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Destiny 2's biggest core change? "Probably the inclusion of a story," says Bungie

Lore != Story

True. But the Lore is really interesting if you take the time to look into it. Granted, Bungie did not do a great job in setting up a way to read the lore.

There are Dragons in Destiny. Dragons!?! Never mentioned anywhere but the lore. The fact that they are moving away from the lore they set up is a little disappointing but I'm hoping that, instead of this, they will create a good story like TTK.
 

AHA-Lambda

Member
Considering the previous threads we've had about how Bungie has been treating Destiny's story (like believing obviously unfinished arcs are finished) I can't say I have much faith in what they believe with anything regarding story.
 
Bungie has done great with all of the stories they've created besides Destiny 1 and it's first two DLCs

I strongly disagree.

Halo 2 onwards were a mess story-wise... so much so that gamers had to go look for books and expanded universe media to enjoy it.

Tbf, however, Halo games after Halo:CE became increasingly designed in a way such that cinematic narrative exposition would have been too much at odds with the gameplay. So I don't blame them really... people weren't buying Halo for the story.
 

Spoo

Member
I don't feel like that's significant, and I say that as someone who has put a ridiculous amount of time into D1.

The time to nail the story and make people invested in that world and the characters *was* D1. They didn't manage to do it, so my D1 experience became all about the gameplay; the missions, strikes, raids, and of course, later in life, PvP over basically everything else. And that all gave me a better appreciation for what Destiny was really good at vs. the things that it was not. A glass half-full approach, but anyone who is going to spend that amount of time grinding in a game needs a way to vindicate time spent.

So if story is the big new addition, that's a nice-to-have, but it wasn't a need-to-have. The real need, the real focus of D2, should have been content production. That should be their answer here: "Well, we're going to have more content over time than D1 ever had. There's going to be big content drops every 3 months, and stuff sprinkled throughout that time."

That's the kind of talk that gets people excited. Not "we're going to find out if we can make a guardian cry" or whatever.
 
My biggest complaint with what we've seen of D2 so far is that Bungie isn't taking any risks or expanding upon the universe at all. And before I delve into this, let me say that I make this critique as a huge fan and someone that has put thousands of hours into Destiny. I love the game in all aspects.

Bungie has addressed many of the bread and butter criticisms of Destiny. They're adding a more structured story, they're adding Guided Games to help people access end game content, the actual engine has been overhauled and were expecting content to be produced and released at a much steadier pace, the weapon system has been rehauled to stop Crucible from being all about Sniper Rifles and Shotguns...these things are all moves in the right direction. But they haven't taken any major steps forward.

I'm absolutely ok with no fourth class being added. I'm ok with no dedicated servers. I'm ok without 60 frames per second. What I'm disappointed in is that the sandbox of Destiny isn't really expanding. We haven't seen any new major threats or enemies. We haven't seen hints at some of the deeper ends of the mysterious and interesting lore being explored such as the Ahankara or The Nine. Then there's the removal of the darkness as a real force and turned into a catch all term.

We haven't seen the gameplay expanded. I was really expecting a Division dark zone type zone where it would be a free for all where all guardians can fight among themselves and try to extract loot or struggle for control of the territory. I was hoping maybe we'd get ship combat, if only for part of the campaign or during loading screens. Something.

So far we haven't seen any of this. It's entirely possible that Bungie is keeping new features secret for now or working on them to be added later. After all, Destiny is a journey and a service that will be expanded for years to come. I'm just slightly disappointed that were not really seeing an expansion of content, features or topics within the game. It feels like a few steps forward and a few steps back for long time players of Destiny. Will I be there? Absolutely. This is easily my most anticipated game. I'd just like to see Bungie channel more of the passion and talent they have into expanding Destiny.
I couldn't disagree more. I think the fact that they are getting their engine and story in order is key to a better Destiny experience. The game could not evolve and expand as you want under Destiny 1. So, I think, giving Bungie the latitude for this fresh start is how we get to an expansive and fun universe/playground/loot, loot, loot.
 
Coming from Halo Reach, my favorite FPS and from my understanding the only great FPS since Half Life 2.

This is ridiculous Bungie.
 
I couldn't disagree more. I think the fact that they are getting their engine and story in order is key to a better Destiny experience. The game could not evolve and expand as you want under Destiny 1. So, I think, giving Bungie the latitude for this fresh start is how we get to an expansive and fun universe/playground/loot, loot, loot.

I agree completely that the moves they've made are positive with the exception of 4v4 crucible which I remain neutral on until I get to experience it. I think they've taken the right step back by "rebooting" in a lot of ways. I just think it's a shame that they haven't put together at least one major "new feature in reference to content and gameplay that will be present at launch. It sounds likr theyre nailing the game systems but I'd like to see a bit more than that.
 

Gestault

Member
More and more, I understand how Bungie's work on the Halo games was indicative of their limitations writing a videogame story. In the sense of being able to write story contained in a game. A lot of what I enjoy from those titles came via novelizations and extended fiction. Titles like Reach and ODST were them at their best, in terms of writing, but apparently those were something of an exception. Which is funny, because from most accounts after-the-fact, those were situations they felt particularly constrained by publisher expectations.

I'm glad they're being frank, but man. I'm making the biggest frownie-face reading these interviews. It sure as shit isn't a lack of budget holding them back.

Stories about how I got my cool gun like in destiny 1?

Don't you remember those amazing stories . Like how I got my gun by buying it off a vendor in the tower . Amazing stories .

Yeah, pretty much.
 

Floex

Member
No regular Destiny player is playing for the story.

I wanted to hear that the game has more substance, this is a one and done deal.

I don't see why they don't Dark Souls lore it, tell the story through guns.
 
No regular Destiny player is playing for the story.

I wanted to hear that the game has more substance, this is a one and done deal.

I don't see why they don't Dark Souls lore it, tell the story through guns.
Cause they can’t even accomplish that, they give no fucks about story and it’s coming across. They’re really coasting it seems and they need someone to challenge them in this market.
 

DNAbro

Member
Cause they can’t even accomplish that, they give no fucks about story and it’s coming across. They’re really coasting it seems and they need someone to challenge them in this market.

This is them trying to give a fuck about the story. I really do hope they succeed.
 

Gestault

Member
What about 60 fps on PC!? That;s the biggest change of all baby

I think they have the sense from their player base that people are increasingly aware of the writing shortcomings, which does matter when you're re-setting their progression in persuit of a new branch of the story. The feel of the gameplay was never an issue, so while access on PC and a smoother framerate is nice, it's not the part they need to "convince" anyone of.
 

McArkus

Member
"So that main campaign, that’s what the trailers are about," explains Smith. "Then, below that in the layering, you have adventures that are stories about the worlds, the planets and the particular enemies contained therein - it doesn’t directly relate to the Red War, it tells a different story."

Excited for the Cthulhu sub-plot on Titan

rD4oias.png


I bet they are just Hive, they like to hide deep underground.
 
I think they have the sense from their player base that people are increasingly aware of the writing shortcomings, which does matter when you're re-setting their progression in persuit of a new branch of the story. The feel of the gameplay was never an issue, so while access on PC and a smoother framerate is nice, it's not the part they need to "convince" anyone of.
Destiny has one of the best shooting mechanics I have ever played. The addition of 60 fps is a huge deal to make it even better. They are not stressing it thought because it is only available on PC....
 
He's not a PR guy...he's the Director of the game.

Also, if they don't let Luke talk to the media, they end up with situations like that interview from last week where the guy couldn't answer a single question when pressed on community concerns.

True, but I don't think his "keep it real" method is great for selling the franchise or building camaraderie at the studio.

I get that for a lot of fans, vanilla Destiny had a lot of problems with the story - but given that game was in development since Halo: Reach, I'd imagine it was an incredibly difficult process to make.

Each time Luke gets on the mic and starts saying "lol Destiny 1 sucked," he's basically invalidating the work his own studio did.
 

Ominym

Banned
I sincerely hope they're right. If it does? I'll buy it. But as others have pointed out I'm not doing it for lore baseball cards.
 
True, but I don't think his "keep it real" method is great for selling the franchise or building camaraderie at the studio.

I get that for a lot of fans, vanilla Destiny had a lot of problems with the story - but given that game was in development since Halo: Reach, I'd imagine it was an incredibly difficult process to make.

Each time Luke gets on the mic and starts saying "lol Destiny 1 sucked," he's basically invalidating the work his own studio did.

Destiny 1 did suck. Bigger problem than story imo was the lack of content. Good story without enough content is no better.
 

Lasty95

Member
My biggest complaint with what we've seen of D2 so far is that Bungie isn't taking any risks or expanding upon the universe at all. And before I delve into this, let me say that I make this critique as a huge fan and someone that has put thousands of hours into Destiny. I love the game in all aspects.

Bungie has addressed many of the bread and butter criticisms of Destiny. They're adding a more structured story, they're adding Guided Games to help people access end game content, the actual engine has been overhauled and were expecting content to be produced and released at a much steadier pace, the weapon system has been rehauled to stop Crucible from being all about Sniper Rifles and Shotguns...these things are all moves in the right direction. But they haven't taken any major steps forward.

I'm absolutely ok with no fourth class being added. I'm ok with no dedicated servers. I'm ok without 60 frames per second. What I'm disappointed in is that the sandbox of Destiny isn't really expanding. We haven't seen any new major threats or enemies. We haven't seen hints at some of the deeper ends of the mysterious and interesting lore being explored such as the Ahankara or The Nine. Then there's the removal of the darkness as a real force and turned into a catch all term.

We haven't seen the gameplay expanded. I was really expecting a Division dark zone type zone where it would be a free for all where all guardians can fight among themselves and try to extract loot or struggle for control of the territory. I was hoping maybe we'd get ship combat, if only for part of the campaign or during loading screens. Something.

So far we haven't seen any of this. It's entirely possible that Bungie is keeping new features secret for now or working on them to be added later. After all, Destiny is a journey and a service that will be expanded for years to come. I'm just slightly disappointed that were not really seeing an expansion of content, features or topics within the game. It feels like a few steps forward and a few steps back for long time players of Destiny. Will I be there? Absolutely. This is easily my most anticipated game. I'd just like to see Bungie channel more of the passion and talent they have into expanding Destiny.

Although I'm 100% excited about D2, I guess I do share a little of your disappointment about not greatly expanding the sandbox (tanks aside).

We do need to wait and see how it all comes together though - the devil's in the detail and the changes may make for a very different experience overall.
 

Symbiotx

Member
Bungie will always be damned if they do, damned if they don't with Destiny.

The story sucks in Destiny, but the gameplay is good? Ridicule it forever!

They worked on making an epic storyline in the sequel? Story doesn't matter, they should've worked on the other things that we can be mad about!

I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.
 
I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.
More like they've cried wolf on story too many times now.

Hopefully they mean it this time, and can pull it off without sacrificing what makes the co-op and replayability so accessible.
 
Destiny 1 did suck. Bigger problem than story imo was the lack of content. Good story without enough content is no better.

Oh it definitely did have its issues, I was fully there ridiculing "I don't have time to explain why I don't have to explain" + calling out Bungie's heavy-handed narrative of "Light vs. Dark."

My point is there's a way for Luke/Bungie to acknowledge OG Destiny issues without pooping all over it, but I also think it's not going to happen because Luke doesn't seem to be the person who chooses a PR constructed message vs. "keep it real" style.
 
Bungie will always be damned if they do, damned if they don't with Destiny.

The story sucks in Destiny, but the gameplay is good? Ridicule it forever!

They worked on making an epic storyline in the sequel? Story doesn't matter, they should've worked on the other things that we can be mad about!

I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.

Wont somebody please think of the poor half finished AAA game from a revered studio with years to make it and infinite money
 

Wollan

Member
Guided games is a great addition but also the map and how everything is tied together has received a major redo.

Do we know if the Destiny 1 grimoires are included as part of the new in-game lore system (I could never be bothered to check the website for these)?
 

Zojirushi

Member
I didn't play Destiny 1 but the art direction had always looked so cool that I was disappointed to hear there was basically no story.

Not sure why people react so negative to this, I for one hope there's actually some value to this game from a singleplayer perspective. But maybe I'm delusional and it'll just be another soulless grind.
 

Two Words

Member
Bungie will always be damned if they do, damned if they don't with Destiny.

The story sucks in Destiny, but the gameplay is good? Ridicule it forever!

They worked on making an epic storyline in the sequel? Story doesn't matter, they should've worked on the other things that we can be mad about!

I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.
I think people wanted both.
 

Lasty95

Member
Bungie will always be damned if they do, damned if they don't with Destiny.

The story sucks in Destiny, but the gameplay is good? Ridicule it forever!

They worked on making an epic storyline in the sequel? Story doesn't matter, they should've worked on the other things that we can be mad about!

I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.

Most gaffers maybe, but most people are going to go mental for D2 when it comes out. It's going to be HUGE.

Bungie aren't stupid. Most of the critical responses here are just noisy internet trolls with nothing worth listening to.
 

_Aaron_

Member
Don't really understand how they took steps backwards from Halo.

They did story great in those games.

The development of Destiny must have been a complete mess and badly managed.
 

Dineren

Banned
Do we know if the Destiny 1 grimoires are included as part of the new in-game lore system (I could never be bothered to check the website for these)?

I think all they've said is that the grimoire is gone. I don't think they've mentioned anything about moving it in-game with their new lore system.
 

Zojirushi

Member
Don't really understand how they took steps backwards from Halo.

They did story great in those games.

I REALLY like Halo as a singleplayer game but the story was super poorly presented in so many ways in that game. I don't you can argues that Bungie knows how to do story right based on Halo.
 

Two Words

Member
Most gaffers maybe, but most people are going to go mental for D2 when it comes out. It's going to be HUGE.

Bungie aren't stupid. Most of the critical responses here are just noisy internet trolls with nothing worth listening to.
Because Destiny is the only game in existence that can't be legitimately criticized.....
 

Lasty95

Member
Don't really understand how they took steps backwards from Halo.

They did story great in those games.

The development of Destiny must have been a complete mess and badly managed.

Destiny was a vastly more ambitious game compared to Halo.

Yes, the campaign suffered but there was so, so much more in there. Twas a huge achievement.
 

Mindlog

Member
Cause they can't even accomplish that, they give no fucks about story and it's coming across. They're really coasting it seems and they need someone to challenge them in this market.
They accomplished it well enough with Praedyth. In fact it's probably the best approach to take. The player is as new in the world as the player character. Let them pick up hints before going in whole hog. This new Cabal arc is another step in that direction.

However, when doing this every time you abandon a thread it's very frustrating. Every dangling thread just makes you care less about all the others because you never know which ones will actually be paid off. Praedyth was a minor character that paid off well. The Stranger so far has not.
Most gaffers maybe, but most people are going to go mental for D2 when it comes out. It's going to be HUGE.

Bungie aren't stupid. Most of the critical responses here are just noisy internet trolls with nothing worth listening to.
Every thread doesn't have to devolve into, 'with us or against us.' Destiny fans have traditionally been hyper critical in the community thread. We're talking essays of unrepentant rage. If criticism isn't worth listening to then I wish we could stop bringing it up so often and instead talk about the stuff that is worth discussing.
 

Gestault

Member
Bungie will always be damned if they do, damned if they don't with Destiny.

The story sucks in Destiny, but the gameplay is good? Ridicule it forever!

They worked on making an epic storyline in the sequel? Story doesn't matter, they should've worked on the other things that we can be mad about!

I think there literally isn't anything Bungie could do to make most people actually give it a fair chance. It's become the thing to shit on no matter what.

This premise is total bullshit. Writing a well-integrated videogame story would have people happy. What you're seeing is doubt that they'll execute on it, based on how Destiny was marketed/described the first time around, and awareness of how story was approached in their previous projects. This concern about storytelling isn't pulled out of thin air; the devs are making that clear themselves.
 

Cranster

Banned
Tbh, apart from maybe Halo:CE and maybe Halo Reach, Bungie doesn't really have a great track record with this.
I disagree, Halo 1, Halo 2 and ODST had great stories as those were the Halo games where Joseph Staten had the most input. Halo 3 and Reach had lackluster stories as he was either forced out or working on other projects.

As for Destiny, they tossed out his story treatment which we all know how disastrous that turned out to be for the games lore.
 

Floex

Member
I didn't play Destiny 1 but the art direction had always looked so cool that I was disappointed to hear there was basically no story.

Not sure why people react so negative to this, I for one hope there's actually some value to this game from a singleplayer perspective. But maybe I'm delusional and it'll just be another soulless grind.

But Destiny isn't a single player experience. You're trying to force this into a game that isn't that.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
imagine a bullet point for your pseudo-mmo sequel being "IT HAS A STORY NOW"

Destiny is something else
Destiny 1 did have a story, it was just haphazardly handled due to being forcibly scrapped and retooled way too far into development.
 

broony

Member
The article is encouraging. Wasn't sure if they were going to oversimplify the story. They have the sandbox already. If they actually address some of d1s shortcomings it could be pretty special.
 

broony

Member
But Destiny isn't a single player experience. You're trying to force this into a game that isn't that.
I think asking for a decent single player experience is fair. With d1 people bought it expecting another Halo style space epic, but what they got was a strangely strung together campaign which didn't have any real payoff.

If they can build a decent AAA fps campaign, as well as the coop focused loot activities to do once you have finished the campaign, they will bring much more people along into the end game. I think last time there must have been thousands of people who quit the game part way through the campaign and never got to the meat of the game past level 20.
 
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