Breakfast with Destiny
Think back to our grandparents and the way they were social. Most likely you remember stories of coffee shops, diners, and bars they used to frequent. Old drinking or breakfast buddies that they have since lost touch with. These places served as a gathering place for hard working people to come together at a regular time, in a regular spot, to decompress and talk about their day.
For decades, coffee in the morning or a beer at night, were collectively accepted as a need we sought out. Even when exhausted or busy they would make the time to go to these places. I believe because it is essential that, as people, we share and complain and laugh together.

In an increasingly pulled apart world, where every minute is accounted for and every argument is heightened to the point of anger; many have gone to social media as a replacement for these tried and true social methods of connection. This has failed for many reasons, mostly because our simplified thoughts as text can be misread or seen as an affront. The way we choose to type can be combative and very little actual listening is required in social media.
Enter an experience like Destiny where you can hear the people you play with. You are already there because you agree on one thing (you like the game). If you think of Destiny as a game, you are already looking at it in the wrong context. It’s not a game. Nor is it a dystopian future internet space were people go to escape. It’s a social place where an increasingly busy disconnected world can go to talk, to learn, and to accomplish something together. A place with multiple locations, level playing fields were we go to meet new friends, learn about them, laugh with them, and learn to love them regardless of their location or social status.
I’m not afraid to say some of my newest friends are online. The sounds of back ground murmurs in a diner have been replaced with orchestral soundtracks and space combat. The bell ringing as someone enters the diner is now the ding of an indicator that a friend is online. The feel of looking over your shoulder to see if it’s someone you know is now the first hello you hear from a person as they join your party in game. We are treated in the same way online, “how have you been” or “good to see you”, as our grandparents treated the familiar faces they saw enter to doors of the diner.

So when you think of the importance of a game like Destiny and the fanbase it automatically brings with it, think of it as the modern day diner. It’s just that the layout of the diner we choose to frequent is digital, and the chair we choose is a couch. We choose Destiny because that is where your friends are.
I have had the honor of being an admin in one of these communities for the past 4 years. First in Dads of Destiny, and now in a Co-Ed adult gaming group called Legion. We are both big and small. We have over 500 members, who all have groups within groups. We chat with one another during the day on a Discord server, then plan our outings for the night or early morning, or whenever our understanding spouses and children will allow. We have lost some members along the way to other groups, and to the great unknown. We have made In-Game video tributes to two of our friends that have passed away that in some ways are more moving than what I have seen at any funeral.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgNXYhjJ6ng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VipqzK6_LBU
The reason that Destiny 2 is so exciting is not just new content, bigger better bosses, or new worlds to explore. That is just the background conversations in the coffee shop. I’m excited because all my friends are coming back to dinner, coffee, and late night beer.
I’m excited to catch up and hear voices I haven’t heard in months/years. I’m ready to hear specific laughs or a well-timed inside joke. To feel the joy of an accomplishment together.
I can’t wait to make my raid team laugh during the apex of frustration over a new raid mechanic.
Destiny 2 is important because we need it. Not in some video game addiction way. But in an old way. The same way we need barbershops, dinners, coffee shops, and bars. You can get away. You can decompress. There is no judgement. You love the people that are there with you and you laugh with them. You miss them when they don’t show up the next night. For better or worse this is a new social space. A world where we can learn to work together and get along.
So thank you Bungie, for the new Coffee shop. I’ll be ok if the levels aren’t the way I want or the encounters aren’t perfect. Because my friends are there and you gave us a place to play.
-Legion
