Destiny PS4 disc edition + Taken King Legendary edition, how to play without disc, reinstall?

Question

I have been playing Destiny almost since launch using the disc that came in the package.

Recently, when Taken King was released, I splurged for the legendary edition to get a bit more bonus items along the way. So far so good.

The legendary edition of Taken King contains the full Destiny game so with that I should be able to play without the game disc, but if I try that, it just asks for the disc.

Is there a way, short of reinstalling over the wire, to get Destiny to fix licenses or something or did it perhaps not install everything from the disc, or am I mistaken in that I should be able to play without the disc?

The reason I want to know if there is a way to avoid reinstalling over the internet is that patching Destiny has been a very slow ordeal, often taking the whole evening + night to download the expansions despite my 100/20 internet line so I don't foresee the reinstall being any faster.

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Actually, here is what I did, this may change the question.

• Originally I purchased Destiny as a PS4 disc item at my local game store.
• I purchased the expansion pass to get the two other expansions
• Just before Taken King was released I purchased Taken King through the PS4 built-in store, digitally
• After release I purchased the "Upgrade to Taken King legendary edition", also through the PS4 built-in store, digitally

That last item may change things. Perhaps it only gives me access to the in-game bonus items (which was why I bought it in the first place), it might not give me access to the full game, but still, if it does, how do I get rid of the disc requirement?

Answer 1

With the digital upgrade to the Taken King, you will be entitled to play Destiny without the disc, but will still be required to download the complete copy.

Games run a little bit differently when you install them, compared to downloading them. Best thing to keep in mind: Games are made available online so you have easier access to them, not so that you can buy a cheap version of a retail game you own, and give the physical copy to a friend¹. Games install from a disc so that the console has the files it regularly needs to access closer to home. This does not mean all of the files it needs.

When you install the game, it installs in a form that tells the console "when this game runs, check that this specific disc is in the drive, and use it as a reference point for other data". As far as the console sees, that install comes from a disc. It does not even check to see if you have a license to play the game online, as it assumes that you have the disc available to you.

While the online version would simply be adding to the original install, the two methods of playing Destiny are intentionally separate. For this reason, the online version does not "integrity check" the offline version, and vice versa. You could download the additional files from the download version of the game, except there is no way to check what files you have, and what files you do not.

The only real solution you have, here, is to simply download the entire original game from the PlayStation store².

_{¹Don't get me wrong, this is a perfectly good reason to do just that, but the developers have not set up their system to support this practice.}

_{²My research to confirm the difference between an install and a download on the PlayStation 4 also reported that the PlayStation Store, itself, is often responsible for slow downloads. Given your reports that your internet is normally significantly better, I suspect the bandaid fix of "take the console to a friends house, who has better internet" would not be a good solution.}