I’ve been writing about video games for over three years. I’ve been playing them for way longer. And never have I seen so many people wishing for a game to fail as I’ve seen with Destiny. Go to websites, forums, your local pub, and you’re bound to encounter at least a couple people waiting to chastise you for being a fan of Destiny.
Why, though? I get it; Destiny may not have been the game you’d hoped it be. It was so hyped prior to release that Bungie could never attain those levels of expectations. That’s valid, I guess. Maybe it’s because it’s a AAA blockbuster. Maybe it’s because of Activision, and it’s cool to hate Activision. Maybe because it’s Bungie and not a Halo game. Maybe it’s the idea that a game with a $500 million budget should be expected to be flawless.
Whatever the case, people love hating on Destiny. And it really has nothing to do with the gameplay. Most complaints I see are about the content, or lack thereof. As I’ve said in the past, games like Destiny — ones with MMO elements — will grow over time. So that issue will hopefully be resolved as future content add-ons and expansions are released.
Instead, though, it’s cool to hate on Destiny. It's cool to see the big blockbuster crumble under its own weight. It seems like people want the game to flop. Why? I keep asking why and not answering because, frankly, I don’t have an answer. I enjoy the game. Do I agree that it can get repetitive? Absolutely. Are there things I would change? In a heartbeat; I’ve got an entire list of baffling decisions made by Activision that I want to see fixed.
I get that Destiny may not have lived up to your expectations. That’s fair. It isn't a perfect game by any means, but why are we rooting for it to fail? Now that I think about it, why do we root for any game to fail? It does nothing for the industry but costs people jobs. Do you really want that?
If you're one of those people who bought into the hype early on, only to be disappointed by the final product, then you should be hoping to see improvements rather than just give up on Bungie. You've already spent the money; it's not costing you anything to wait to see what develops over the course of a year. You'd rather trade it in for something like 30 percent of what you spent? Give it time.
It’s fair to provide constructive criticism towards a game, but the constant harping on it that I see over and over does nothing for gamers, the developers, or the publishers. This applies to all games too, not just Destiny. Critique it. Give your feedback, but make it constructive. Make your comments mean something instead of just calling a game a flop, whining about your pre-order, and boasting about how you’re going to trade it in for GameStop credit.
