As Close to an AmA as We're Likely to Get? (Destiny)

by Jabberwok, Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 15:01 (3948 days ago) @ SilverBrin

> Okay, so I'm wondering what person could honestly think that. Someone, either at the studio or the publisher, thought the game should be LESS like Halo and Mass Effect, two of the most successful sci-fi franchises in console history?

Assuming 404 is on the mark at all, the reason Destiny feels odd, characterless, and without a lot of personality is because the original story they cut may have been bad. Like really bad. Bad enough that half the team thought they shouldn't even try to compete with halo/mass effect. Bad enough that Joe was insulted enough to leave. Bad enough that Activision gave the thumbs up to gut it. Please leave the possibility that Destiny, extremely polished in almost every other area, may have had a poor story edited out that was never going to work. And that we might be thankful for it! But this is speculation on top of what may be totally false information. I just want people to be open to the idea they may not WANT to know what was planned.

That's entirely possible, I'll grant it, though it's always been a strong point for Bungie in the past. Which doesn't mean much, I guess, because personnel changes can mean a whole different company. But if that's what happened, the solution would be to rework it and replace it with something good. Cutting the bad parts doesn't elevate what remains. And certainly, there are realities of AAA development to consider, what with release dates and finance and all that, but it doesn't change the fact that what we have here is the skeleton of a story (perhaps missing the backbone). The art department has managed to keep a beautiful skin on there, but once I cut into it, there's a disturbing lack of meat inside.