Destiny 2’s open-world design may finally plug the endgame gap

“Endgame” is typically a design element that we associate with massively multiplayer online role-playing games like Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and World of Warcraft. Endgame content preoccupies a player when narrative content and traditional methods of tracking player progression like leveling have tapped out. It’s the endgame content in an MMO that keeps players online and paying.

Endgame design has long troubled MMO studios. Some have called it “the worst thing that ever happened to MMOs.” But solutions do exist, one of which is to make sure that everything the player does is fun for its own sake. Endgame content should be worth repeating purely for the skill challenge, as players discover and want to test new weapons and abilities against familiar scenarios.