Storytelling in Destiny 2 and a plot I can get behind (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 01:15 (2832 days ago) @ Kahzgul

Oryx is still there any time you please. Same with Crota and Aetheon. When you rid the black garden of it's literal heart of darkness, the Speaker gives you one. Mote. Of light. Thanks, buddy.

The Pillar of Autumn is still in space, captained by Jacob Keyes and is approaching an untouched Halo 04. Dr. Robotnik is still on the Death Egg with Metal Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Muro and Shinatama are both still alive and Project STURMANDERUNG has yet to be put into motion in Oni. I mean, come on. Being able to replay levels and have them be the same as they were before is the hollowest of hollow complaints!

Furthermore, most of your complaints about our actions having no effect are at least partially incorrect. For instance:

- Killing Oryx as part of the TTK mission string is certainly commented on by stand around NPCs and mission dialogue and is in fact the basis of the entire Taken War questline. I think that qualified as having an impact. (And if your complaint is that killing Oryx in the King's Fall Raid had no impact, that just dumb. It was the end of this installment of Destiny similar how the final thing we did in Halo 2 was kill Tartarus. It will have implications going forward.)

- Killing Crota is what brought Oryx and his Taken to our solar system. That seems like an impact.

- Killing Atheon has had far less of an impact than killing the Hive king and his son, but it is commented on by Petra in the opening House of Wolves cinematic and we do return to the Vault of Glass multiple times where things have clearly changed based on our Raid. (No Templar when Skolas invades the Vault, for instance.) Not much in game impact? Ok, sure. But did it have "any impact on the world whatsoever"? Yes, yes it did.

- Our killing of the Black Garden's Heart hasn't lead to the Traveler healing, yet, as far as we know, but it too has affected the world. Not only do we start a Strike at the Heart's former home, stopping the Vex from reforming the Heart is mentioned as an objective in at least one mission during The Taken War quest line.

- To claim that the Wolves came and went had nothing to do with us is just plain silly. We were on the front line in that conflict. We prevented them from merging with the House of Kings. We kicked them out of the Vault of Glass. We fought through their time traveling army and captured their leader. Yes, we didn't see the results of our actions until The Taken King, but the scattering if not outright destruction of the Fallen House of Wolves (and the disappearance of their public events) very clearly is because of our actions.

- And yes, you caught yourself, but you missed at least one other in world change that is the result of our actions: Sepikis Prime laying dead in the cosmodrome. Oh, and Eris's ship disappearing from the Tower. That's kinda, sorta our fault... right? :p

This is not to say is wrong to be highly critical of the way Destiny's world has advanced. That same crashed Jumpship has been sitting in the first zone of the Cosmodrome for two years. I find that minor detail unacceptable, so you can imagine what I think about there being few, if any, updates to the unit composition and spawn points in the Patrol spaces. If all Bungie did was update those two things based on which mission you played last, we could have gotten this neat sense of pushing forces back, of other forces pushing in. That the world remained essentially static for two years is easily one of Destiny's biggest failings.

I do think it is wrong to ignore the things that did change like you (intentionally or unintentionally) did in your post, however. :(