Bungie will be making all Destiny 2 players start from scratch in the game, regardless of whether they played the original or not, and project lead Mark Noseworthy explained the decision to VG247 recently, saying that creating a levelling playing field was one of the most important things for them.
"This allows us to really break some bones with the game design," he said. "It also creates this excellent conversion point for new people, and the people who are playing Destiny 1 the day before Destiny 2 comes out, they can all play together. We think it's more important that everyone starts from a clean slate."
"We want everyone in the same spot," he continued. "Going on that journey, becoming powerful again, getting knocked down and building yourself back up, it's really compelling. By making that brave decision it allows everyone to have that compelling journey."
"It's a sequel so we're looking at everything again through fresh eyes and first principles. What's going to make the best game? It's not about 'we did it this way so we should keep doing it the same'. Maybe this could be better, or maybe something isn't working just how we wanted it to and how can we improve it?"
The storytelling supports this clean slate idea as well, as villain General Ghaul is "jealous of the powers bequeathed to the Guardians by The Traveler. It's a story that if you know nothing about Destiny you can still start playing it. We introduce the game and if you've not been here before you're going to be compelled by what's happening. Your old gear, your old armour, Ghaul has taken them away."
Do you think this is a good decision by Bungie?