The Codex worked really well in Mass Effect, in game. And that's basically what these Grimoire cards are.

Except a lot of that information was explained in-game during regular gameplay which made the codex merely an addition rather than something that was necessary to explain the story,

I find it a bit insulting that 343 Industries got tons of flack for pulling this with Halo 4's Terminal's and Bungie is receiving very little complaints for pulling the same thing.

In my opinion it wasn't the same thing. And it's insulting how?

Because reviewers/people think that Bungie is too venerable of a studio to make a mistake like that. They are perfectly fine dicking all over 343 for doing it though.

Yeah, there might be bias there. I'd have to accept that they are comparable mistakes to really buy into that, though. 343 have said that it wasn't the plan to have the terminals outside the game. I haven't seen Bungie say that Grimoire cards were intended to be viewable inside the game. I think Bungie already tries our patience in the Tower, especially when you have indecisive teammates (like me!). My theory is they wanted to limit activity that couldn't be done together.

I find it a bit insulting that 343 Industries got tons of flack for pulling this with Halo 4's Terminal's and Bungie is receiving very little complaints for pulling the same thing.

In my opinion it wasn't the same thing. And it's insulting how?

Because reviewers/people think that Bungie is too venerable of a studio to make a mistake like that. They are perfectly fine dicking all over 343 for doing it though.

I suspect what they're aiming at something rich and long-lasting that will reward the hardcore, but will still be fun for the majority. Given that most FPS players don't even finish campaigns, maybe it's the right choice to have these cards outside the game. We story-oriented gamers may be the outliers.

This is a good point. There is a big difference between producing art specifically for the masses and for the sake of art. I wouldn't ever say that one is objectively better than the other, people have to make money after all. But there is an interesting balance between making an artistically interesting, labor of love, game that makes good profits, and in making a record shattering profit explosion of a Call of Duty sequel. Both are undoubtedly very very enjoyable to play.

You get to read about Vanguard responses to your actions and analysis of whatever you saw in each mission. It really does feel like an incomplete story without these, and I definitely won't be doing it any other way from now on.

I heard the new Quinten Tarentino movie is coming out soon. Apparently it is 2 hours of non-stop action, special effects, and blood; it gets really intense. If you want to know who the characters are, the reasons they are fighting each other, or what is happening from scene to scene, you can just bring your internet enabled device into the theater, download the "Movie Story Cards(tm)", search through them for relevant information, and read along during the movie!

• Don't know who that creepy guy following the main character is?! Read all about his motivations in the "'Creepy Guy' Movie Story Card(tm)".
  
• Wondering what this sense of urgency is everyone is talking about?! Read about how the main character is in danger in the "'Why are we all gonna die?' Movie Story Card(tm)"
  
• Confused as to how a sword could be so devestating to an army of people with guns?! "Movie Story Card(tm)" not yet released, buy our next movie for more!

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Why is this kind of thing acceptable in video games today?

The Codex worked really well in Mass Effect, in game. And that's basically what these Grimoire cards are.

Mass Effect was a single-player game. You could take your time reading the Codex, and no one was waiting for you.

And why do you look like David?

I find it a bit insulting that 343 Industries got tons of flack for pulling this with Halo 4's Terminal's and Bungie is receiving very little complaints for pulling the same thing.

In my opinion it wasn't the same thing. And it's insulting how?

Let's just face it, Bungie dropped the ball on storytelling with this game and imo it seems to be a common thread since Halo 3.

I realize this comparison won't jive with many, but take Marathon for example. Great story and lots of text, however the player was bound to a location within the game in order to read it. So you HAD to stop and read everything (breaks pace of game play), skip over it and never read it, or skip it and fight your way back to that terminal. Or do what a lot of people did, and wait for it to be compiled on a website and go read it there :)

Here is another way of looking at it:
Our character wakes up knowing nothing. It would be silly to expect the entire world to be explained to your character during missions. You would expect that a newly awoken guardian would get handed a set of "here's how the world is" cards in order to get a crash course. What I wish Bungie would also do though is have things like news papers or other reading material around the Tower. I'd love to go sit on the spire with a news paper :)

My personal style is to play hard, especially with friends, and then in my down time away from my console (because I'm married, I have to do that) I can read up on the story. My one gripe is that if you wanted to go read 10 cards in a row, you're going to spend almost as much time navigating between cards as you are reading them. Bungie.net is the best interface so far, but it's still tedious.

I can't even add the app on my phone because it is too old. I'm not upgrading my phone for a video game.

In Destiny it irritates me more than it did in halo 4, because you unlock them much more frequently than the terminals.

Good thing they're just small chunks of text most can read on their phone, and not movies you have to exit the game to see.

And it's all text based, FFS.

Yay for text! Down with motion-comic-esque cutscenes!

Again, why couldn't this be accessible in game?

I have no idea why I'm doing things or why I should care- until I see some of those cards terminals.

Fixed that.

I'm a fan of text--I think that the different form activates different parts of our imagination, so I like the Grimoire cards in concept, although I've read only a handful at this point. Postmortem's post convinces me that I should read them sooner than later, but I won't interrupt gameplay to do so, and this ties in with my developing thoughts about Destiny.

The last few nights I finally got to play some extended sessions with friends, and my gosh, it's a different game. Solo the game is vaguely disappointing, but with friends magic happens. More stuff is clicking all the time, but the problem with always playing with friends is that it's harder for me to get my story fix. I find myself taking my headphones off during cutscenes and NPC dialogue because it's natural for people together to talk and unnatural for them to be silent. I've stopped myself from saying stuff while my ghost is talking. It takes concentration NOT to talk. So it seems like Bungie is building this story and world at least partly outside that space because the gamespace always should be a social space. We're already waiting on each other while we run Tower errands, and I don't want to read cool story info while people are talking in my ear. This wasn't an issue playing Marathon, and seldom an issue playing Halo.

Bungie has made many unconventional decisions with this game, and it might bite them--perhaps it already as, looking at metacritic (or Cody's hyperbole)--I worry about that only because it might affect their ambition moving forward. I suspect what they're aiming at something rich and long-lasting that will reward the hardcore, but will still be fun for the majority. Given that most FPS players don't even finish campaigns, maybe it's the right choice to have these cards outside the game. We story-oriented gamers may be the outliers.

I'm a long way from giving my verdict, but I guess my hope is that if this game seems less than what we're used to from a narrative point of view, it's because it's one piece in a large mosaic we've seen very little of. I do tend to be overly optimistic about Bungie's games, though, I will admit.

In Destiny it irritates me more than it did in halo 4, because you unlock them much more frequently than the terminals.

And it's all text based, FFS.

Again, why couldn't this be accessible in game?

I have no idea why I'm doing things or why I should care- until I see some of those cards.

GAH!

Could be laid out better too [on iOS & Android].