[b]"Bungie's Brave New World." | [/b] [url=https://www.bungie.net/7_SGA-Master-Archive-Thread/en-us/Groups/Post?id=61330820&groupId=39865#referred-][b]Thread 2 of 7 [/b][/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/7_Bungie39s-biggest-lesson-to-learn-from-Halo-to-Des/en/Forum/Post?id=61382767#referred-]Previously on Super Good Advice[/url], we asked ourselves about the biggest lessons that Bungie needs to learn to create a unified Destiny. Today I want to take a closer look at this concept of a cohesive world. [b]What will it take to bring a universe like that to life?[/b] In my mind, there are three important elements that help to contribute towards this goal. [b]First, every activity in Destiny needs to have a fictional basis in the universe.[/b] In Bungie's Halo we'd have situations in the competitive multiplayer where we had spartans shooting at spartans in a variety of venues, but there never was an explanation for why we were there. Multiplayer for the sake of multiplayer is well and good, but if our Guardians are going to have an overarching narrative in this game, all of our actions must have purpose. Such theming runs the risk of coming off as contrived, but if Bungie pulls it off, the experience that Destiny creates will become more powerful as a result. [b]Second, rewards from playing any mode need to be relevant to other activities.[/b] In Bungie's Halo there was a huge disconnect between campaign and multiplayer; advancing in one of the modes didn't impact your experience in the other. To unify the normally separate worlds of cooperative and competitive, Bungie needs to design rewards that are valuable to many different playstyles. For example, treasures found in the cooperative mode should carry over to the competitive mode. Blurring the lines between modes can cause problems, but if done properly, players won't feel like they are wasting their time by diverting their attention from their main activity. [b]Finally, Destiny needs to evolve and grow as time goes on.[/b] In Bungie's Halo players would often experience the Campaign once and never touch it again because they had "completed" the story. That's a lot of effort and time invested by Bungie to create these expansive play spaces that are only good for one use before fading into obscurity. To create a living world, players need to be given reasons to constantly revisit old modes and areas. Players should never feel a sense of completion, they should be pushed to continue the Legend of their Guardian by experiencing new challenges and content. It's an exhausting prospect, but that's the sort of challenge Bungie needs to tackle to deliver on their vision of an epic adventure that spans the length of 10 years. [b]What do you think of these three approaches towards creating a cohesive universe?[/b] How would you theme different game modes to make them fit into the lore of Destiny? What type of rewards do you look forward to earning in Destiny, and how should they be awarded? In what ways do you hope Destiny will grow and evolve? Super Good Advice: [b]Don't go fishing while your house is on fire[/b]. [url=https://www.bungie.net/7_Super-Good-Advice/en-us/Groups/Detail?groupId=39865][b]Homebase[/b][/url] [b]| [/b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en-us/Forum/Topics?tg=%23SuperGoodAdvice][b]#SuperGoodAdvice[/b][/url] [b]|[/b] [url=https://twitter.com/bnetsga][b]@BnetSGA[/b][/url]