I agree with you that Destiny's mechanics are flawed in their design. After playing Destiny I came to realize that their mechanics missed the 4 things a gamer wants to feel out of a AAA game:

- Challenged
- Bad ass
- Like their experience is custom to them
- Immersed in the universe

You never felt the last 3 in the end-game, because you started out as a bad ass (having essentially the same ult and powers), because the game mandated your progress path and rewards, and because the end-game content was just to replay old missions.

Only multiplayer activities gave a feeling of challenge, but that wore thin over time.

"Agency" as you say describe in MWH is a mechanic which lets a player continue to feel bad ass, like their experience is custom to their choosing, and immersed in the game world. Meanwhile Destiny's mechanics left the user feeling none of them.

In the end, because Destiny's end-game did not provide gamers with immersion or choice, or dynamics moments of being a bad ass, it left them feeling cheated and skeptical of the true motives of Destiny's mechanics.

Bungie isn't going to figure out how to make the game good until Destiny 2. Destiny is essentially a proof of concept. Hopefully they can scrap a number of the gameplay systems that don't work and create new ones that will make the game last.

I actually found Skyrim a let down. Don't get me wrong, I love Fallout: New Vegas and have played that at least 200 hours (I know). But Skyrim had no personality. There was nothing really motivating me to go into a new cave or explore a new area, unlike New Vegas where you could expect every nook and cranny had a backstory. Also, the companion characters and story characters were very interesting in New Vegas, making the game come alive, unlike Skyrim.

I don't think I'm alone in that. A coworker of mine and I have never gone back to playing Skyrim, but we have at intervals gone back to New Vegas.

So I would say the sweet spot is in games that can end, but entice the whole way until they do end.

Where are the PS4 fanboys?

By the transitive property he is speaking about cosplayers.

@Blade_Runner22 Five years from now you'll be on PS4.2 and we'll be on XBOX 1.8

@COPMAN221ISBACK The NSA supports posting on GameSpot.

@dmastor The difference between playing games with friends and playing with yourself.

What do COD players and X1 haters share in common? They whine a lot and ruin the social side of gaming.

If it's a COD-killer and tips the scales in the X1's favor, two birds with one stone in my opinion.