Last night, my partner and I were looking for something quick to do in Destiny 2 before signing off for the night. I’d wanted to do the Nightfall, but, lately, we’ve been going for the points threshold and I thought we should wait until there were three of us.

As I was dorking around the navigation menu, I hovered over the Guided Games section of the Nightfall area. In all the time we’ve been playing, we had never once clicked on the Guides Games section of, well, anything. I looked back at him (we game in the same room, which is always awesome) and asked if he wanted to try it out. We both thought it would be fun so we went for it.

First it let us know that microphones were required which I felt was important, but was glad they made it mandatory. Second, it showed us the Guardian Oath above.

I really liked what it had to say.

When I created my clan at the beginning of Destiny 1, I always said our motto would be “Be kind, be fair, be just.” I stand behind that to this day.

When we got paired up with someone and didn’t hear anything, my partner and I both said hello but let the silence hang in case the other person didn’t feel up to talking.

My partner and I started talking about which subclasses we were going to be running, then our new teammate chimed in and asked us which subclass he should run. I told him he should use whatever he was most comfortable with and he said a sincere, “thank you.” He was very polite, funny, and a great teammate. It was one of those situations that reminded me how great Destiny is at connecting people.

I may not love Destiny 2. I may prefer the first game, hands down. I may be less and less engaged with the game at large. But I do love how it brings people together.

I’m so fortunate to play with the people I play with. It was because of the first Destiny that my partner and I invested in a second system JUST so we could play it together. I might not have even tried out the game in the first place were it not for my friend Grunts (this may surprise you, but that isn’t his real name). Early on in my time with Destiny, I was sent a random request from someone in my tower who turned out to be Skiffles (also not his real name), and we not only became online friends, but we’ve now hung out in reality, too (most recently we went to see the new Halloween together!). When I needed to find a team to defeat Skolas, a mutual friend connected me with Degan (amazingly, also not HIS real name), who became not only one of my favorite co-op partners in any game, but also a dear friend. Doing the Leviathan raid brought several new people into my life that I was immediately fond of and have grown to be fast friends with.

Destiny may be flawed, but it has connected me with so many lovely people, I’m eternally, and deeply, grateful. Last night’s random connection with a nice person was a shining reminder of that.

And I also got a neato emblem.

Has there been a particular game (or games) that has connected you with future friends? If so, which game/s? I love how games bring us together and I’d love to hear how this has happened for you.