Dear Bungie,
I have been with you since Halo 1. Despite the impressive display of gameplay and imagination, the aspect that truly kept me playing was the ability to do so sitting next to my friends and family. As amazing as it is to play with someone from any distance over voice chat I much prefer the energy that comes with being able to play the same game in the same room. As someone with a big family you contributed to a fun and memorable part of my growing up. When destiny came out the first thing we thought was getting friends and family together to try your new game. However, once we found out split screen was not going to be included our excitement dissipated. I still bought your game because I was a loyal customer. One of my brothers and I even tried hooking up two playstations in two rooms of the house that had tvs. Obviously it was not the same experience. And I am sorry to say but I will not be purchasing four to five playstations for one family.
I implore you to go back to your roots and bring back the feature that your original fans loved. Here are a few humble suggestions for how to do so.
For the family with one console let us play split screen with the three characters we have the option of making. However say your friend comes over and wants to play a Titan, but you used your other slots to create a warlock and a hunter. Then allow there to be an option for him to play a temporary default Titan that has the minimum stats and weapons to go into a strike, raid or crucible alongside the original Titan on the console. This will create incentive for him to buy his own game and console so he can customize and max out his own guardian.
I'm not sure how far away this technology is but how fantastic would it be to log into your own account on a friend's console and bring your own guardian with you to play split screen? Obviously precautions would be taken. Such as being unable to delete items or characters while your guardian is on another console.
I understand the notion that including split screen would theoretically influence people not to buy their own copies of the game. Personally I don't buy into this. From my experience I've seen most of my friends and family not make the purchase specifically because of its absence. I believe my suggestions would take care of that unsubstantiated concern. Plus, this is a feature many of your fans, especially the ones that have been with you since the beginning, have wanted.
To the newer generation of fans who do not support split screen, I wish to offer a friendly reminder. It would be an option. And something I am sure would not soil your gameplay experience.
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No thanks, this game will never have split screen.