[quote][b]There is a TL;DR at the bottom[/b][/quote][quote]This thread discusses leaks, but does not contain any that haven't been posted before. It contains the recent IGN/Kotaku concept art and story details. It also discusses the demonware blog leak slightly, but no link posted to the actual leak.[/quote] I have been looking over some Destiny information, and I thought it was time for me to make a post, speculating about something we could be doing in Destiny. So let me get to it. I think Bungie has always been a big proponent of exploration in games.[quote][url=http://youtu.be/T0_jiB2hqeQ?t=57s]"Something that was core to the game in the beginning, was that sense of wonder and exploration."[/url][/quote][quote][url=http://youtu.be/T0_jiB2hqeQ?t=4m19s]"We want to build spaces you want to explore."[/url][/quote](Quotes taken from Halo: Reach ViDoc) Easter eggs come to mind when thinking of exploration, and we all know Bungie has had a number of easter eggs in their games. So we can guess that exploration will be a big part of Destiny. It practically says so [url=http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/186ndteg84riwjpg/original.jpg]here[/url].[quote]"Centered around adventure and fun, the game is designed to be highly social while also allowing for [i][b]open exploration[/i][/b]."[/quote] So, where do we get to explore? The last city and it's surrounding area? [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=68213981]Puerto Princesa[/url] and it's terrain around the city would seem like a pretty open place to explore. We know Bungie is capable of making big open playable spaces with multiple players (see ODST's campaign, Reach's campaign and Forge World). But I think this game will be bigger/better than that. I'm thinking you can explore the entire solar system/universe possibly. A game hyped to be "One of the most ambitious games ever created.", it's not a farfetch'd idea. Plus this idea is founded on some information we have. [url=http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/186ndteg84riwjpg/original.jpg]This image[/url] has some quotes: [quote]"Destiny features a [i][b]rich universe[/i][/b] populated with fantastic characters and [i][b]fantastic worlds[/i][/b] that are grounded in our solar system."[/quote]Worlds, plural. I thought that was noteworthy.[quote]"The ambition is to create a [i][b]universe[/i][/b] as deep, tangible and relatable to that of the Star Wars franchise."[/quote]If Destiny only had one setting, and that were the last city on earth, this universe wouldn't be as 'deep' as the Star Wars franchise. [url=http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/186ndtmch5it3jpg/original.jpg]This image[/url] also has some quotes: [quote]"Our story [i][b]begins[/i][/b] seven hundred years from now in the Last City on Earth, in a [i][b]Solar System littered with the ruins of man's Golden Age[/i][/b]."[/quote]The story begins on earth, but where can it end up? Anywhere in the universe possibly? Also, it says the Solar System is littered with ruins of man's golden age. I think this means that we have colonized other planets perhaps? But why is everything in ruins? Could it be the same reason why there is only 1 city left on earth? Maybe it's a universe catastrophe that left the entire universe in ruins. Maybe the last city hasn't been affected because we have this "protector". Maybe the aliens want this last city because it's the only place that hasn't been affected by whatever has left the universe in ruins. (This is all just speculation, I suppose for another thread, this thread is about exploration)[quote]"Meanwhile, strange, alien monsters creep in from the [i][b]edge of the universe[/i][/b]..." "We are young 'knights' tasked with defending the remains of humanity, [i][b]discovering[/i][/b] the source of these monsters and -eventually- overcoming them."[/quote]If we are to discover the source of these monsters, wouldn't we have to go to the 'edge of the universe', or atleast off of our planet? [url=http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/186ndts9izgipjpg/original.jpg]This image[/url] has one quote: [quote]"An exciting [i][b]trek through the universe[/i][/b], filled with mystery and action."[/quote]"Trek through the universe" seems to be very in favour of my theory. In the second leak, also known as the 'demonware blog' leak, we get more information about the game. Since I don't want to get banned, I'm not going to post a link to the leak. [i]I had it in my rough draft, and was planning on posting it if I got confirmation from a ninja or an employee if it was okay, but I'm kind of impatient, so I just took it out and will just be discussing it slightly.[/i] In the blog post, the person says the game reminds him of 'Elite'. A game from the 80's, which had 2 sequels in the 90's. In Elite you explore the universe with your spaceship, gaining credits by "piracy, trade, military missions, bounty hunting and asteroid mining", upgrading your spaceship with the money you recieve from missions and other ventures. Destiny reminded him of a game that was purely about space travel. Pretty interesting if you ask me. So, now to tie this all together. How does one space travel? In spaceships of course! Halo: Reach comes to mind, piloting your sabre, space battles. Bungie now has experience with space battles and related mechanics, this could be a foreshadowing Destiny. Now in some of the concept art that was leaked, we see, you guessed it.. [url=http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2012/11/32.jpg]SPACE[/url]-[url=http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2012/11/81.jpg]SHIPS[/url]! Also, in all of the [url=http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/11/28/destiny-story-details-concept-art-leaked]concept art[/url], all of the people have either full helmets, or breathing apparatuses. Things needed for space travel and OTHER worlds, with different atmoshperes. Spaceships are otherwise known as "starships". I remember there being something in this week's mailsack about starships.... [quote][b]WestCoastRonin:[/b] Besides building an awesome universe that none of us can see yet, what is a perk of working at Bungie that most of us on the outside wouldn't know about? Piloting an amazing starship is a fantastic recent perk. [b]Michael Williams, Senior Engineer[/b][/quote]To which Deej added:[quote]Ahhhh, yes. I'll tell that story next week, Bungie Community. Promise.[/quote]What's next week? Well aside from the next mailsack, it's the VGAs. Where [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=75982921]a lot of people[/url] think Destiny will be officially revealed. If it is revealed at the VGAs, we could see more information pumped out at us. Maybe next week we will see a return to the Bungie Weekly Updates? Bungie "can't wait" until they're "firehosing information" at us. I guess we'll all find out in a weeks time. Alright, so with all that information, it's looking likely that we may be able to explore an entire solar system/universe, and not just this "last city" and it's surrounding area. Maybe we will be able to explore several other planets. Not full planets, but huge planet like 'levels'. For example, we start on earth in the last city on earth. Which probably has surrounding terrain, and we can explore all that. Maybe we start low, work our way up, get a spaceship eventually and then can take it into space, and then explore space, to different planets and places (space stations, asteroid belts, etc.) Each planet would have a pretty big explorable space, close to the size of whatever the last city and it's surrounding area is. [quote]TL;DR: I think we will be able to explore the entire solar system/universe in Destiny, we have a wealth of information that supports this theory.[/quote] Discuss my theory, and everything about space travel and exploration in Destiny. If you were tough enough to read the entire post.