The term epic is a little dated, but this chapter really makes me want to bring it back. Chapter Six, titled Becoming a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves, discussed Halo and the community and world Halo created. I’ve never been into Halo. I have played multiplayer a few times, watched my brother and his friends geek over it when we were younger, watched Red vs Blue on YouTube (while missing tons of references), but that’s about it. However, McGonigal explains it well enough that readers don’t need any knowledge of Halo at all, but having a game like Halo in your life definitely adds a layer to the chapter.

The game that has recently become a sort of Halo to me is, and please don’t throw things at me, Destiny and Destiny 2. They just clicked with me. The world is beautiful, the races are pretty cool, the story is… existent (expansions make it much better), the gameplay is smooth, the music is immersive, and the entire open-world just sucks me in. I love the random events, the dances your character can do (with other player too!), the fireteams, the clans and clan banners, the weapons–it’s immersive. I enjoy the ambient sociability. The awe factor that McGonigal emphasizes is something I can relate to a lot. I’ll think “Who came up with the concept of this planet? Who drew it? Who programmed it? How amazing!” It just makes me even happier to play something that people clearly worked hard on.

Destiny does not have the massive fanbase that Halo does, but I can only imagine what the virtual call-to-arms must’ve felt like, the rush of adrenaline that gamers all over the world must’ve felt. Maybe to someone else, the whole concept of emotional investment in a game seems silly, but I get it and I love the idea. I’m still curious about how McGonigal plans to bring such feelings to real life, surely the scope of games can’t be matched, but maybe I’ll be surprised. And if gamers who play games where they have to assist fellow player are more likely to actually help people IRL (144), is that something that needs to be taken from the game world and put into reality? Since it’s already working?