Have I Fulfilled My Destiny?

On Sunday night, I accomplished something I’d been trying to do since December 9, 2014 — I reached level 32 in Destiny.

We’re three months and a few weeks past that date now — the date The Dark Below expansion was released — and the content well has long since dried up. Even worse: the game’s next expansion, House of Wolves, doesn’t have a release date (though many suspect it’ll arrive sometime in May).

I’m left to wonder: why should I still be playing? That magic number — 32 — was really the only reason I pressed on in the game. I’m not a big weapon collector like some people. I don’t run multiple characters (the game is monotonous enough with one). Really, I just wanted to max out my level.

And had there not been an Iron Banner, I might still be trying to get radiant shards to drop in Crota’s End. Fortunately, I managed to play enough of Destiny’s multiplayer event to both get the armor I needed and level each piece up completely.

Once I hit 32, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride. That was followed by an overwhelming sense of relief.

You see, Destiny is a fun game. But it’s one that you’ll feel compelled to play even if you aren’t always having fun. That’s the way the game is designed. The most enjoyable moments require that you put in a lot of really boring work first. A lot of really boring work.

It’s like a job, really: put in your 40 hours and then you can have your paycheck.

So will I still be showing up for work? Good question. I write a series of posts called Destiny Diary here, and for that reason, I’ll continue to pop in and out of the game. But after reaching what I feel like is the “end” (at least for me), I’m more comfortable devoting more time to other games.

Which hopefully means you’ll see some more reviews coming your way. And perhaps stories about games that aren’t named Destiny.

Stay tuned.