WestofHouse

I finally got into a Drop Zone match last night. I enjoyed that more than the Walker Assault mode. For some reason the hit detection and shooting felt better in that mode, but maybe that is because the map is more condensed and fighting is closer, or perhaps I was just getting more accustomed to the weapons. Still, this game just feels like a Playstation 1 shooter to me, and I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it is because it the lack of classes, skills, and meager weapon selection. Those factors will certainly limit replay value for me. And don't get me started on the grenade spamming. Grenades shouldn't recharge. You should start out with one or two and that's it until you respawn.

I fired it up last night. The mode I played the most was “You have lost connection to the EA servers.” I never was able to connect to a Drop Zone match, but I got in a couple of Walker Assault matches. My early thoughts: 1) It looks and sounds gorgeous. Hey, I'm in Star Wars! 2) All multiplayer FPS games reward teamwork, but Walker Assault requires it for the rebels because the Empire has such a big advantage. I don't know how many times I heard "Focus all your fire on the AT-AT!" only to find myself the only one firing at the AT-AT. 3) The number of shots it takes to kill someone is too damn high. I'm not expecting one-shot-kills as seen in the films, but three or four shots should do it, especially from a laser rifle. 4) I only flew once -- a TIE -- and it ended in disaster. 5) I like the way they incorporate the heroes, but they should have devised a better way for them to "die." Just having Luke kneel down in the snow looks pretty ridiculous. 6) Driving and firing an AT-AT was just shy of orgasmic. Overall I enjoy it, but I'm second-guessing my pre-order a bit. I need to experience the other modes before making a judgement, but after the initial excitement of being in the SW universe wore off it felt like a slightly above-average shooter.

The beta is now out for XB1, PS4, and PC! I'm downloading it now to my XB1 (a little over 7GB). I watched a bit of the streaming event the other day on Twitch. I certainly looks and sounds gorgeous. I can't wait to experience the game play.

Are the sword and other like items necessary or just achievements that hardcore players can hang their hat on? If the latter it won't bother me to be without them.

The difference with 2.0 is now there is a lot more content to do and longer to play before reaching the grinding point. In Destiny 1.0 it took me less than two weeks to complete all the story missions and reach the XP level cap of 20. I've played longer than that now and still haven't finished all the story missions, let alone the strikes that feature matchmaking. Why Bungie refuses to implement some form of matchmaking for raids or more social interaction in the Tower continues to baffle me. On the other hand, from what I've read the raids require communication for success, and I've yet to find a single person using a mic in the strikes I've been on with random partners. But allowing some form of communication in the Tower would allow you to find others with mics. Believe me, when it gets grindy I'll be gone. But even though I've hit the level 40 cap and am working on light level I'm still having fun. Fellow AAer Charlie from this thread has partnered up with me a few times, and that, more than anything, is what makes the game fun.

The good news is I finally got my first exotic. The bad news is I completely missed the rewards at the end of the first Prison of Elders strike because I had no idea what to do, and by the time I dropped all the way down to the platform with the Queen's chests the mission timer expired. Grr. The exotic I got is the Crest of Alpha Lupi chest piece. It doesn't have the stats I want but it will do until I luck into something better.

If there is anyone who has worse luck with engram drops than I do I would love to meet them. I'm level 40, have put it almost 20 hours, and have yet to even sniff an exotic weapon. Today I took on Oryx and beat the bastard all by myself with nothing but a hand cannon, grenades, one special, and two rockets (thanks to no heavy ammo available through most of the battle). I used a Three of Coins before the mission to increase my chances of getting an exotic drop. Did I get one? No. But at least I got a nice legendary item as a consolation prize, right? No. I've now used six Three of Coins and beat six ultras with absolutely bugger all to show for it.

I loved the original Fallout and its turn-based combat. I bought Fallout 3 for the PC but just couldn't get into it. I loved the world and atmosphere, but I think it was the combat I didn't like. IIRC it seemed like it wanted to be an FPS but didn't quite make it there. I'm very intrigued by 4, though, but definitely not enough to pre-order it. I look forward to all of your reviews.

Ok, thanks. Muting my HT receiver would be easy enough. As long as I get both game and chat audio through the headset that would be fine.

For the new controllers with the built-in 3.5in headset jack, if I plug in a stereo headset/mic combo will the Xbox cut off HDMI audio to my HT system and deliver all game and voice audio through the headset? Sometimes I like to play quietly without waking the family, so I connect standard headphones to my HT receiver to hear game audio, but then I can't use the chat headset.

I decided to play a round of Crucible last night just for giggles before logging off. I stink at PVP but still enjoy it a bit. One of the options on the map last night was Mayhem, which looked fun, so I chose that one. I don't know what got into me but I was in a zone. I played better than I've played in any PVP match in any game. I was running around like a madman, killing everything in sight. At one point I had an 8-kill streak. My stats in the match: Score: 29300 (highest score on either team) Kills: 23 (next highest on either team was 18) K/D Ratio: 2.09. And I did that with a non-upgraded rare Steppe-AR3 auto rifle (166 attack). I did get one kill with my new Vestian Dynasty legendary sidearm just because I wanted to try it, and one kill with a heavy weapon. Now I never want to play PVP again because I'll never top that. That was...AWESOME.

That would be fantastic. Thanks! I added you on Live. I usually play on evenings and weekend, Eastern time. I'll keep an eye out for you. Oh, and FWC for the win!

I usually enjoy PVP in shooters, even though I'm not very good. But I prefer a more level playing field. I think I'll wait until I get a respectable weapon or two before really getting into it. But some of the crucible bounties are quite doable even for a scrub such as me.

I'll tell you when I get there. I still have a long way to go. I'm still level 31 with only 146 light. Last night was an exercise in frustration for me. I tried to do the story mission called Wolves' Gambit. That's the one where you have to jump down to the Vault of Glass area and destroy orbs. I kept dying over and over for no apparent reason. It wasn't until I did some research this morning that I learned you have to destroy each orb within a certain amount of time or you will die. It would have been nice to have some hint of that in the game. I also tried a few PVP matches. I know that level advantages are eliminated in the crucible, but weapon advantages obviously aren't. When everyone is running around with legendary weapons that can practically one-shot-kill you it isn't very fun. I'm bad at PVP to begin with, but my dinky level 30 weapon doesn't make it any easier. Basically I run around and die repeatedly until my super is charged, at which point I can finally get a kill or two.

Cool, thanks. I added you. I'm a member of Gunslingers, too, but I haven't been on in ages. Back when I joined I was still on PS3 and almost no one there was playing the same games I was. I'll have to reintroduce myself. I made it to level 21 last night, so I'm making good progress.

Yep, I joined that one, and the100, and Reddit Fireteams.

My first week back in Destiny has been equal parts fun, frustration, and confusion. It's great that Bungie made leveling easier for solo players, but it seems we new/returning players have to run solo whether we like it or not. Despite joining three different Destiny communities and a clan I can't find anyone who is doing anything other than high-level raids. Finding people who are running low-level quests has been impossible. I do okay unless I try the Crota missions from Eris. I got killed five times trying to beat Crota's Fist, despite being three levels above suggested for it. I've been listening to Destiny podcasts and reading forums, and the discussion is dominated by level 40s doing TTK content, and although all their words are English I have no idea what they are talking about most of the time. I hear references to infusing weapons, marks, and other things I've yet to experience in game. Aside from those issues I'm enjoying the rock-solid gameplay again.

Ah! I had forgotten that. Thanks. Basically all I remember from last year is what the bad guys look like and how to shoot them. I've been Binging (is that the Bing equivalent to "Googling"?) things such as "Destiny what level to join a faction?" and "Destiny best faction for titans." Do I recall correctly that Bungie changed voice chat options last year sometime? I remember there was no chat available for pickup groups in strikes when I played.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Taken are in the Cosmodrome on Earth. I didn't think I'd see them until I got into that expansion, but I ran into a few of them while doing level 3 patrols last night. Has matchmaking for the crucible improved at all in 2.0? I already got a crucible quest but I know if I end up in a match full of level 40s I'd be lucky to get a single kill.

Well, I'm back in the saddle again. I created a new guardian -- a titan -- last night and started from the very beginning. I decided against using the Spark of Light to jump to level 25 because I don't want to skip everything I missed after level 20 when I quit last year. Plus I need the tutorial from the early levels again since it has been so long since I've played. I chose the auto rifle as my first weapon since it got a nice little boost with the 2.0 patch. I'll probably try a pulse rifle next. Last year when I played as a warlock my favorite was the scout rifle for damage and accuracy from a distance, but as a titan I'll be doing more up close fighting. Last year when Destiny was released I only had a PS3, so it's nice getting the graphics upgrade now that I'm on Xbox One. My main gripe so far is that the "Taken King Legendary Edition" game disc seems to contain only the base game, therefore all the expansions need to be downloaded. When you bring it home be prepared to wait for a 30GB or so download before you can start playing. Guh.

Thanks for the report. That all looks promising. Since I haven't played in a year I'd have to relearn the whole thing anyway. Most of the change logs for the 2.0 patch just confuse me because I don't know what they changed from. I think it's going to be a challenge starting over, but since I rather enjoyed the original game up to level 20 I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Let us know your thoughts after you've kicked around for a while. The most startling change I saw in Bungie's notes was the 45% damage nerf to shotguns. Wow.

Game Informer published an interesting video about Bungie's experience and reaction to Destiny through year one. It appears that they knew exactly what was wrong with the game and have attempted to correct their mistakes. "Through The Fire: How Destiny's First Year Shaped The Future"

Yes! Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is one of September's GWG selections! I played that on the PS3 and enjoyed the heck out of it. It will be great to have it in my XBO collection.