For a game that is supposed to be as ‘online’ and connected as Destiny ultimately is, it does have a surprising limitation- it only allows for chat among Fireteam members, and not just any player, which, for game that is promoting its always connected and online world so much, is a bit… odd.
Well, David Dague, who is a community manager at Bungie, actually addressed this issue head on, explaining why this limitation exists in the first place.
“We want to make sure your level of social engagement in Destiny is something that you have complete and total control over. We want you to make very deliberate decisions about the people you’re going to have on your team, and the voices that you welcome into your audio mix.
“We’ve made a lot of games over the years that have brought a lot of gamers together in social and violent [encounters]. We found that people who know each other and trust each other tend to make the best contributions to the party. I can certainly remember playing Bungie games online and other people would use their access of being able to talk to me as an opportunity to incite grief or bully me, [so that’s why we did that],” Dague said.
Well, I guess it makes sense, and Bungie, as makers of the game that the entire modern console online gaming industry is built on, would certainly know best. Still, it is a curious limitation, to say the least, and almost Nintendo-like in its reasoning and implementation.