunate miss in learning, I didn't ever get to do a full run of Scourge or Crown before the great content vaultening. I feel like I did miss out on a lot during that time, as I scrambled to try and finish as many activities and triumphs as I could before their removal from the game. This being said, the things that I *did* get to experience are memories that I'd never forget. The guy who taught me Leviathan had such an incredible spirit. His sense of humor and method of incorporating relatability and comedy into his mechanic-teaching practices was so enjoyable. He is the whole reason that I went on to teach other people raids for so long. It's not as many as some other folks, but I have 258 Deep Stone clears, 90 being sherpas. I love that raid. When I say that, though, I'm often met with a combative "But that raid isn't hard." I said clearly that it was FUN, not CHALLENGING. I loved learning every little thing about DSC after it came out; every exact timer, optimal strategies, studying the things that make the raid go smoothly and implemented them into my runs. I'd hoped to do a lot more sherpas for that raid in particular, but I got too sick to keep up my constant carries every day, so I stopped. teaching raids, to me, is one of the most truly fulfilling experience I've had in D2. To those I've taught (not just DSC) to... people who actually *listen* and ask questions, and get involved and aren't afraid to fail their role because I'd let them have another go, those people have truly made memories for me. I never like when someone refuses to partake in mechanics and ONLY do ad clear. I always made a point that I'd be there as long as they needed to in order to get through the encounter, and intentionally taught each member how to do as much as possible so they had the confidence to go on without me. Such a rewarding thing to have a part in. I've even met people in LFGs who have told me stories about how they recognise me because I taught them XYZ raid, and they've gone on to teach others the same way. That shit means something to me. I always think back on each of those times... I miss when every encounter felt positive. Now it's just LFGs grumbling about how awful the game is, groveling about how much they hate it, simultaneously whilst playing it.
The Destiny content community has gotten so stale and repetitive, revolving mostly around negativity. A vast majority of videos nowadays are focused solely on complaints. Sure, anger and pain can be POWERFUL motivators, but in this context, it doesn't create that driving spirit. It doesn't encourage anyone to play, it doesn't make anybody want to innovate and make fun content. Outside of just the state of the game, the community seemingly is of a dimmer light too. but we're fed up with Bungie, and that's the root of the issue, so it's to be expected. When the game does bad, the fanbase does too. There's so few creators bothering to make creative content, most opting to just report on the news for the members of their audience that begrudgingly still check in with the game once in a while. I completely understand and totally RESPECT not wanting to further fuel this abysmally depressing train they're all riding on. The fact, too, that creating content is the sole income that most Streamers/RUclipsrs have, they've sort of trapped themselves. It's not *entirely* their fault, but having no escape plan or backup job or qualifications is a daunting thought. We've seen a lot of creators in the D2 space recently take a dive into variety content in panic as we await The Final Shape. They have no choice at this point, not just because Destiny is "coming to a close", but because even whilst it carries on, it's not exactly thriving. Either go full variety, or roll in the shit with everyone else. And most of them do! We've all been encapsulated by this negativity, the best thing to do is just move aside. Branch out, even if not for content creation. Go play other things, seriously. Or, the old classic that not enough people listen to... "Go touch grass". Walk your dog. Enjoy life.
I, too, have taken a step back, prioritizing my mental and physical health as I've gone through so much BS that wasn't being helped by the way that Destiny doesn't make me feel RELAXED any more. I'm not confident that it will ever go back, which pains and saddens me deeply, as I truly love Destiny. From the moment I first jumped in, back on the Tangled Shore, I was utterly enamored. I fell head over heels for this game, despite having never played D1. The atmosphere, the design, the true uniqueness it always had... Gambit!? Gosh, Gambit, my beloved... How you've fallen... I unfortunately come from the Land Down Under, and the PvP matchmaking is less than passable. It takes me 20-40 minutes to find a match every single time, often resulting in a timeout error due to struggling to find players on this area's servers. Due to this, even if I WANTED to play PvP, despite all of it's recent shortcomings and poor performance within the community, I can't even resort to that aspect of the game when PvE is lacking. But that love is still very much in tact, just bruised. Time may heal and bring it back to life, but for now, we settle for this. I love Destiny, hell, I edit my own clips on it. I wouldn't represent it if I'd fully turned away. I wouldn't waste energy just screaming bitterly into the void on social media, whining about the good old days or bashing anyone that still actively plays and enjoys the game. I do log in every so often, and I do have a semi-decent time. That's not exactly ideal, but I hunger for the Destiny. I crave the Destiny. and I reckon that I always will.
Fully agreed. Played the game since Destiny 1's Beta and in recent years, I had such a toxic attachment to the game, even when it was very clear that it was not hitting the same as it used to. In the end, it turned out walking away from it was the best decision I could've made. The Final Shape will almost certainly be my final stint in the game and I think it's safe to say we'd all love to see the light and darkness saga go out with a bang. Like yourself, I've made so many friends throughout my time playing this game, many of whom I'm still regularly in contact with and often game with on other games.
Quitting Destiny 2 a couple years ago has been the best thing. So many great games to play.
As a primarily solo player who only plays 3-6 months a year I’ve actually been enjoying Destiny 2 more than I ever have. I understand that’s not how most of the community engages with this game. The build crafting has more options and is more satisfying than it ever has been.
Great video. I’ve been doing a similar detox myself, and I just had a baby. Got on for the first time last night and ran around for an hour with the buddies, it just wasn’t hitting. I felt myself wishing I was spending time on anything else. As nice as it was to hang with the guys for a bit, the game wasn’t as fulfilling as it used to be. At 36, I’m starting to come to terms with the best days of this game being behind me, and that’s ok. There are still so many other games, other media, other experiences to be had in my life, and Destiny just doesn’t get to dominate my life anymore. It’s tough, but kind of freeing to admit that. All that being said, I love to watch videos, and your content has always been awesome, and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Keep up the great work.
After 4000 hours pvp I can say I made some players so angry that they left in the middle of the game, they scream, cry, they broke controller, mouse, monitor, keyboard. All these are my triumphs, my motivation to keep playing this game.
9:48 I know it's overused but I REALLY expected to step into a war with the cabal on Mars
I feel like I’m going insane because i still really enjoy d2, especially casual PvP. I’ve never lost that joy
I needed to watch this video today. I really feel what you’re saying.
I decided to step away, I’m not the best player but it seems I’ve forgotten why I played. I was getting mad when PvP wasn’t going my way, and I’d log off in an awful mood.
It’s a game and it’s supposed to be fun. Somewhere along the way I’ve forgotten that so maybe it’s time to move on.
Thank you, I’m going to be checking out the titles you’ve mentioned.
Hope you’re doing well and thank you for all you’ve done for the community
tbh ive stepped away several times.... its taught me that stepping away is critical to enjoying destiny with my clan on the weekends. And from the lack of logins my clan is making, it appears they realized it to... and this is all at a time we're stepping into higher tier content with RAIDS and Dungeons. And i think that says a lot about the state of Destiny when the ones who wanted to experience the end game, are checking out mentally as they delve into it. I seen in the comments someone saying "he touched grass" But touching grass doesnt necessarily mean you logged out and went outside and enjoyed reality... it could be that you realized there's other games out there, that are jus more deserving of your time