For starters, before I move into what this post [i]is[/i], I want to address what it is not supposed to be, but will undoubtedly turn into. I would prefer this thread to be a constructive dialogue between community and Bungie so that legitimate concerns can be met, whether they are met with time or met immediately, but nonetheless should be addressed in some manner to ease players to some extent. However, there is a high chance that posts that may follow will devolve the points made and deter productive discussion. Nonetheless, I have high hopes that this thread remain sincere in its intent and maybe even draw a response from Deej. It will fade in and out of rambling, I'm sure. I'm also a longwinded writer, so beware. In order to understand the state of the game, it's worth dissecting the game from what it is intended to be to its various components, the primary being story, pvp, general mechanics and content, DLC, and of course what was done well or poorly within all of these. Following, it's probably worth addressing community concerns that I've noticed as of lately. That said, what exactly is Destiny? I'll pull from Bungie's own website: "The next evolution of the first-person action genre that provides an unprecedented combination of storytelling, cooperative, competitive, and public gameplay, and personal activities that are all seamlessly woven into an expansive, persistent online world. Venture out alone or join up with friends. The choice is yours." We, the gamers, are presented with a pretty high expectation solely from the site alone, but of course, those that followed from the development stage are, rightly so, a bit more disappointed. Ironically, like the Speaker, I could go into why those disappointments exist, but will choose not to, primarily because whatever happened, happened, and if it was a developmental issue or conspiracy-riddled result (something I severely doubt, as many of those conspiracies are drawing on generalities and the words of an anonymous figure), it does not matter. The game has some DLC areas on it already because like any other MMO or RPG, there are areas preloaded with textures and environment, but they aren't accessible and incomplete, and exist as a placeholder. Whether or not the areas are incomplete, a truth I understand as an MMO player, or a conspiracy, because they were stripped for DLC and money, is a truth only you can decide for yourself unless Bungie addresses it with 100% clarity. Again, the point is, what has happened, happened, and does not matter; it's where we go from here that can turn a beautiful albeit flawed game from having limitless potential to traveling down a road that leads to one of the biggest financial and critical letdowns of the century. That is not just from a gaming perspective, either, given its massive budget. [b]Story: What Was Wrong[/b] This is one of the points where Bungie receives the most flack. Story. It's a bit sad, given the epic that is Halo. While Halo is not exactly the greatest story, it is undoubtedly a good and intriguing story coupled with solid gameplay. It's an epic with a hero. There may not be very many shades to the characters, but we know what they stand for and the cinematography, lore, and player's experience with the Master Chief left us with an understanding of the world we were in. Destiny? It has a little trouble with that. There are too many unanswered questions and a glaring inconsistency with the methods of storytelling. There's a few odd moments where we are given cutscenes and otherwise, it's simply up to Dinklebot and the Grimoire to provide us with an understanding. The problem with this is that even if Bungie intended to use the Grimoire for story, the story has to stand enough on its own to make sense for those who are not grinding for the cards. Ultimately, if we want to use a game with item-based lore for comparison, we'll use Dark Souls. Although they are two entirely different games, two central similarities are the minimal use of cinematic experience and advancing the lore through acquired items. The first Dark Souls did not have much lore thrown in your face. It was not handed to us, gift wrapped in magnificent cinematic experiences (although there were impressive ones, however short), but they had enough. The character and the player, had purpose. We understood what we were doing and why we, specifically, the Chosen Undead, was going on this journey. The world was fleshed out enough that, despite vagueness for those unconcerned with item lore, it would make sense for the Chosen Undead to continue on. The dialogues that almost anyone can trigger, the narration, and sprinkled in finer details allowed players to move on with purpose and a sense of clarity. The story at face value is not overly complex, either. There's enough to keep you moving: you're the chosen undead, you do not want to go hollow, ring two bells along the journey so you may advance, receive the Lord's Vessel and kill four great souls so that you may inherit the first flame, and bring an end to the Hollowing process. Since you are hollow, obviously you would want to stop it. You're also chosen, makes you feel a little special. It's only with doing events properly and reading into the items that we find a more complex and debatable story, but it only serves to compliment the game, world, and lore; it isn't technically necessary and serves lore buffs (of which I am one). Destiny's story does [i]not[/i] do this in its current incarnation. As aforementioned, what cinematic elements there are remain lacking in depth. There is very little to provide our character with agency. We were resurrected by the traveller, a fact I assume we should be grateful of, but are then led to a world with cardboard cutouts of people and races. There's no context save for what we see, and what we see is very little. Dark Souls, again, did not suffer this same issue. The gamer may have to make assumptions, but what we see of various elements and characters, in conjunction with the world, leaves us with an idea as to what things may be. Destiny, however, has bits and pieces handed to us, but there's so little to accompany them that we don't have enough to fully suspend disbelief or even appreciate how much effort went into creating these elements. One example is the races. Grimoire cards or not, the fact that different races exist should be mentioned in a more concrete way since they are our fellow Guardians. The user has no understanding as to why Exos exist or why Awoken are among humans. They simply are. No, this does not mean it needs to be spoon fed to your audience, but it still needs to be established in some way that players can come to their own understanding and be satisfied. Perhaps the lack of satisfaction is related to the inconsistency of detail; some parts are detailed like the Vex all being controlled by a singular mind. Others? Lacking. They're in and out of the story so fast that you're left wondering why anything matters. Worse is the fact that regardless of race, we have no idea why we were on Earth (which is not necessarily a bad thing). But, if we don't know why or how we died, we should at least know where we are going, give use agency. Instead, we are left with a vague idea that the Darkness is coming and we need to defend the Traveller and Last City from the Darkness and other aliens. Unfortunately, the other aliens, primarily Fallen and Hive are outlines waiting to be penciled in. They're named and yet we have little understanding of how they came to be or what they are unless you dive into the cards, things that are not accessible in game, and things that should at least be glossed over better. We don't need to understand every last detail, but agency, why these things are bad other than being a threat, needs to be understood. They have lore, it just needs to be presented more effectively. It only takes a couple brush strokes to create character; create character, Bungie, you've done it before. Mystery matters, but so, too, does detail. We are simply left with too many questions and no way to gain answers save for grinding. Otherwise, even if the game is incomplete as many mmo or multiplayer rpg's are, there needs to be a finite beginning, middle, and end to this first part. There simply are none, at least, none that are satisfying. The campaign's middle consists of far too many scan-and-defends instead of sweeping narrative and gameplay. More creative elements like building the spire for VoG and Sword of Crota should have been used more often. Or, more conclusive find-and-retrive missions? What about escorts? Fleeing vehicle chases? These are just a few simple examples, but they still illustrate my point. Besides, the beginning cinematic is interesting but lacking, and the end? Well, receiving a junker gun and speaking to that shifty Exo did very little to satisfy anyone.