During its first week in players' hands, Destiny has fought a hard battle. Despite it being one of the most anticipated games of the year, Destiny's reception was mixed, with many citing that a lack of content and repetition was holding the title back. Bungie believes that players are in it for the long haul, and has released a new mode for those that have already completed the game.
The raid, entitled "Vault of Glass," is designed for those that have already conquered most of what Destiny has to offer. This is the endgame, where those who have beaten the game can continue to play and level up, and Bungie locked the raid for those who haven't reached the required level. On top of that, raid also removes all in-game assistance, meaning players cannot rely on waypoints or objective markers to succeed. Bungie wants the players to figure everything out for themselves and are taking measures to ensure that.
Even on 'Normal' difficulty, the raids are designed to be the testing ground for players, while the 'Hard' difficulty is ultimate test of player skill. Hard mode is designed with even more enemies and harsher penalties for death, so players that employ a run-and-gun style of play will more than likely be forced to change up their strategies. The trade-off for playing on the harder difficulties is the Legendary gear that players can earn. Unique armor is available for those who can complete the raid, as well as a set of Legendary weapons. For players worried that some will accumulate an unstoppable arsenal, only one of these is available per week. While the system has received criticism, Bungie seems confident that such a limitation won't hinder players.
Raids are also different from the rest of Destiny because of how the mode handles its social mechanics. Most of the game can be played with strangers, or teams of up to three friends. For raids, the ability to play with strangers has been completely removed, as Bungie believes the raids will be completely impossible without communication between players. As a compromise, the teams' player counts have increased to six, but many players are upset that Bungie would remove the ability to search for a match entirely.
Finally, Bungie explained that raids do not have to be finished in one sitting. As long as the leader of the team resumes from the same spot, raids can be started as many times as players want. The only restriction to this system is the reset. Once per week, saved progress on raids is reset, meaning that teams will either have to finish or start from the beginning. Again, Bungie claims that the system won't hurt players, it'll only encourage them to keep playing and finish on time.
From the moment of its release, Destiny has received a lukewarm reception. While sales were fantastic, many criticized the game for being too repetitive without focusing enough on story or content. Bungie claims that the game expands greatly over the time it takes to complete the game, and that players should expect a completely different game once they hit the Level 20 cap.
Bungie hasn't detailed exactly what expanded content players should expect, but the company has already detailed a list of special events that reward dedicated players. For now, the "Vault of Glass" will have to suffice for hungry players.
