[quote]I'll try to be blunt on this one. I missed all of that completely. Now, real quick, I could just be really stupid in this case, I get that, and I'm leaving that option on the table. Also, at least for the Xbox One version, sound quality sucks, so I suppose talking to certain vendors and what not I managed to miss key dialogue when the sound literally just stops because I hit the Xbox button one too many times. Let me clarify, that's not the story's fault, I'm just pointing out that it is definitely possible that my two and a half times through the story I could have definitely missed this information. All I have to say on it, is through the cut scenes, I learned very few things, and almost nothing on the races.[/quote] The cut scenes don't contain much lore, they merely serve to advance the narrative. Most of the lore given in-game comes from dialogue from your Ghost during missions, in item and mission descriptions etc. I'll use the Vex as an example, since the game gives us the most information about them. In A Stranger's Call, we learn that the Vex are created in the Black Garden, which is implied to be outside of normal space and time. During the Ishtar Collective mission, we learn that the Vex are seemingly billions of years old. We are told that they are partially biological machines who share the same mind across a million units, and we are told they are capable of jumping across systems in an instant, demonstrating their grasp of advanced technology. In the Eye of a Gate Lord mission, we are given more information which only furthers this perception, as it informs us that the Vex are even capable of locking realms 'outside of time'. The same missions also tells us a little bit about their actions in the past, such as how they conquered Mercury and converted it into a machine in days during the Collapse. In A Rising Tide, we are told that the Vex have dormant teleportation networks seemingly set up under every planet in the system waiting to be activated, which ties into their extreme age and how long they've been around. If you'd like, I could go over the information the game gives us about the other races as well. [quote]There was a lot of gameplay, but actual amount of story while, lore wise you could say expansive in terms of simple name drops (Not really any true descriptions, just titles, I.E. Prison of Elders, Vault of Glass, Dr. Shim, etc, terms that feel like we should know more about, but the in game dialogue seems to do little to explain.), often times in this game I just really wasn't sure on what was goingon.[/quote] These places and individuals were all part of side-plots, so I wasn't expecting much detail on them. For example, Dr. Shim was a researcher for the Ishtar Collective. That's all we really needed to know about him, since I doubt he'll be that important. The Prison of Elders is a location in the Reef where the Awoken seem to keep prisoners of importance. Not really sure what more they should've explained about it. As for the Vault of Glass, I've yet to attempt the raid, so I honestly don't know how the game presents any information about it. [quote]Definitely, I get that. But that's not what I'm talking about here. My point is I don't even know what I accomplished, I don't know how to describe it. I don't know if I felt lost, or if, as a character, I felt pointless. Sure I killed that big black darkness thing, and the Speaker and folks were really stoked about that, but in the scope of things, it doesn't really seem like I changed much of anything, I just don't understand, and I think some added conveyance or better executed narrative would have assisted with that.[/quote] Honestly, I had the exact opposite experience. Our search for the Black Garden was driven primarily by the fact that the destruction of it's Heart would allow the Traveler to heal, which was incredibly important since the Darkness was on the brink of returning. After we succeed, we see the Traveler shining brightly and beginning to recover in the final scene as the Speaker gives his speech and we talk with the Stranger. I found it topped the game's primary narrative off well. [quote]As for the Speaker's dialogue and it being rhetorical in nature. Sure, he told us a little bit. to paraphrase, there was a great battle centuries ago and it left the Traveler in it's current state. He also told us about "The Darkness", which I can't really help but feel that the darkness alone is a vague ancient enemy. Sure we use light, and we deal with that big blob at the end but, really I got nothing on it. The best he gave us was the origin the ghosts and guardians. [/quote] That's all the Darkness is really meant to be at this point. No one really knows what exactly the Darkness is in-universe. It's merely an ancient, shadowy threat that's looming on the horizon, and everyone is afraid because the last time it showed up it ended human civilization. We are given some hints about it, but nothing substantive. For example, we know that just as the Traveler and Guardians use Light for their powers, the races like the Hive draw upon 'Darkness' for their abilities. Xur tells us that there is a 'dark mirror' of the Traveler, though what this means is up in the air.