I'm thinking a big part of the story is going to revolve around the three "factions" that have been speculated (New Monarchy, Dead Orbit, FWC).

Now whether players will choose a faction and play with/against the other factions is the big question for me. If they are factions, could all three be player-populated, or would the "third" faction be controlled by the computer (perhaps to maintain game balance).

In many ways, I'd prefer to have three player factions so that you would constantly be making strategic decisions to work together with one faction while working against the other.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another ODST type thing, jumping between different characters, or even another Arbiter character - playing as the supposed villain so to speak.

The leaked different factions suggests to me that there won't necessarily be villains as such, but rather each faction has its own morally ambiguous positives and negatives, alliances and enmities. I like the idea of an ensemble cast of major characters spread amongst these — the Arbiter in particular made for a very interesting protagonist, so more of that would certainly be welcome.

The only thing that I am (mildly) worried about is it being TOO MMOesque. I've never been enamored by the MMO platform for story-telling and character development. I hope it still has the strong story and cinematic feel that past Bungie games have enjoyed. I'm not terribly worried, being a die-hard long-time Bungie fanboy. But it is a concern that I have.

Abusive maternal figures? A Miranda-esque betrayer? Any strapping on of bombs? I'm not sure if we'll see a recurrence of these themes as they seemed to be dropping out of the Halo games as they continued.

What do you think?

I would wager that the main character is female, or at least identifies as female. I don't know why, I just have this feeling.

So it looks like each day's piece of the Alpha Lupi ARG is falling into a puzzle that resembles a model of the Ptolemaic System, also known as the geocentric model. I think this (and the ARG as a whole) may be speaking to the story of Destiny.

In the Ptolemaic System, the earth is at the center of the universe. We now know that model is incorrect, and that the sun is at the center of our solar system, but for over 1500 years in our history, humans thought of themselves as being the center of the universe.

What if, in Destiny, humans on earth once again believe in the geocentric model of the universe? That everything revolves around them? It would in fact signal a step backwards in the scientific understanding of the human race. A fall from the Golden Age. We can look back in history and see a similar time when this occurred. Ancient Rome reached the height of art, science, and human engineering during its reign as the world superpower. But when Rome fell and Europe moved into the Dark Ages, it signaled the cultural devolution of knowledge. In fact, the people living during Medieval times looked at the architecture and culture of Rome and had no knowledge of how it was made, and they lacked the ability to recreate the same marvels that the Romans had. That is why the Renaissance was so significant. Renaissance means rebirth. And it was the age in history when Europeans once again began discovering the skill and culture of the Ancient Romans, catching up, and finally advancing.

I'm not saying that Destiny is going to be an analogy of this Middle Ages to Renaissance arc, but what if it is inspired by it? What if there are ruins and vestiges of Man's greatness spread across earth and the galaxy, but the people no longer know how it got there or how to recreate it? What if the ARG is also giving us a hint about gameplay setting with its geocentric model--that Destiny will take place on earth and earth only (at least the first game). Perhaps the human race has lost its space-faring technology and must discover it again. Or they may have the technology of their forebears, but do not fully understand it.

This would set up a great story arc of discovery, of finding lost knowledge and attempting to get the human race back on track. A quest to rediscover where we have been as a race, and finally get where we should be going, in order to find our destiny.

Just sparked by a Twitter conversation with unindicted co-conspirators (who may name themselves later):

Yesterday's squib on the image talked a lot about voices; how ours (human?) "flows across the red rock... speaking in code and goads". So did Monday's pay-off graphic, more extensively:

The best voices--voices that truly matter--never allow themselves be heard. This
lesson is worth
learning again and again.

Forever.

Your voice moves as whispers, murmurs and urges
inside larger winds. Only the trusted few can absorb
what is necessary. Wise and sly and perfect, your
instructions drop, leaving nothing but the hard sweet
rime of enlightenment.

The path is set. Your voice is unleashed. Except now it is gone...

And maybe it never was.

Even earlier, the instructions graphic talks about receiving, or hearing, the calls of radio signals.

Remember the role of the Apocalypto in the I Love Bees ARG for Halo 2? It was supposed to be laying radio-jammer buoys so that the Covenant couldn't find Earth by its old radio transmissions. Or, in the Destiny ARG's terms, so that the "voices never allow themselves to be heard, a lesson worth learning again and again."

Destiny promo stuff mentioned that it takes place on an Earth where high-energy civilization is endangered... perhaps it's endangered by beings hostile to us, drawn by our old RADAR signals and TV broadcasts?

-- Steve's wondering if Bungie's exploring the Fermi Paradox here.