I have quoted this post in full from a [url=http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2hqmkb/how_destinys_content_completely_changed_over_the/]Reddit post[/url] for the sake of posterity in case it gets taken down. There's lots of interesting information and speculation here. The opinions expressed within are not my own; they are the opinions of Acer1096xxx, the original poster. I do not agree with everything he says, but I think the information he provides is important enough that it should be preserved and disseminated as widely as possible. ******* This thread is a collection of posts and my thoughts that show how Destiny's development changed DRASTICALLY within its last year. It is the reason why the story is lacking, the missions are repititive, and why there are grimoire cards. A lot of shady stuff went down during the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014. Anyway, let's start off with what the Story was supposed to be like: [b]STORY: [/b]This reddit post from a deleted thread [url=http://s24.postimg.org/eqzaiykes/Screenshot_2014_09_27_13_02_07.jpg]Here[/url] explains how Destiny's story was originally during E3 2013. Bungie.net user Diver2441 sums up all of this here: (Key parts are [b]BOLDED[/b] for the lazy) [quote]So recently a Reddit thread came to light detailing what Destiny's narrative looked like in 2013, and it's very different from the ailing excuse for a story we're presented with today: the Traveler bringing the darkness, Crow, different progression through planets and even considerable cut areas. So it becomes apparent that between mid to late 2013 and launch, Bungie gutted the story. [b]Now this is where it gets good, something else happened back in late 2013 before the story was gutted; Joe Staten, Bungie's former lead writer left. Some may think it coincidence, but I think not. [/b]Now the Reddit thread (which has mysteriously disappeared) outlined a story sprawling across a considerably larger solar system, and [b]including a number of characters and factions who never so much as appear in the full game. The prime example of this is Crow, the character/faction who was set out to expose the Traveler and Speaker for in fact bringing the darkness along with the Traveler, and not the Golden Age. A specific reference to Crow can be found in the above video at 1:01, where a mission would have you assist Crow in looting the Archive on venus for details on the Vex Gatelord (which is in fact a mission we end up doing in the main game, but Crow is clearly not a part of it).[/b] The Gatelord was said to contain a way to access a pre-Collapse AI construct who had the ability to expose the Traveler, and we can see this in the form of the inaccessible Bunker RAS2. Even in the PvP, we see a reference to "faction wars" at 1:20 in the video, so [b]it appears that justification and explanation for the different factions in the tower was cut as well. Destiny's current half assed story starts to make a little more sense when we apply the context that the entire narrative was gutted less than a year before launch, and remade without Bungie's lead writer. Why Joe left, and why Bungie felt the need to completely gut the story of the game and cut huge areas is beyond me, but it's abundantly obvious that there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.[/b] [/quote] [b]WHAT THE STORY WAS RE-WRITTEN INTO:[/b] Grimoire Cards. Check Edit2 for Source, but basically back in February 2014, a man was hired to write all the Grimoire Cards. This was clearly the solution to trying to incorporate as much story as possible with what little story was actually in the game. This also is most likely the reason why there is no Grimoire UI in-game, because it was far too close to release to actually incorporate such a thing. UNUSED LOCATIONS AND FEATURES: Continuing from Diver2441's post, he mentions: [quote]If we look at an [url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/17/bungies-destiny-a-land-of-hope-and-dreams?page=1]article[/url] from 2013 and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOUi4JDC4o]the reveal ViDoc[/url], it becomes very obvious that the game we have today is vastly different from what it was as little as around a year ago. [b]For starters there are references to areas such as Old Chicago, the ghost fleet in the rings of Saturn, Charlemagne's Vault, and others that very clearly never made it into the full game, despite being fully made and playable around a year ago.[/b] Additionally, at 3:24 in the video above, we see an in game location in The Reef, and from 3:43 - 3:51 we see a pine forested area in game that never saw the light of day as well. Even in our own back yard of Old Russia in the retail games, we have locked off areas such as King's Watch, the Jovian Complex, and the Seraphim Vault, none of which are even mentioned in the retail game today.[/quote] [b]CUT CONTENT BEING RESOLD AS DLC (POSSIBLY): [/b] This [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-osssAKgEc]video[/url] shows that the majority of the first two expansions of DLC is potentially already on the disc! Even in the beta, areas such as the King's Watch and Seripham Vault were accessible through glitches and yet are not available in the full game (Actually, these places aren't even mentioned in the DLC either!) More proof about these areas can be shown through the data dumps at [url=http://db.destinytracker.com]http://db.destinytracker.com[/url] I want to note here that this doesn't mean the content is actually finished, but the idea that it could be is annoying and makes sense given the amount of content that had already been cut. [b]ANOTHER COINCIDENCE: [/b]Along with Bungie's Lead Writer departing for unknown reasons, we can't forget about Marty O'Donnell being fired too. We're all aware that the situation had to do with salary, but when Marty left, there was a clear bitterness between him and Bungie. Bungie had changed, and the lead writer had recognized it too. Was it Activision? Probably. But we're not being told the full story and I don't expect us to find out unfortunately. [b]WHAT BUNGIE MUST DO: [/b]There are a variety of options Bungie can do to fix these problems. 1. GIVE US THE HELD-BACK CONTENT FOR FREE: Unfortunately, this isn't very likely given Activision's greed and contracts already settled in to sell this content later. Some could also argue that it's a good thing this content is being held-back so that the game will stay alive for much longer, although I personally disagree given the lack of content available at launch. 2. GIVE US JUST THE STORY MISSIONS FOR FREE: This is a bit more reasonable and would solve the overall complaint with Destiny. We know there is a story being held back greatly, and they we should not let them sell this to us as DLC. 3. GIVE US A SCHEDULE AND COMMUNICATE BETTER: This is my final plea to Bungie. The game is already out; we don't need to be left in the dark anymore. They need to tell us when content is being released and what we can expect so that we can voice our opinions better and prevent them from making more mistakes. [b]THOUGHTS?[/b] I know this thread is extremely long in details, but I think it needs to be seen. The Destiny today is not the Destiny we were promised or the one Bungie had even imagined. Locations, ship customization, a real story, and other deleted content were all things planned/created before last year and are all gone now. Something must be done. (I will continue to edit this post as more info comes along). [b]EDIT1:[/b] Source to Diver2441's post: [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/70651356/0/0]http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/70651356/0/0[/url] [b]EDIT2:[/b] More details about the Grimoire cards and the fact that all of this "cutting out content" was very recent. Posted by Reddit user [url=http://www.reddit.com/u/mrdabu]/u/mrdabu[/url]: [quote]...Moreover, basic game elements were removed - in the developer commentary for the gameplay reveal the bungie developer (Mike Zak, environment artist) says that the hunter could have gained his weapons and armor through trade with other players or a kind of gambling (8:12). this is not implemented in the release version. The video was released on july 8, 2013 on youtube. So the decision to cut these features out was made in the last year of a more than 5 year development period which is very uncommon. Perhaps the story is so lame and such a mystery because of all the changes during the last year. Then he talks about the grimoire cards which contain the story. in the forum of destiny.bungie.org a guy called general battuta says that the grimoire story was „mostly written and edited in one crazy spiny very close to launch“. (sept 14, 2014) On feb 13, 2014, he posted a thread in which he shared his excitement of being hired as a writer for bungie in seattle. this was 7 months before release.[/quote] [b]EDIT3:[/b] Reddit user [url=http://www.reddit.com/u/PopeOwned]/u/PopeOwned[/url] gives a little bit more info about Bungie's Lead Writer, Joe Staten, leaving: http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2hk88o/spoiler_redditor_provides_insight_as_to_why/ckthwqk ******* Also read http://www.reddit.com/user/404Architect [b]EDIT from car15:[/b] This is the expansion content. [b]THE DARK BELOW[/b] Old Russia: The Veil Lifted (Level 18 Story) Old Russia: The Seeding (Level 18 Story) Ocean of Storms: The Wakening (Level 20 Story) + Old Russia: The Jovian Complex (Level 10 Strike) Meridian Bay: The Hypogeum (Level 20 Strike) + Ocean of Storms: Crota's End (Level 28 Raid) [b]HOUSE OF WOLVES[/b] Old Russia: Gone to Ground (Level 20 Story) Ishtar Sink: Wolves' Harvest (Level 20 Story) Ishtar Sink: The Citadel (Level 22 Story) + Ocean of Storms: Expansion 2 Moon Strike (Level 14 Strike) + The Reef: Reef Raid (Level 28 Raid)