Why Bungie is overhauling Destiny's questing system
"To talk about quests like they're a new thing is sort of embarrassing."
Bungie is talking more about Destiny's overhauled quest system that's coming to the shooter next month alongside the Taken King expansion. Speaking on the GameSpot live show stage at PAX Prime, Taken King creative director Luke Smith said Bungie is hoping to improve upon the original Destiny's questing system, which he admitted was not everything it could be.
"The quest system; we overhauled the entirety of all the Destiny content into this thing that we call Questification," he explained. "To talk about quests like they're a new thing is sort of embarrassing. But what we're trying to do is give players clear context for what they're doing and why; clear rewards for what they're going to get at the end of of it; and hope that gives them some thrust into the world."
Smith said the first iteration of Destiny stumbled somewhat in the area of questing. That game didn't do enough to keep people engaged. "'Hey, you finished a story campaign, now find your own fun,'" Smith said about the experience. "That's sort of what we bumped into a little bit with the release of last year's game."
You can watch our full interview with Smith and executive producer Mark Noseworthy in the video above.
As announced previously, the in-game organization of quests and bounties will be different in the expansion. Upon release of The Taken King, the tasks will be organized in a menu tab called "Quests." This will consolidate all story missions, bounties, and other activities into one page.
Additionally, quests and bounties will now be tracked in the HUD, allowing you to follow your progress without having to go into a menu. Just press a button on the directional pad and your progress will pop up. You'll also be able to hold even more bounties, up to 16 at a time.
The Taken King launches on September 15 for all platforms, but you won't have to wait that long to hear more about it. Bungie will hold its next Twitch livestream event this coming Wednesday, September 2, during which the developer will share new details and gameplay footage for the new Court of Oryx mode.