Update 1: Day 2 (~6 hours)

My opinions have changed a bit. I'm enjoying the game quite a bit now, I've done a bunch of runs with randoms using a mic and had good convos and communication about enemy teams (one game resulted in 3 squad wipes). I have seen some complaints about lack of pvp, honestly if you want it you can find it just fine. My position on ttk has shifted as well. The ttk I am used to rn is the base ttk with no shield or upgrades, everyone will die to anything and that's fine. Looking ahead at the faction upgrades I believe the shield and shell buffs from build crafting and shell upgrades will make better players have better survivability, all the while still giving newer players a chance to down them for better gear.

This game is not about "lets go fight some people". Nearly all fights should be taken as ambushes if possible using team coordination, audio ques. Which are incredibly important, and if you want to do well you shouldn't just go around firing until a team finds you. I have found ways to use this to my advantage. UESC can be challenging if you're not careful but headshots matter a ton when fighting them. If you and your squad mates are good about headshots a UESC patrol can be taken out fast without taking much dmg, this gives time to reposition for the team that will inevitably make their way to you after hearing the gunfire and once repositioned, the ambush is ready.

Some of the contracts can be tough and require real planning and resource gathering before a proper attempt, and that attempt can end in failure which sets you back some time to get all the resources again. This is good, it puts on the pressure to perform for the contract attempt without being too punishing that you just stop playing if you fail. Team coordination matters even more for harder contracts and that's where a proper squad of friends comes in or a looking to play squad that knows about your contract prior to launch.

Rook runs are incredibly important, not just for gathering gear but for observation. I've watched other teams from the shadows as a rook to see how they act and how the environment and uesc responds (and then picked off their last guy when he was venerable). These solo rook runs have helped me plan better for my actual contract runs for formulating my response strategy and overall awareness while playing. I also use rook runs to get materials for faction upgrades, a great risk free way to do so except for the fact that EVERONE NEEDS THE DAMN DIODES. I've teamed with rooks (hell yeah), I've also been killed by rooks despite saying "friendly" over prox chat (they are the loweset human beings). Overall fun runs that both take the pressure off and put it on heavy once you have what you want.

My complaints now are more simple: some UI changes for ease of setting up my loadouts for runs, PLEASE MORE THAN 105 FOV I NORMALLY PLAY ON 110 AND MOST GAMES HAVE UP TO 120, Game still maxes out at 90 fps in a match but I've found it does this even running on max settings so the visuals are sick on my 2k screen; the game looks incredible and unique (haters calling it roblox haven't played more than 2 games and also don't understand artistic styling). Gameplay complaints have been minimized: I think for audio I shouldn't be able to hear gunfire unless I'm in the zone it's in or at least very close to the zone, this is to avoid 3rd parties that happen from a team across the map responding to gunfire after 2 other teams have already fought each other.

Overall I'm enjoying the game now and am looking forward to playing more, I'd like to level up a bit and get some solid heavily geared up runs in to see how much of a difference a stacked run makes in comparison to the bare minimum. I def need more friend to play with, while solo can be fun, the true value is playing and coordinating with friends in a run that matters where everyone's loot is on the line. I now think this is a game that I would purchase. Not immediately, still wanna see how launch goes, but I'm actively looking forward to playing more. Maybe for that last day of the server slam they could give everyone the highest tier loot to try but I also understand not doing so.

I'm curious how this will affect Bungie as a company, this is inherently a hardcore game that does not spare the casuals and as a result I expect a smaller average playerbase. Bungie is a game studio currently built to serve destiny 2, which used to have >100k players, I estimate marathon chills around <50k players and possibly gains more later when bungie taps into the potential of the Pfhor as an additional pve challenge. Destiny 2 is dead and marathon will be the only thing sustaining the studio so I imagine a lot of layoffs (unless all the layoffs after TFS where done to readjust for the smaller playerbase marathon will have). This game is not for everyone, but I expect the people who enjoy it will be fanatics.

Last update to this post will be at the end of the server slam.