Before you read any further, I’m gonna keep it dead real. Yes, that title is clickbait. If that bothers you, stop reading now and go talk trash about me on your social media of choice. I won’t even be upset.

Zavala trying to protect me from incoming slander.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about this Destiny 2 beta for a moment. I’m not using this post to give my thoughts on the beta. That will happen soon, but I feel this is far more important to me. You see, ever since this beta has went live, legions of former Destiny players have made it their business to point out how similar it is to its predecessor. Is that their right? Of course! But if that is what they want to do, let’s at least talk some facts so they are better equipped to do so.

Let’s start with the biggest fact of all: a beta is NOT A DEMO PEOPLE. Yes, I understand that you may TREAT it as one. I understand that you may base your decision to purchase or not on one. That does not mean it makes sense to do so. A demo is a piece of a finished game, that absolutely represents what you will play at launch. A beta is a piece of an UNFINISHED game, that is NOT usually representative of what you will play at launch. Bungie is already on record discussing what has been changed since that build, and most of it was changed before the beta even launched. Does this mean some of your gripes are invalid? Hell no. It just means you are playing a very small slice of an early version of the game. It’s probably best you keep that in mind.

The other gripe I see everywhere is the tried and true “Bungie didn’t add anything new/Destiny 1.5” mantra.

“iTs JuSt DeStInY 1.5 BrO”

This is the one that fucks with me the most. So let’s think back to the Destiny beta. What did it include? A couple story missions, Earth patrol, 1 strike, and the Crucible. Destiny 2 beta includes the opening story mission, 1 strike, and 2 crucible modes. 1 of which is brand new. The main difference is the choice to not include Patrol, and I suspect that is what makes the beta feel bare since you aren’t allowed to explore and see a bunch of areas. Let me tell you why that happened. Remember Bungie talking about how Patrol had some much more to find, including secret quests for weapons and such? Why the FUCK would they put that type of stuff in the BETA? Also, as someone who has played the first game and knows what to expect, how much of the game do you really need to play to know if you want the sequel?

Also, to expand on this subject, how the hell do you know there is nothing new in the game? Have you played the retail version? Bungie has barely talked about the game since the May reveal. Look at how much stuff is in Destiny that wasn’t in the beta. Raids/PoE/CoE/Archon Forge/2 social spaces/2 new areas…..I mean, you really wanna make snap judgements based on a beta? Seriously, none of us can say with certainty it’s the same exact game, or glorified DLC. Not at this moment anyway. But that leads to my next train of thought…..

What the hell do you want from a sequel? For real, what do you want? Did you want Destiny to become a fighting game? Of course it’s just like Destiny, its a goddamn direct sequel. If you change the core mechanics, it’s no longer Destiny. Halo never changed the formula, Bungie just kept polishing it and adding to it. What makes you think that isn’t the plan here? Oh, the beta does. My apologies, I forgot that quick.

I don’t know man. I don’t want to accuse people of just being Destiny haters, because I feel like that’s lazy and argumentative. But I am very confused about some of these reactions. Most of you can’t even tell me what you expected from Destiny 2, or the beta for that matter. All I get is “its just the same shit man stop being a stan blah blah” and nonsense like that. I’m not trying to convince anyone to pay for something they feel isn’t worth it. I’m just trying to understand your POV. IMO, there are far more valid critiques to dish out. The new weapon classification system has been a sore spot, although the weapon mods may rectify that. Power ammo is too scarce in PvE. The Hunter dodge kinda sucks compared to other skill moves. If you didn’t like the core gameplay of the first, nothing has happened to change your feelings on that either. I STILL miss 6v6 Crucible, although the 4v4 Control so far feels good. I mean, there is definitely stuff to work on. But I can’t vibe with this other stuff y’all talking about. It just feels unnecessary to me. Just wanted to give my thoughts. You’re welcome to think they suck. I’m gonna go get my thoughts together on the beta itself, so come back to check that out please. Happy gaming!