Why Bungie gets visual storytelling wrong (Destiny)

by Avateur , Monday, July 27, 2015, 00:12 (3417 days ago) @ Ragashingo
edited by Avateur, Monday, July 27, 2015, 00:18

Again, over and over across our conversations you just ignore or forget so much stuff! In game, with no outside sources we know:

1. The Fallen were looking for something in Old Russia and we learn that something was Rasputin. They were actively trying to hack him and we stopped them. Eris later tells us that Rasputin still controls powerful orbital weapons.

You need to pay attention to your own writing. You said, up above, and I requote:

"An alien race pillaging unprotected areas of the Earth"

I never said a word about this particular group we stumble across. Are they doing this all over the Earth? The Rasputin group got defeated by us, Rasputin seems like he may be fairly secure right now, yet there they are, still on Earth. The Fallen's overall purpose to this point is still nothing more than ambiguous, unless you're implying (and I don't know how based on presented "story" elements since there aren't any), that all Fallen on Earth are trying to get at Rasputin from whatever direction or area they can. They're there to be killed by you. That's it.

2. As for attacking The City and its walls, come on. Even in game the battle of Twilight Gap, where most of The Fallen attacked the walls is well established. It's all over item description since the beginning and in spoken dialogue in HoW.

Yay backstory! Back to old threads, backstory does not imply current story or plot.

It's hard to take your claims about Destiny's story seriously when you leave out important facts left and right.

Ditto when you keep disregarding anyone else ripping your "story" arguments to shreds.

As I've said before you're too much like Cody. Bungie said we're going to Saturn. We didn't go there at first. Bungie lied, right? No! Our journey to Saturn was just not part of the Year One plan. Have you considered that maybe just maybe that Destiny really is on a ten year schedule and that maybe just maybe the stories of the Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal are still being told?

I don't care about what Bungie said or when about Saturn or any of that. Frankly, I have no idea what you're even talking about with any of that nonsense. If Cody's crying about Saturn, that's his deal. Also, where did he even bitch about Saturn in his post in this thread? What the hell are you even babbling on about with this Saturn nonsense? I just re-read my stuff four times and I don't see where I ever implied anything about Saturn, or anything involving Year One in particular. I feel like your Cody vendetta has clouded your view or something.

As for your ten year thingy, duh. I've acknowledged that. But they haven't told anything to begin with regarding these guys. You're acting like a first year or a first chapter or even a first page can't round out a story. Star Wars Episode IV has a beginning, middle, and end. Does it resolve all plot points for the greater story? No. Are there still mysteries? Yes. TLotR: TFotR does the same thing (as well as their middle sequels). To this point, you keep going on about seeds that Bungie maybe is allegedly planting. Yes, they have a ten year plan. When it comes to story, it's looking more like a nine year plan (assuming Taken King really does deliver on actual story, which I expect it will at the very least for the Hive. What comes after is yet to be seen).

If Base Game was chapter one, chapter one failed on just about all levels. There's no narrative. They don't even have time to tell you why they don't have time to tell you things. My goodness.

Get your facts straight about what is and isn't in Destiny before criticizing it. And drop the sarcasm. I'm being serious and engaging in honest debate while you're getting your facts wrong and being flippant. How do you know there is no narrative if you can't seem to acknowledge what is in the game?! :/

I think the previous thread where, beyond just myself and Cody, others were telling you that what you were using to support your arguments were BACKSTORY was quite telling in light of this part of your reply. Those are the facts. I don't know if you know what a narrative is or not, and I said that in the other thread as well. I don't know if you get the writing process or what makes up scripting or narrative, plot, and characterization. Your posts lead me to think you don't, and no offense is intended by that. But don't go talking about facts when your arguments seem to be made up entirely of backstory elements.

I agree that the reveal and implications around The Darkness in The Black Garden was horribly mishandled. Of all the problems with Destiny the part where our Ghost says (and I'm paraphrasing here): "I got a text message from the Speaker. He says: 'Traveler all better now. K Thx Bye'" infuriates me to no end. The biggest, more important result of all our actions in the entire game lead up to that point and its resolution is a short text message read to us by our Ghost while the return to orbit countdown starts up. But we were also told in that mission that the fate of The Traveler, the one thing that is protecting our last city, was hanging in the balance of our actions. It's there in the audio and in the subtitles. Is it terrible that it is conveyed as badly as it is? That we don't even know why it was critical we stop that blob of Darkness at that specific moment? Sure! But you can't ignore that it was there.

But you can ignore that it was there because literally nothing came of it. Aside from someone telling you something, to this point, have you seen any indication that the Traveler is better or safer or more powerful or better off from before we dealt with it? No. It's just someone telling us, and we have to take his word for it (or not)(or option #3, I have zero evidence to support or not support that what we did mattered because Bungie has failed to show us anything supporting either cause).

A couple of months ago you could have legitimately claimed that killing Crota had no effect. Now we know it had a major effect! Oryx is coming! We now also know that there is a strike in TTK where the Vex try and restore the mind we killed at the center of Venus by pulling it through time.

Perhaps what we did to help The Traveler will also be addressed at the appropriate time. Maybe our helping it is what unlocks our new subclasses? At the very least, The Traveler is a key important character in Destiny. It's Destiny's face and draw to the outside world. You really think its story will never ever advance again?

That's all valid. The story will ideally advance. I've been saying that and hoping for that this whole time. The thing being debated is what has been presented and handled to this point. Bungie learning from and fixing those mistakes is excellent. Taken King appears to be a step in the right direction, and hopefully delivers magnificently. I've never implied that things wouldn't advance.

Look, Destiny's in game story is bad. I don't dispute that. But you have yet to back up your "no narrative" claim and you never will unless you can fit your claim with the facts. So, a friendly challenge to you: Either make your claim fit or stop making it. Fair?

Pretty sure I did that in the previous thread. So did many others. You disregard it all based on backstory. At this point, I don't think the burden of proof regarding their alleged story or narrative is on me anymore. Whether you choose to accept what Bungie hasn't done is not up to me. Taken King will hopefully improve things big time and lead to the story and narrative we all want. As of right now, at this moment, Destiny doesn't have it.