Board Thread:Destiny Forum/@comment-68.226.106.213-20141109034512/@comment-25548717-20141109225800

1. A working PvP matching system - i.e. one that doesn't result in most matches I attend having 1 or at most 2 players taking 90+% of the kills, while the rest of the participants serve as fodder...

2. A more reasonable levelling system for armour and weapons that does not artificially restrict progress by severely limiting access to i.e. Ascendant Shards or Ascendant Energy...

3. In replacement for the more generous proliferation of upgrade options, allow weapons and armour to degrade [to a limit] with time. In other words, if you take a lot of damage in a bout, have your armour generally degrade by say a max of 15-20%. Then require a player to repair armour using materials that they salvage from scrapping other non-wanted armour, and/or buying spare parts from a trader in the Tower.

4. A divergence in the game tracks to remove ALL dependency on a player having to complete either Crucible Matches and/or the Plot and/or Strikes in order to complete weapons or armour upgrades. If you want to force me to play parts of a game that I don't enjoy [PvP] I'll stimply stop playing the game in it's entirety - plenty more to choose from...

5. The game is already suitably non-liinear, but I wonder if it would be possible to extend it with a bit more of a puzzle/bounty aspect to it. In other words, have pickup/rewards at the end of some of the missions that a player can combine in different ways of their choosing, allowing them to customise their character, armour and weaponry. I like the idea of having to explore the map, figure things out... I like the idea of a game that rewards a player for thinking about what they are doing, not merely shooting everything that moves...

6. A bit of a different one for you... How about a series of maps based in the Asteroid Belt [make them part of the story liine with the Queen of the Reef]. Except rather than make entirely linear maps, how about having a series of map containers - space capsules - that are moving under some kind of process. The idea is that capsule units may "meet" and "join" with other units based on some kind of orbiting or rotating pattern, and the player has to move between sections during a docking window, which only stays open for certain lengths of time. Some capsules might get holed and decompress [bad], while others may be infested with a particularly huge number of enemy - and you may not know in advance what you're about to enter until it's too late. [ Ever see that movie, "The Cube"?]

And some odd thoughts on your suggestions...

2. New Sparrows and Ships... I already have 9 ships, and apart from changes in the cut scene animation, they bring zero value. Not sure I need any more. Sparrows may be worth a bit more effort... Suggest refining them into craft that are slower but with better armour and some weaponry, or faster units with little/no armour/weapons, so the player can choose their ride based on mission parameters...

3. More Earth Zones. Yes Please! I have to say that the Shipyards maps are stunning, as is the artwork [better than the other 3 locations] so I'd love Bungie to open up that map and include more areas. Yes Please Bungie! Do it...

4. Yes, let's extend the Sparrows. Please see my comments to your second point, above.

5. New Weapons. Sure, why not. I do think the existing selection is well thought through, though I'd like to see a little more distinction between the weapon classes, to be honest. In other words, the shorter-range weapons should have much more prounced range of effects against different enemies. Examples:-

Shotguns and pistols against Fallen

Pulse Rifles against the Vex (plasma weapon against machinery, right?)

And so on...

6. Adaptable and non-Linear AI... This might be hard to describe. At the moment the AI enemy in the game are pretty one-dimensional in terms of the way that they behave. For example, in a lot of cases you can chase down a Dreg on foot, and, having caught them, they will try to strike you. If that fails, they will often just stand there, looking sheepish, until you punch their lights out... I'd like the enemy to have the capability to explore the maps a bit. I'd like to see some of them have the intelligence to "out-flank" a player.

Now for your more awesome/unreasonable ideas...

1. New playable races. I don't think that's unreasonable. For example, a future DLC could extend the game beyond the solar system to other stars with new races - maybe a resistance movement fighting the Fallen/Vex/Cabal from elsewhere in our galaxy.

2. Companions. Sorry, going to disagree with you there. To get a better result, Bungie could put more work into multiplayer, so that it's easier for us to play with friends on line.

3. Space Battles. Hmm... I like the idea, but is this taking the game beyond it's core offering? i.e. Turning a first-person-shooter into something compeltely different. It's not a bad idea, to be honest, but if I had to suggest how Bungie spend an expansion budget for the game, it would not be on this...

4. Player housing. Um. Don't take this the wrong way, but after reading your 1st, 2nd and this awesome idea, I could not help but start thinking "Skyrim in Space?"

5. Craftable weapons... I think you answer your own point here. To be fair, this exists to an extent today, with the idea that each baseline weapon can be upgraded. However, I do have a major issue with the ABSOLUTELY INSANE amount of Ascendant "X" that weapons and armour need to be fully upgraded. If this is the only way that Bungie can build longevity into the game, then shame on them.

And my completely unreasonable hope? That Bungie will rescind their current requirement for you to have PSN membership to play so much of the game. I don't mind them insisting on that for PvP matches in the crucible, but including it with Strikes, and then restricting things like Ascendant Shards to strike missions basically means that it is impossible to progress fully in the game unless you're willing to pay out for PSN membership. That clearly wasn't an essential part of the game design, but something Bungie did in order to get some backroom deal out of Sony. This is nothing short of financial, money-grabbing nonsense. So: shame on Bungie, but how about rescinding some of those design decisions.

Good post - fun thought exercise. Thanks.