What makes Destiny so appealing? Our author Schuhmann says: It somehow lies with Luke Smith and an extraordinary biography. But hardly any fan truly appreciates it – quite the contrary: Smith is for many the scapegoat for Destiny 2.
What is the secret of Destiny? I have always had the impression that Luke Smith understands better than anyone else what players of Destiny actually want: They want the gameplay mechanics and environment of World of Warcraft mixed with the shooter gameplay and the great, juicy shell of Halo. So practically a soulmate with great inner values in the body of a supermodel.
Luke Smith once summed up his vision of what Destiny is: “Destiny is shooting aliens in the face while discussing the Oscars with your friends.” In short: social bonding meets gameplay.
But there is a bit more to a functioning Destiny:
- A great universe that offers so many possibilities
- A deep customization of your character until it works exactly as it should
- And a constant progression, a pursuit of something – actually no matter what.
All these characteristics and the understanding thereof seemed to long characterize Luke Smith’s work. But why is there so little of that reflected in Destiny 2? After all, Smith was the Game Director there, meaning he was essentially the director and the main responsible person. And why should a single individual be so important in a game, that has 700 people working on it?
A nerd plays with the cool kids
How does a WoW fan end up in the Halo studio? For many, Destiny seems to be thrown together as if from a drawing board. Destiny appears as a “commercialized brand.” Created and crafted to print money. But in the end, a WoW fan had to find his way to the Halo studio Bungie for it to become something.
Who is Luke Smith? Luke Smith has shared his life story in interviews (via gq). He was not exactly what one would call a successful person. After school and university, around 2004, he graduated with a degree in English, studied a bit of film and psychology – and he loved video games. What would come of this?
Smith let himself be tasered for an article
On the brink of poverty: Back then, Smith wrote for a local newspaper and was on the verge of poverty. He let himself be shocked for an interview with a taser to then write about his experience of what it feels like. To this day, he hears the “Click-Click-Click” of the taser, he says. He describes the experience of being tasered as “disturbing.”
Dream “Bungie”: In an interview, Smith recounts that he saw the special edition DVD of Halo 2 at the time and was totally impressed by how cool the guys at Bungie were. They were a cynical group of gamers who said, “If we don’t like something in the first 10 minutes, we’ll just turn it off.” Back then, Smith thought there was no chance for him to ever work at such a company.
Time at Kotaku was also a time of maximum WoW addiction
Professionally a “WoW player”: Later Smith wrote for several months for the online gaming site Kotaku (via YouTube), where he financed a life in which he mostly played World of Warcraft. Smith describes the time back then as “8 or 9 months of robust Warcraft playing and writing.” Like many at the time when the MMORPG was released, Smith’s life revolved around WoW. Meanwhile, he wrote for Kotaku:
“I woke up at 9 am, wrote all the stories for the morning in the first two hours, programmed the articles, lay back down, woke up again at 3 pm, made sure nothing was completely messed up, then I got something from Taco Bell, logged into World of Warcraft and played until 3 or 4 am. That was it.”
One of the top gaming journalists in the world: But Smith did his job well and received further opportunities in gaming journalism at the new site “1Up.” By 2006, he was already considered one of the 50 top gaming journalists in the world. During his time at 1Up, he primarily covered Halo. But after an offer from Bungie, Smith switched sides and ended up at the company that developed Halo and that he once thought was so cool when he was still getting tasered.
Worked his way up: The experience as a WoW junkie came in handy for him 10 years later when he was promoted to raid designer for Destiny and later even to game director. He essentially started at Bungie after a ride up and down as a gaming journalist just to write a few jokes for the internet, as he says. But little by little, Smith worked his way up the career ladder and became a game designer.
First successes with the raid, done with The Taken King
Designed the Vault of Glass: In Destiny, Smith had already become an important team member and was responsible for the raid “The Vault of Glass.” At the time, it was a kind of secret mission. Even many developers at Bungie did not know for a long time what the raid team was doing there. After it went well, and “The Vault of Glass” became a hit in Vanilla Destiny, Smith was ultimately promoted to “Creative Director” of Destiny “The Taken King.” He was now the strong man of Destiny.
WoW noticeably present in “The Taken King”: The influence of World of Warcraft on Destiny is noticeable in “The Taken King”: Tricks like time gates, delaying missions, and the desire for loot were felt in the expansion like never before. Destiny even introduced quests. The game seemed to have finally found its purpose after a difficult first year. It even received a cohesive, reasonable story.
A little play with the character: Smith is himself an enthusiastic “min-maxer,” who strives for every little bit more power for his Destiny guardians. That was most pronounced when Smith took over the leadership of The Taken King.
Rescuer of Destiny – at least responsible for the highlights
Important role in Destiny: The YouTuber Datto planned to cover Destiny like WoW before the launch. With his MMORPG experience, he would explain MMO mechanics to the unblemished shooter players on PS4 and Xbox One.
When Destiny launched, however, there was almost nothing to explain or “mysterious.” Destiny was considered a flat game with good visuals but not much to it. Only when the raid “The Vault of Glass” opened with its secrets and mechanics and players engaged with it did something for the “Destiny explainer” become available to do.
The heyday of Destiny YouTubers began with “The Taken King” – that’s when the game became profound and there was a lot to do and know:
- The raid and the Vault of Glass are considered by fans to be the two major highlights of Destiny 1. For both, Luke Smith was largely responsible.
The issue of money and the monitor
Throwing money against the monitor: The great irony of the story is that Smith has become, for many, the villain of “The Taken King.” This is because Smith also took on PR responsibilities for “The Taken King” with his experience as a journalist. In an interview, Smith found himself in a strange situation in a heated atmosphere.
While on a PR tour, he expected a casual interview, and he usually got those from the American journalists, especially when they pointed a camera at him. However, Smith also encountered a journalist from Eurogamer who conducted a written interview with him.
Pushed with questions about the price and conversion into euros and pounds, Smith talked himself into a corner. At that time, Smith flippantly said the fateful sentence: “If I could show you the gestures now, you would throw money against the monitor.” Even though “The Taken King” later exceeded fan expectations, this hung over Smith.
Later, Smith apologized for the statement: Anyone who knows him knows how he meant it and that he speaks flippantly. To everyone else, however, he must have sounded like an ass.
Destiny 2 – not as planned
Destiny 2 – the firefighter: What happened to Smith then is not entirely clear. After the end of “The Taken King,” it was clear that Smith would continue to work on Destiny in some form. But the public did not know in what capacity. The plan was probably for Smith to make the first major expansion of Destiny 2, which was still scheduled for September 2017. But from the end of 2015 to early 2016, strange things happened at Bungie:
- For example, Bungie’s CEO, Harold Ryan, suddenly stepped down and a new CEO was in place.
- The idea of Destiny as a hobby was suddenly buried, even though they had introduced Sparrow Racing back in December.
Transition: Destiny 2 was actually scheduled for September 2016. The paths had already been paved in a stream to present CJ Cowan as a new “strong man.” He had been with Bungie for 13 years as “Narrative Lead” and was probably also set to be the head of Destiny 2.
In a stream, he had already positioned Mara Sov and Eris Morn – it seemed clear: “They will be the stars of Destiny 2.” But suddenly, in April 2016, Cowan left the company, Destiny 2 had already been postponed to September 2017. Mara Sov and Eris Morn have been missing since then, and Luke Smith became the new Game Director of Destiny 2.
Is Smith only the scapegoat for Destiny 2?
Showcase figure for a project doomed to fail: From what we know, Luke Smith only took over Destiny 2 in April 2016, only about 17 months before the planned ultimate release date in September 2017. Smith then bravely went on a PR tour and did not say a word about the conflict behind the scenes. But between the lines, it could be heard that time was running out for him. For example, regarding the replacement for “Random Rolls”, it was stated that they had a great idea, but they did not know if it would make it into the game.
Destiny 2 doesn’t suit Smith: It is interesting that almost none of what made “The Taken King” excellent finds its way into Destiny 2. That same “Destiny as a hobby” has disappeared. In a podcast, Smith has quietly criticized some of the ideas – he was apparently also against changing weapon slots with Destiny 2, but he has also never openly criticized Bungie or the decisions made.
Scapegoat Smith: Luke Smith, who has done so much good for Destiny, is now more seen as a scapegoat for the problems of Destiny 2. The fact that he was the one who gave “the big announcement speech” about Destiny 2 and attended the PR appointments for the game is resented by many fans who still remember the “money against the monitor” comment. For many, Smith is the face of the crisis.
Or has Smith lost his way?
Or really the guilty one? Since we don’t know what happened behind the scenes, one can also view Smith’s role critically: After all, it seems he could not realize his creative vision. He supported the idea that Destiny 2 would become a better game by making it as broad and accessible as possible, rather than deep and somewhat cumbersome like the first part.
Working blind: Developers at Bungie complain, when they finally speak, not only about time pressure, but also about working blind. They were so focused on polishing Destiny 2 that they planed away the magic. This can be clearly seen from the outside. Yet within the studio, while developing the game, they were absolutely sure they were doing the right thing. That would be a fault of the “director” and game director, who is responsible for the overarching vision of the game.
Perhaps Smith lost his way after the success of “The Taken King,” listened too much to others, or he was simply overwhelmed with the project “Destiny 2” – having risen so quickly that it no longer worked out.
Forsaken are now being made by others
Rebuilding is being done by others: Whether one sees Smith as the guilty one or scapegoat, in any case it has become quieter around him. The “good” news about Destiny 2 is now coming from other developers at Bungie, such as Christopher Barrett, who frequently announces changes and positive reports. The expansion “Forsaken” is being directed by Steve Cotton as Game Director.
Since then, Smith has retreated from the public eye: It remains to be seen whether and what we will hear from Luke Smith in the future. Currently, Bungie is pursuing other projects: They have entered into a development deal with NetEase. It is quite conceivable that Smith will lead a new project there.
At the moment, he still tweets about Destiny, but he has clearly stepped back. How much input Smith still gives to Destiny 2 is hard to say from the outside. But it seems that for the very game where his name is prominently featured as “Game Director,” his influence is absent.
I miss Smith: I, for one, feel that Destiny was stronger when Smith was at the helm with his months as a WoW junkie when he could push through his artistic vision – with enough time and when everything was still going according to plan. I miss his ideas that captivated so many in “The Taken King” in Destiny 2. I am curious when Smith will reappear and what kind of game awaits us when he is back at the helm.
Until then, I hope that Steve Cotton and the many other talented developers at Destiny 2 manage to achieve what Smith and his team achieved with “The Taken King”: A commercial popcorn product that still somehow has a soul.
All about Destiny 2: Forsaken – release date, features, season pass
