I definitely think the perfect mix would be a mix between Mass Effect and Eve Online with a little bit more of the fun that Halo's story had (I thought Halo lost the subtle lightheartedness with Halo 4). Mass Effect has a rich story with us being able to impact the story in major ways which I think with the universe of Destiny they could definitely pull off. That being said I do not want all the "story" coming from the players like in Eve Online. Eve is fun because of the politics and game world, but there is not really an epic story going on quite like Mass Effect or Halo, which I think would be sad to lose.

And I don't think we will, this quote from the Polygon article about Bungie tends to suggest they want to TELL an impacting story:

"Another one is ... we're working on not just big games or big interactive entertainment. We're working on big entertainment, period. I want people to be able to think about what we're working on next and put it on the same shelf of great memories as they put Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark or Lord of the Rings. Hopefully we can create that kind of thing. That's why we're storytellers. Everybody here is a storyteller. If we can create a great story and a whole bunch of people get excited about it and we make a difference in the world and people put us on the same shelves with the best of entertainment that they've ever had, that would be amazing. That would be amazing. I would like that a lot."

Source

I, for one, hope that Destiny falls somewhere between ME and EVE. Knowing Bungie, I can't imagine that they would leave everything up to the players in terms of story and lore. But a lot of what they've been teasing about Destiny's story (time-sensitive events, psuedo-persistent world, other stuff), suggests to me that some, if not several, of the game "stories" will be left in the hands of their loyal acolytes.

I love the idea of player driven stories built around the framework of a fully-realized universe. Set piece moments that, depending on how you play, effect the story for everyone as we all follow our ten-year Destiny.

I'm thinking we'll still have cutscenes for large events. That there will still be an overall story, just one that will play out much more slowly. There will be plenty of time, fictionally, for continuous battle between the Guardians and the enemies. I'd guess that as time goes on we will be rallied to complete objectives. Defend the City's wall, retake base X on Mars, attack Jupiter in force. And these big events will drive the story forward for players that are on the current section of the storyline, with future players experiencing them as appropriate.

Will players help form the legends of the game EVE style? I hope so, but we'll need to know more about what we can and can't do and influence before we can really give it much more consideration.

There is obviously an overarching narrative that give players a sense of direction and the universe of Destiny a reason for existing, but what really excites me is the aspect of player authorship. I don't think Destiny will go the Mass Effect decision tree route, but I do see the world supporting a player's personal adventure.

"We want to build a universe where any crazy shit can happen."

"The story you and your friend can tell about that night two weeks ago when you went there and did that thing and got that stuff, that's going to be so much better than any story I could ever dream up."

"We're building something alive, it has a nature that we don't totally control. Things are going to happen that we don't plan and that's amazing."

I think Destiny is a game sandbox in the purest sense. It's a world(s) where the AI and the game mechanics allow for a crazy amount amount of possibilities, experiences and encounters that will be unique and completely awesome.

My fondest game moments (recent ones) are from games like Skyrim, Far Cry 3, or Red Dead Redemption where the game world supports crazy stuff that I don't quite expect, not those heavily scripted scenarios. Just wish those game had co-op.

My idea of a Destiny scenario:
One minute I'm on Mars looking for loot with my buddies and we get attacked my Time Traveling Robots so we try to escape on our hover bikes to get back to our spaceships but we are chased through Mars' barren desert. We lose the Robots, but are split up. We decide to hop in our spaceships and meet up on Venus (because we can) and we encounter another group of players on a quest/mission that we can decide to help, leave alone, or cause trouble. We decide to help them and fight off Space Zombies to finish the mission and then our two parties part ways to find another adventure. I log-off and log-on the next night to find that the world has continued to live and breathe. Time to get back into the action.

I've been thinking a lot recently about what shape the overall narrative is going to take in Destiny. What will be "canon"? Grim IV and I were discussing it the other day and I mused about where Destiny's canon trajectory would fall. I pondered a modern game scale to provide a measurable comparison canvas...

Halo

In Halo, very little is left to the player's choices in regards to what becomes official story. A few recent things that come to mind are Noble Six in Reach and members of Fireteam Crimson in H4 (don't give me that BS about "canon N6 being steel Mk V b; that was Thom's armor, and it would seem ridiculous if they happened to suit up his replacement in the same damn armor). The majority of the canon is given to us by the franchise stewards & creators directly.

I'd say canon is that produced by the latter. The former... it depends. Obviously we've already seen what happens when material from the creators bumps up against previous content from the franchise stewards (Halo: Reach).

Mass Effect

With the ME universe, there is quite a bit more that is left up to the player. For example, for attractive, intelligent, and all around good people, Commander Shepard is a smoking hot redhead female.

Damn straight. Or rather, bi.

EVE Online

EVE is on the far end of the choice spectrum. In some ways, the players themselves and particular feats of note become apart of the fabric of the game story and universe.

I'd go further. The players and their feats (individual and collective) are the only part of the story that matter. The creator-directed stuff, which is really only the top-down narrative driven by the political leadership of racial factions, which is the only thing that lies outside of player influence, is the least interesting part of the story canon. It pales in comparison to the drama generated by player corps and alliances.

Where do you think Destiny will fall? A big part of me feels like there will be a very interesting mix of each of these schools of thought when it comes to how the overarching story of Destiny will evolve and expand. The idea that we as players might end up becoming a greater part of the legend that lives on through the game is certainly a tantalizing one.

I think if multiplayer involves interaction between factions functioning like guilds or clans do, there's a lot of possibilities here for player-driven story.