Millions of people are still playing Destiny, that much is for certain. However, it's easy to assume that many of those people are playing for the multiplayer aspects, or the gunplay, or the promise of better loot - as such, it's easy to assume that very few people are playing for the story. Let's be honest, Destiny's story (or lack thereof) was a major weak point for the game.
Six months after launch, and it looks like Bungie is finally starting to take care of Destiny's story: the studio has hired veteran Guild Wars 2 writer Jack Ryan on as the game's new Loremaster. That's great, but - what exactly does it mean?
Tomorrow is my last day here at ArenaNet. Next week, I'll be heading over to Bungie to be their new editor/loremaster.
— John Ryan (@John_J_Ryan) February 12, 2015
As it stands, Destiny is full of story - it's just a pain to find it. Most of the universe's lore is locked away inside the Grimoire cards, which would be a disappointment even if they were accessible in-game...which they aren't. Long story short, if you're looking for any sort of story or lore in Destiny, you'll have to use the mobile app to find it.
Many believe that this lack of story was due to Activision pushing Bungie to release the game in time for Christmas, or because Bungie simply bit off more than it could chew. Either way, the game's final story ended up being a lot of Peter Dinklage talking, a few cutscenes and a big heaping pile of confusion. With any luck, that'll change: Jack Ryan's not exactly a rookie when it comes to writing, and there's a good chance that the studio's writing team is going to get a major boost over the next few months (especially going by the studio's careers page).
So, what does this mean for gamers? As of now, nothing yet. With the House of Wolves release rapidly approaching, it's likely that most of the expansion's content has already been locked down. As with The Dark Below, House of Wolves will likely focus more on Raids and Strikes than major story missions - after that, it could be a different story.
Going by the numerous leaks, Destiny is due for a major content patch this fall, titled 'Comet.' If the leaks are true, and Bungie is looking to focus more on story, this 'Comet' update could be what gamers are looking for when it comes to Destiny's story.
It's too early to tell what sort of effect Ryan will have on the Destiny universe and story - at this point, just about anything would be an improvement.
