David Candland of Bungie reminds all the fans via Twitter that there's only one place to go if you want to beta test Destiny, and it's here:

http://www.bungie.net/en-us/View/bungie/userresearch/index

Some unofficial sites have been purporting to offer beta access. I won't link to them, but Candland says using them will only "end in heartbreak".

Shaun McInnis, GameSpot Editor, has penned an article spelling out exactly what Bungie's new game, Destiny, is-- and is not:

"These are living, open worlds with evolving stories, changing time of day…and every one is full of players," says engineering lead Chris Butcher. "Destiny is an always online experience, but it's not an MMO."

Butcher is a pretty straight shooter-- plus there's no subscription fee, so there's that. Check out the full article to see what else will or won't be in Destiny, according to GameSpot.

John Gaudiosi at PCWorld interviews Bungie's COO, Pete Parsons, about Bungie's new game, Destiny. In the interview, Parsons again confirms that an element some fans were worried would be omitted is in the game-- namely, solo play:

We want players to tell their own stories. We’re going to give them the ability to customize their character, and their experience. Then they’re going to go on epic adventures with their friends. You can play Destiny solo, but we believe that everything fun to do in Destiny is more fun when you’re playing with friends. It’s that unpredictable human element that will create the most important moments in Destiny.

The game may need to be online all the time, but it looks like you'll have the option of playing by yourself if that's what you want.

Over at DestinyHub thesirchelios has written an article guessing at what we might expect from the different classes and factions of Destiny. So far there appear to be three known human Guardian classes (Hunter, Warlock, Titan) and five factions (Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, New Monarchy, Osiris and Seven Seraphs).

Myself, I'm guessing that factions will be how Destiny implements clan functionality. This would have the effect not only of integrating faction warfare into solo, coop and vs multiplayer, the way it does in Eve Online, but avoid some of the logistical challenges of maintaining clan lists.

A good deal of new information about some of the alien races in Bungie's Destiny in this week's Mail Sack. Here, for instance, is some really interesting stuff about the Fallen from Urk:

I fell in love with the Fallen all the way back in 2009. Partly because there’s just something wonderful about the idea of a nomadic race of once noble houses now scattered to the solar winds. Partly because there’s something primordial and instantly terrifying about squaring off against an unpredictable Fallen Captain, his tattered crimson cape draped over a set of four splayed and angular arms that bristle with sleek firepower.

Sounds like an interesting blend of Dune's Landsraad, Mass Effect's Quarians, and Unreal's Nali. Also sounds like they all have four arms.

Deej over at Bungie.net points the spotlight at the newest entry in the Bungie.net family of fansites: Destiny.Bungie.Org and its staff.

Steve Peterson at Gamesindustry.biz has put up a Photo Tour of the new offices Bungie is developing Destiny in. Of the things I didn't know about the building, this one was the most interesting:

Parsons related how they had to use the second-largest crane in the country to lower the refrigeration units onto the roof; he said they were afraid they'd have to use a helicopter, which would have meant shutting down a wide area of the city, but fortunately that wasn't needed. Refrigeration and air conditioning are important due to the massive server infrastructure required by Bungie's operations; six huge units occupy much of the roof space.

Sounds like Bungie has big infrastructure plans around Destiny, far more than just XBL matchmaking.

Bungie's latest article in their Breaking In series of interviews is with Content Tools Team Lead Aaron Lieberman. He's working on Destiny's tools, the Grognok world editor and the Bonobo toolbox editor.

Over at Gamasutra, Shay Pierce wrote a piece entitled Game Designers and the Four Tribes of Artists, and then Sara Gross (also at Gamasutra) wrote a piece called Indie Elitism, partially in response. Response to what? Well, apparently Pierce had read some conversations on Twitter in response to Bungie's Destiny reveal that were a bit less than positive:

A few days ago when Bungie did their first reveal of "Destiny", my friend and former co-worker Josh (who is working on Destiny) was expressing some frustration on Twitter. Josh is a big fan of indie games, and was frustrated because many of the indie game developers he respects were seemed to be expressing immediate disdain for the game.

Josh in this case is Bungie's Josh Hamrick, of course. Pierce started in on how the indie game community has a bunch of snobs in it, but Gross apparently thought Pierce took it too far, or perhaps not far enough, or not quite in the right direction, and anyway ended up here:

I see no reason to vehemently snub the things that shaped gaming as we see them today. Why not embrace them - appreciate what they did for us? Some were pioneers once too. Before they made AAA titles, they made games in their parents’ basements, lived on pre-packaged garbage foods, and suffered obscene deadlines to help their creations see the light of day. They started somewhere too. AAA developers aren’t so different from us, indies.

... and linked to this.

Artist Jesse van Dijk has done some of Destiny's concept art, including the Citadel. He's just now posted some of those Destiny images at CGHub, but and there's other stuff on his tumblr to check out as well.