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Edited by MAJOR TAO:
3/20/2015 4:00:42 AM
65
Seeking Destiny's Story ~ A response to "Solving Destiny's Story Dilemma"
Dear Comrades in Destiny,
[b]Planet Destiny's Taylor Bair recently commented upon Destiny's fractured storylines.[/b]
[b] http://planetdestiny.com/solving-the-story-dilemma/[/b]
For my part, I think of Destiny's story as a jig-saw puzzle that Bungie has torn into shreds. Some of the puzzle is thrown at our characters.....while the rest was flung to the howling winds and scattered about.
I feel that Mr. Bair makes several good points in his article addressing Bungie's multiple failures in telling a coherent story.
[b]1) Player Character & Non-Player Character Interactions are extremely limited. [/b] We can't quiz Xur about his origins, empathize with Eris about her suffering, or flirt with Tess Everis,. Nobody gets to tell Master Rahool what a heart breaker / tool he is...and get a genuine reaction of dismay, aloofness, sympathy or even a "stop whining" message out of him. We can't go back to the Speaker and persuade him to tell the whole story of the Traveller's arrival...and the fall of civilization which came after.
Character interaction options can make the game more fun and more interesting. The Ghost is our constant companion but much of his dialogue has gotten stale. Certain dialogue triggers at incorrect times: "Well - at least it's chained up !" or lacks enthusiasm or novelty.
While NPC civilians at the Tower can talk AT our characters - we can't say ANYTHING BACK to them. We get to know almost nothing of their hopes, their fears, or how they regard the Guardians.
I'm sure you've noticed that player characters never speak outside of cut scenes.
[b]2) Story information has been hidden away in obscure places.[/b]
Why can't we interact with the Grimoire in-game ? Where's the tie-in to the main game ? This game is centuries in the future, yet there is no holographic-library to learn things from.
Narrative npc guides who can tell the story are overwhelmingly scarce or severely underdeveloped. Eris's recent arrival is a notable exception and gives me hope that Bungie will continue to expand npc storytelling roles and voices to pull the threads of the story together.
"I [b]could[/b] tell you of the great battle centuries ago..... ( but I won't ) ~ The Speaker
[b]3) Environments Don't Tell Stories by themselves...! Environments are the STAGE for Stories to Be Told and Unfold.[/b]
I strongly disagree with Mr. Bair on his assertion that environments tell stories. No, environments are the setting, the backdrop, and the foreground. They are the space we move around in. Environments may have clues, features, artifacts, a past, and a present.....but it takes SOMEONE to tell that story or to piece it together. Environments provide the place for characters to enter into dialogue or conflict.
[b]Example of expanded character interactions[/b]
Major: "Here is a city buried in sand... What happened ?"
My Ghost ( could say...) "The Darkness attacked, the people were wiped out. Then came the wind. Many moons passed and now the city is buried. The people are gone....but the Darkness is still here.... !
Major:
Reply option 1) "How do you know ?"
Reply option 2) "Should we be running already ?"
Reply option 3) "You're late with the enemy detection AGAIN !"
My Ghost: Reply options:
1) "Look at_____"
2) " Heavy weapons -- NOW ! "
3) "They were CLOAKED !"
[b]4) What this Game needs is MORE BANG BANG ! [/b]
Wait,.......No. There's LOADS of BANG BANG ! I imagine the power struggle that must have occurred for two visions of what Destiny could become. The Bang Bang Faction won the vision quest hands down and Destiny is a game with outstanding gun play and powers. The story RPG faction got thrown into the dungeon in chains....and as a result, Destiny is incoherent, hard to follow, excessively full of mystery and remarks that completely piss me off as well as being transparent evasions of good opportunities to tell Destiny's story.
[u] The Mysterious Exo Hunter before the Black Garden Mission[/u].
[b]"I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."[/b]
<[u] After the Black Garden Mission[/u] >
[b]Major: "Hello there ! Hey - we killed the Blob God....how about some explanations / expositions ? ! [/b]
Mysterious Exo Hunter Babe: [b] "Umm.............................................."[/b]
5) TerraMantis was able to sum up much story lore and details that help viewers connect the dots in the Destiny Universe.
https://www.bungie.net/7_Community-Focus---TerraMantis/en/News/News?aid=12595
HIs video is marvelous. Bungie could learn from this guy.
[b]Bungie.....can you find a way for this story exposition to happen IN THE GAME ? [/b]
[b]It is my hope that Destiny finds it's storytelling soul...because at present that soul is lost in the Void.....waiting to be found and brought back into the Light. [/b]
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Edited by Valencewolf: 5/24/2015 2:56:17 PM1) ([i]regarding NPC dialogue[/i]) Unless those dialogue options are changed and updated regularly, they too will become stale. That is a Band Aid solution at best. 2) ([i]regarding Grimoire[/i]) No disagreement here. The Grimoire should be available in-game, hands down, no question. 3) ([i]regarding terrain as story[/i]) I think you're both a bit correct. You are right that terrain is the setting (stage) in which a story takes place, BUT terrain done right can also tell a story on it's own. You may recall the attention the Blast (in the Cosmodrome) got during the Bungie ride-along. There was no NPC that told us what happened; no Grimoire card to read or in-game notification to receive. The terrain was designed in such a way as to let the player know that a large explosion had happened there. Granted not much of a story, but it shows that terrain can tell a story. Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. 4) ([i]regarding action vs. RPG[/i]) Yes and no. Ultimately, Destiny is an FPS; without BANG BANG BANG, it would wither away. That being said, there does seem to have been a big disconnect between the two sides, and the FPS team won. At the end of the day, I don't believe Destiny's story was meant to be told the same way stories are told in other games. I think of the "story" in Destiny more like background fluff: it's there to flesh out the game world, give flavor to what would otherwise be just another game. While finding out more about some of those bits of lore would be interesting, I don't need to actually live them; sometimes the lore is interesting on it's own. In my mind, Destiny was intended to be a toolbox from which players could draw in order to tell their own stories, "Become legend" to use their own catchphrase. While they have had some success, there is a long ways to go in that department. The limited map size, the numerous kill-walls/kill-timers, the blocked-off DLC areas (even after purchasing said DLC and completing the associated mission) all contribute to a feeling of being locked inside a very beautiful, but very small, house. Destiny's "story" (or rather our stories) will be greatly enhanced with more places to adventure in and more variety in the events that transpire in those places. Gamers are creative; we will find interesting things to do with the tools available. But so far the toolbox is comprised of a hammer and a screwdriver. Not enough to build a house with, but perhaps enough to put up a framework.
