Monthly Archives: December 2014

Destiny, Gaming, Xbox

Let’s Get Sharded!

Yes! I am still spinning Destiny in spite of the fact that Bungie is at the top of my naughty list this holiday season. The disappearing Murmur is my bone of contention. According to the forums over at bungie.net, the weapon has vanished from many player’s backpacks. This is obviously a flaw in the DLC, The Dark Below, but Bungie has yet to do anything about it and a posted a statement on their website saying this:

BNGHelp4

Dec 14 at ‎8‎:‎43‎:‎43‎ ‎PM Permalink
“Hi everyone,
We have taken your information and have spun up an investigation. That said, we   cannot restore missing items or gear. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
I find this response totally unacceptable. First of all, the way I see it everyone who purchased the DLC, The Dark Below, paid $35 for the Murmur. It was a mission based drop from Eris. No one had to complete some grand feat or spend hours of gameplay to attain it. Secondly, the implication here is that the missing weapons are the fault of the gamer or cases of user fraud. That, in itself, is a kick in the teeth to all who play Destiny and frankly, is insulting as hell. Well, I have news for Bungie: One claim of the Murmur disappearing or even a dozen, may constitute the possibility of fraud, but hundreds of reports of the same problem means that the error is yours and the responsibility of “making it right” rests solely on your shoulders. The fact that a studio that is as successful as said mentioned would sweep this issue under the rug and then take a “sorry about your bad luck” attitude is beyond me. I mean let’s face it, IF there are cases where someone’s weapon was replaced illegitimately (ie., they have broken it down and claimed to have lost it just so they can get another, which in my opinion is ludicrous, but hey, Bungie is the one that is suggesting this, not I) IF that were the case, which it isn’t but IF it were & IF Bungie were to replace the Murmur thru the Postmaster, Cryptarch or various other creative ways, what is the worst that would happen? Players would end up with an extra weapon that they would dismantle and receive a shard?!? Please! Does Bungie really feel that would be such a loss?? Is a shard really worth all the bad press and lost revenue that could result from the fallout of Bungie not standing behind their product? I personally feel that a “patch” or “fix” was not and has not been put into place because someone would have to lose some valuable holiday time away from the studio in order to correct the problem. And we, the consumers are obviously not worth the overtime it would take. Or the loss of a programmer’s extra slice of pumpkin pie on Christmas.
On this matter, my message to Bungie is this: If “Sorry for the inconvenience” is the best you can do, how about I inconvenience you by never buying another product that comes out of your studio! Seriously, the only reason the game is still in my tray is for the multiplayer value. And that will get old as the grapes grow more and more sour. My friends and I will move on. So will others. The competition is high. There are other games coming out on the regular. There are other development houses that guarantee excellence and care about the satisfaction of their customers, that own their mistakes and do their best to correct them. It is a shame that the first MMO that I have actually enjoyed playing has disappointed me (and others) so profoundly. My voice is small, Bungie, but I can make it large. And I intend to make it large enough to tell anyone who is listening that I paid cold, hard, cash for a product that is defective. And that no one at your studio cares.  Please correct your mistake and restore the faith.
And please address the issue of the Vanguard Mentor Missive which does not work. (for me anyway). It is broken. If not fixed, that will make two weapons that I have lost out on since The Dark Below dropped. I am not a happy camper. And I can’t help but feel that I have been “sharded” on. Big time.
Thanks, Bungie & Happy Holidays!
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Destiny, Gaming, Xbox

All I Want For Christmas Is My Murmur Back ~ I’ve Been Robbed!

In between all the turkeys and tinsel and family get-togethers, it is hard for a girl to find the time to pick up a controller. But hey, who doesn’t love the holidays and the joy this time of year brings. And fear not, lads and lassies, a true gamer will always make the time to push that button no matter how hectic one’s schedule may become.

Of course, I picked up the DLC that dropped December 9th for Destiny ~ The Dark Below. This addition to the game definitely raises the bar and offers some new objectives for players that may have been feeling like things were getting a little stale. Especially those of us who have been spinning it since drop date. The addition of Eris and her missions give us some deeper perspective on the very vague storyline. The bounties she hands out make me think though that she may be a jilted lover of Crota and is having Guardians exact her revenge on him and the Hive. She definitely has it out for them specifically.

Along with the new missions that Eris provides, players will find new and more powerful weaponry and armor from vendors on tower. These items will be needed because the Blades of Crota have invaded and they are much more formidable enemies than previously seen in the game.

I am enjoying the DLC for the most part and only have two negative things to say about it:

1. The new portion of the game feels like it should have been part of the original $60 game. Story wise, I feel no real connection to any of the game characters, not even the one I play. Bungie basically shipped us the game and said play it with no explanation or a very vague one, as to how or why we got here and how things became they way they are.  I am told that you can learn more about the backgrounds of the races and enemies in the game by going online and reading the grimoire cards collected during gameplay. But truly, I barely can find time to play, much less spend hours on bungie.net reading what I could be learning through storyline. I feel that the best games touch a nerve and create a emotional bond with the gamer. Destiny lacks this. Too, the stronger items now available seem as though they should have been in play from the start. I understand that the main objective of development houses is to keep their game in your console for as long as possible and DLC helps to achieve that. I find sandbagging unacceptable though.I have absolutely no proof that is what happened here. This is just an opinion. Maybe it’s just me but I do wonder if The Dark Below was ever part of the original storyboard.

2. I ran into a major problem doing a daily story which just happened to be a DLC mission. At some point during this , a very nice legendary fusion rifle, which was given to me by Eris, called Murmur and does both Arc and Solar damage, disappeared from my backpack. No, I did not break it down. It just vanished. Looking at the forums, I am not the only unfortunate soul this has happened to. Also during this same session, Eris presented me with a Vanguard Mentor Missive and instructed me to take it to Xander 99-40, the Bounty Tracker. This missive does not work. Xander has an exclamation mark over his head, indicating we need to talk, but when I try to nothing happens, the missive does not pop up and Xander stays silent. I do hope that Bungie will address and fix these issues quickly.

Other than that I enjoy the game and so do my friends. I hope that we continue to.

In the past week I have also tried Game of Thrones, available on the dashboard. It is an arcade game and plays as such but could be enjoyable for fans of the television series. I like it so far myself even though the first episode seemed a little short the storyline is breath-taking.

Until next time…….Peace

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