You're as inconsistent as ever. (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Friday, July 10, 2015, 19:45 (3661 days ago) @ Xenos

This is more of a clarity question as I can't find anything about it: Did Bungie actually say they were working to improve story telling with The Dark Below and The House of Wolves? I know they said they recognized that the story wasn't as good as we were expecting, but I don't remember them ever promising improvements until the recent interviews about The Taken King. But this could be because of my faulty memory as well.

I certainly could be mistaken... I read so many Destiny articles and interviews that they begin to blur together. But I do remember consistent talking points in the lead up to both expansions.

Before TDB, there were mentions of "we're looking at new interesting ways to tell stories" from Deej and others in interviews (both video and print)... The Thorn bounty was brought up as an example of a particular direction they were looking in. I can only assume that the "bring me the eyes" side quest is what they were referring to. I really enjoyed parts of that quest, but I wouldn't say it was any kind of improvement in storytelling. Just the quests themselves were a bit more interesting. There was also some talk about having a clear villain to go up against, and how the story missions would take you through the buildup towards a final confrontation. This sort of happened, but again I would say the simple existence of a plot does not equate to good storytelling.

Before House of Wolves, I feel like Bungie was less inclined to make any direct claims of improvement. But I do believe the narrative content was still oversold, to a degree.

Here's a clip from an interview with NZGamer:

NZ: Players and press alike have praised Destiny for the quality of the gameplay, and the density of the lore, yet criticize the storytelling methods used in both the main campaign and that of the first DLC pack, The Dark Below. What will the House of Wolves DLC be doing storytelling-wise to enthrall those who have stuck with Destiny, but more importantly, entice new and lapsed players who crave the style of the science fiction narrative gamers came to expect from Bungie based on your previous works?

Deej: We’re introducing players to new characters who will send them back into the wild on quests of justice and revenge. An unexpected alliance with the Awoken gives us a chance to see the world of Destiny from a different perspective. The agents of The Reef have new and exciting reasons for you to fight your enemies.

See what I mean? It's not wildly off base, but playing the HoW story missions, do we ever really feel the effects of an alliance with the Awoken (aside from the voices telling us where to go?). Are the reasons for fighting with the Fallen actually any different than before? Does any of it matter to us when we're in the middle of the action?
This was an opportunity to actually develop our relationship with the Queen and the Awoken in a meaningful way. If we'd been made to feel the gravity and tragedy of the Wolves' betrayal... if we had felt true pathos for the queen and the awoken, a genuine desire to help them... then I would say things were on the right track. But instead, it is all handled so casually. Arriving at the reef for the first time feels like the opening of a new mall, not the beginning of an important new alliance.

So yes, I do feel Bungie has oversold the narrative aspects of both expansions, to a degree.