The summary of ‘The Struggles of Being a New Player in Destiny 2’

00:00:00

In this part of the video, the creator and his friend Soup, a complete novice to Destiny, embark on an experiment to evaluate the game’s free-to-play experience from a new player’s perspective. They begin on fresh accounts, and Soup is quickly overwhelmed by an influx of irrelevant pop-up notifications. After a confusing start including outdated achievements, they watch a newly added cinematic summarizing Destiny’s story, which Soup finds engaging but dense.

As they dive into gameplay, Soup adjusts various settings and navigates initial tutorials, finding them intuitive. Choosing to play as a Titan, Soup experiences the class’s melee ability and uses his super for the first time, highlighting the game’s unique appeal. However, the game’s HUD explanations and navigation aids are insufficiently clear, leaving Soup confused about certain abilities and objectives. Adjustments like a new mission reward and the option to enable voice chat by default receive mixed reactions. The segment underscores how the convoluted onboarding process and complex navigation can deter new players.

00:10:00

In this segment, the video addresses various issues and imperfections that new players encounter in the game “Destiny.” It highlights:

1. **Early Game Experience:** New players benefit from the addition of Pikes in the first major mission, but may face difficulties with controls and vehicle handling.
2. **Learning Curve:** Common issues include lack of guidance on basic controls like boosting or dismounting vehicles, and confusing mechanics such as heavy weapon usage on a Pike.
3. **Guidance and Bugs:** The inability of the game to clearly direct players on how to slide, find objectives, or fast travel can lead to players getting stuck. There is also a notable bug that can leave players stranded in a mission.
4. **User Interface and Tutorials:** Improvements have been made to the game’s interface, such as clearer instructions from NPCs and better quest tracking, but some explanations remain inadequate.
5. **Currency and Resources:** The game does not effectively explain the use of in-game currencies like glimmer, leaving players confused.
6. **Gameplay Systems:** Several game mechanics like using finishers, understanding ammo systems, and objective markers are poorly explained, leading to confusion during play.

Overall, the video calls for better onboarding experiences and clearer instructions for new players to prevent frustration and early drop-off.

00:20:00

In this part of the video, the narrator discusses several key issues and positive changes in a game based on the experiences of new players. Many new players feel confused and overwhelmed, which can lead them to quit early. The narrator and a new player, Soup, struggled initially due to the game not explaining that they had acquired personal vehicles called Sparrows, which resulted in them walking long distances unnecessarily. Conversely, the game provided an excellent tutorial for equipping legendary armor, making it straightforward for new players.

The narrator also notes improvements, such as the game providing better weapons and removing confusing artifact notifications. However, when exploring the game further, the narrator had to help Soup understand how to use abilities, as the game failed to provide guidance on this crucial aspect. They encountered disorientation in the Tower due to non-intuitive NPC introductions and the unexpected appearance of enemies-turned-allies.

Guardian ranks and quest overload were other significant issues. Though the game introduced Guardian ranks, it didn’t make it clear that this system should be the primary focus for progression, leading to confusion. The monetization aspect was another contention point, with high prices for DLCs being seen as off-putting for new players despite some misleading bundling.

00:30:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses several issues within the game, particularly focusing on its monetization strategy, complexity for new players, and the user interface. Key points include criticism of the game’s numerous and expensive DLC options, which contribute to negative reviews as it creates confusion for new players who struggle to know what to purchase. There are occasional sales that offer all DLCs at a reasonable price, but these are rare.

Additionally, the segment highlights user difficulty in navigating the game’s numerous destinations and complex menus. A new feature called “timeline missions” helps players catch up on the game’s history by reliving important events, but still leaves new players like Soup feeling lost and disconnected as they miss the context behind these moments.

The speaker emphasizes the need for a simpler, more coherent onboarding process and suggests bundling all content for new players. Finally, specific gameplay elements are mentioned, such as the improper timing of tutorial prompts and the introduction of new mechanics, affecting the player’s understanding and experience.

00:40:00

In this segment, the speaker discusses several issues and experiences with starting the game Destiny 2 as a new player. They express frustration over the complex storyline filled with unfamiliar terminologies and disjointed narratives. The game’s accessibility is praised since most content is not paywalled, contrasting with other MMOs, offering substantial free content. However, frustrations are highlighted with content spoilers for new players, lack of clear guidance on using artifacts, power levels, mods, and how to make events heroic. They suggest the game needs better tutorials for new players to understand important systems like armor stats, power infusion, and menu navigation. Despite challenges, the players engage in various activities and appreciate the progress in understanding the game mechanics.

00:50:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses various objectives within the Guardian ranks of the game, praising how they teach new players about core in-game systems. They engaged with the gunsmith, completed bounties, and learned about enhancement cores and other systems. However, they encountered a game-breaking bug while trying to meditate and unlock new abilities, which caused significant frustration. They also noted unpolished aspects of the game’s missions, like ineffective grenades and physics-breaking environment details.

Despite these issues, the mission was seen as somewhat satisfying for practice. Upon returning to a character named Shahan, they discovered an overlooked mechanic that allowed them to obtain an exotic weapon. The speaker appreciated how the game now rewards new players with better gear early on, making the initial gameplay more exciting.

They experienced a lengthy loading time when returning to the Tower and discussed how loading screen tips could be improved by being tailored to player experience levels. Eventually, they managed to claim their abilities after dealing with additional bugs, which included getting permanently stuck in a vendor’s menu.

The segment concluded with a quest to unlock the “Riskrunner” Exotic, appreciating how the mission demonstrated the weapon’s power through gameplay. However, they pointed out that the game poorly explained the importance of certain mechanics, such as red border weapons and seasonal artifacts, leading to confusion for new players. The speaker suggested better tutorials and clearer quest directions to help new players understand and enjoy the game.

01:00:00

In this part of the video, the player struggles with the game’s complex systems and lack of guidance, particularly with armor upgrading and mod systems. The Guardian rank steps also fail to educate new players on core game modes like Trials, Crucible, and Gambit. Despite encountering numerous glitches, the player uses Fireteam Finder to join a successful dungeon run and unlocks the final rank objective. Highlights include the game’s good gunplay and super abilities, but there are major issues with the confusing storyline and missing content, which hinders the new player’s understanding and engagement.

01:10:00

In this part of the video, the discussion centers on the challenges faced by new players in “Destiny 2” due to the removal of seasonal content, which leaves significant gaps in the story. The content removal means many key plot points, like the concept of “the veil,” are left unexplained for latecomers. This creates an overwhelming experience for newcomers, who find the game impenetrable without prior knowledge of all expansions.

A new player, referred to as “Super,” shares his mixed experiences. He finds the game both overwhelming and rewarding, appreciating its improvements over time. However, many features remain poorly explained, which hinders a smooth entry for new players. Despite these challenges, “Super” eventually becomes comfortable with the game and expresses willingness to continue playing, finding value in the game’s lore, cinematics, and gameplay.

The narrator emphasizes that Bungie, the game’s developer, needs to enhance the new player experience by providing better tutorials, clearer explanations, and a cohesive story to keep the game sustainable and attract new players. The segment concludes with a positive note, where “Super” expresses his intent to continue playing, appreciating the help received and looking forward to engaging more deeply with the game.