Players in Destiny 2 will voraciously consume the content. Bungie knows this. Therefore, they want to prevent content droughts and satisfy players’ appetites for more content.
Destiny was known for a few things: Xur is quite the jerk, the Cryptarch turns purple engrams into blue items, and there is too little content.
In an interview with PC Gamer, developers David Shaw and Thomas Gawrys now explain how they plan to deal with the insatiable hunger of players for “more to do” in Destiny 2.
Solutions for Content Drought: The Engine, the Tools, and the Workflow
Back in the days of Destiny 1, an anonymous source stated: The engine of Destiny was not suited for quickly delivering content. It allegedly took a night just to move an object on a map.
Since then, fans know how difficult it is to build content for Destiny.
Whether Bungie has worked on the engine and tools is something the developers are not willing to reveal in the interview. The most important point is improvements to the “workflow.”
They have ensured that anyone bringing content into the game can do so better now. The studio has been restructured in recent years. However, they are not revealing exact details.
There are definitely improvements this time, but they cannot go into details.
Lost Sectors and Adventures to be Replayable
Bungie knows how insatiable the hunger of Destiny players is for more content. Even if they optimize everything, they will not be able to quickly push out game content as fast as players consume it.
Therefore, they want to make the content they have replayable. With “Adventures” and “Lost Sectors”, Bungie wants to provide players with content that is easier for developers to create than Strikes, but that still feels good and rewarding for players.
Content After Launch
Bungie is already working on game content for after the launch of Destiny 2. They have already announced a Season Pass. The plan is similar to the content updates for Destiny 1, but should run more efficiently.
The developers emphasize that this time they have help from partners – such as from the Activision studio Vicarious Visions. This is not just any junior contractor, but they take the partnership seriously. Half of the PC leadership team is at Bungie, the other half at Vicarious Vision. They work closely together and approach the problems from as many angles as possible.
Response to Engine and Tools a Bit Sparse, But Structure Likely More Important
Mein MMO thinks: As a Destiny fan, one would have wished for a different answer to the “tools and engine” question than: There are improvements, but we would rather talk about the workflow.
Nevertheless: The main improvement over Destiny 1 should be that Bungie now knows how quickly players consume game content and that they have dedicated more people to structured content delivery. The fact that employees are already working on DLCs and probably also on the expansion is good news. That was likely the trigger for the last content drought: There was simply nothing left in stock in Destiny, the content reserves were completely consumed.
With a better workflow, hopefully, a long content drought in Destiny 2 can be avoided. However, it is clear: Endless fun for people planning to spend their lives in Destiny 2 – that will not exist even in Destiny 2.
More on the topic:
Destiny 2 should not be a time sink, compatible with “real life”
