Years ago Bungie gave a talk, I think at GDC, and basically said that a big reason for the vault was because companies like Activision have weaponized game install sizes. Those companies figured out that if they make their game large enough, it’ll force most gamers to choose which games they are able to install. You can’t even try another game if you don’t have room to install it.
Destiny being popular but not COD popular, Bungie knew they had to be careful about the size of the game. I don’t love the vault, but I also can see how Bungie’s hands are tied in a big way here.
Yeahhh, that’s a bullshit excuse. Just look at one of their direct competitors, Warframe. DigitalExtremes optimizes and works to trim their game as much as possible, every single update, and they’ve managed to keep their install size very reasonable without sacrificing any of their content.
The problem is that Bungie was never doing the constant engine optimization necessary to run a live service game. Most game install sizes have been weaponized, but in the sense that AAA game developers have no problem wasting space and resources. Bungie is absolutely part of that problem. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this has always been the case at the company, but their previous focus on shipping complete games just hid their culture of inefficiency.
If you’re looking for a good documentation of some of the issues at Bungie, I’d highly recommend the writings of Paul Tassi at Forbes. I still read his articles every now and again just to hear about what’s happening in and around the game. He and I share very similar opinions regarding the game, but he keeps playing it weekly while I left soon after sunsetting and vaulting content was introduced.
As for my take, it’s just informed by looking at what really all of Destiny 2’s successful peers have done. Most other games that are still alive after 8 years either make regular engine overhauls like World of Warcraft, or make continual frequent gradual improvements like Fortnite, Path of Exile, or Warframe. From my experiences playing D2, Bungie kinda did neither. We’d get a couple of major bug fixes every major patch, but things like load times never really got better.
Years ago Bungie gave a talk, I think at GDC, and basically said that a big reason for the vault was because companies like Activision have weaponized game install sizes. Those companies figured out that if they make their game large enough, it’ll force most gamers to choose which games they are able to install. You can’t even try another game if you don’t have room to install it.
Destiny being popular but not COD popular, Bungie knew they had to be careful about the size of the game. I don’t love the vault, but I also can see how Bungie’s hands are tied in a big way here.
Yeahhh, that’s a bullshit excuse. Just look at one of their direct competitors, Warframe. DigitalExtremes optimizes and works to trim their game as much as possible, every single update, and they’ve managed to keep their install size very reasonable without sacrificing any of their content.
The problem is that Bungie was never doing the constant engine optimization necessary to run a live service game. Most game install sizes have been weaponized, but in the sense that AAA game developers have no problem wasting space and resources. Bungie is absolutely part of that problem. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this has always been the case at the company, but their previous focus on shipping complete games just hid their culture of inefficiency.
Huh. That’s a take I haven’t heard before. Do you know of any accounts of this I can read? I know little about this end of the process
If you’re looking for a good documentation of some of the issues at Bungie, I’d highly recommend the writings of Paul Tassi at Forbes. I still read his articles every now and again just to hear about what’s happening in and around the game. He and I share very similar opinions regarding the game, but he keeps playing it weekly while I left soon after sunsetting and vaulting content was introduced.
As for my take, it’s just informed by looking at what really all of Destiny 2’s successful peers have done. Most other games that are still alive after 8 years either make regular engine overhauls like World of Warcraft, or make continual frequent gradual improvements like Fortnite, Path of Exile, or Warframe. From my experiences playing D2, Bungie kinda did neither. We’d get a couple of major bug fixes every major patch, but things like load times never really got better.