I'll just add that when I say Destiny clone - I don't mean it's EXACTLY like Destiny - only with another name.
I mean it's a Destiny clone like Grim Dawn is a Diablo clone. I mean, there's sure to be a ton of little differences here and there - and maybe they've done something significant and different that I'm just not seeing. No, I don't mean wearing a suit instead of picking a class - or having more verticality. Those things are not "big and significant" to my mind.
To me, games like Destiny, Division, Hellgate London, Warframe, Borderlands 2 and, now, Anthem - are all essentially the same game in different forms.
That's because I look at games from a bird's eye perspective. I look at the over-arching design paradigm - and not the nuances that ultimately won't change the core of what these games do and how they keep you entertained.
Some people call these games looter shooters - others call them MMO lites. There are many names, I guess.
But they all share the following key ingredients:
They're cooperative multiplayer
They're primarily about shooting stuff
They involve character progression
They have a heavy emphasis on loot
I'd say those are the key ingredients, more or less.
To me, it doesn't matter if you see other players roaming around the world or not.
What matters is that the VAST majority of the game is designed around solo or cooperative gameplay.
In Destiny, it's true that you see other players in the world - and you can take part in some dynamic events with them - but you're not really interacting with them in any way. It's a bunch of strangers that might as well be NPCs for all the socializing you're doing with them.
Hellgate London only had other non-party members visible in hub areas.
Borderlands 2 was strictly party coop without a lobby or other players running around.
Division is the same as Hellgate - in that you only see other players in safe areas - apart from your party members.
But they're all the same basic game in terms of what you do and how they keep you interested. You shoot/kill stuff and you collect loot - and you progress your character.
That's pretty much it.
As for the whole hating MMOs on principle thing, that's something I will leave to others. It makes no sense to me at all, but it's not a problem for me what people like or dislike.
Just don't expect me to agree with it for no rational reason, is all