Dated July 25th 2013: Here's a fresh perspective from another Bungie employee at E3. Note that along with discussing weapons, customization, and leveling the articles also elaborates on how the storyline will work and expand. Also, they spend less time labeling Destiny and more time asking the important questions. [b]On 3rd person vs 1st person:[/b] [quote]MMORPG: At one point in the presentation the screen changed to a third person view, albeit briefly. Is that something we can expect to see in the game more often? Can we choose to be in third-person, or is it only during the “space magic” skill uses and other cinematic parts? Eric Osborne: The majority of combat happens in first-person. Destiny is a great first-person shooter, but we are certainly taking a lot of the things that sing for us from the RPG genre, like character creation and personalization. We believe players are really going to enjoy the deep customization offered in Destiny, so we do want to provide a lot of opportunities for people to see and show off their builds. In the demo, that happened primarily when players used some of the more powerful abilities, like the Warlock’s Nova Bomb, which breaks the camera out for a dramatic third-person view. We’re also building fully third-person social spaces, like the Tower, that we haven’t dug too deeply into just yet – places for commerce and camaraderie that provide players the perfect opportunity to put on their finest armor and gear, and strut.[/quote] [b]Weapon customization and weapons in competitive multiplayer:[/b] [quote]Eric Osborne: Just about all of your gear in Destiny can be personalized, tweaked, or upgraded in some way. We want to give players the opportunity to tailor their weapons and gear to their style of play, and provide them with storytelling channels that speak volumes about what kind of persona they want to put out there to other players in the world. So, when someone finally walks out of a Raid alive and drops into competitive multiplayer with their spoils, other savvy players will instantly recognize the accomplishment. MMORPG: And every weapon levels up and has its own skill-tree? Or is that reserved for the rarer weapons only? Can you explain that system at all? Eric Osborne: Every weapon, piece of armor, and other pieces of gear can be upgraded via a skill tree. The more advanced and rare items will often feature more elaborate and unique trees, while basic, lower level items might be more straightforward. We’ll have a lot more to say about these systems as we get closer to launch. We’re at pre-alpha, we play every day, and we’re iterating and tweaking every aspect of our loot system to make certain it’s satisfying for new players and seasoned vets years on.[/quote] [b]On the depth of the storyline:[/b] [quote]MMORPG: And how will the tale progress over time? Early videos had the team mentioning a ten-year long epic. Do you know where the story’s headed, or will it be up to the players and their actions? Eric Osborne: Our writing team, led by Joseph Staten, has been working on the story arcs for Destiny for years. The luxury of time gives us an unprecedented opportunity to build and plan for the future. That said, game writing demands a level of flexibility that most other creative mediums don’t. Destiny is a sweeping, cinematic story with a phenomenal beginning, middle, and end, but as you mentioned, the most incredible thing about interactive entertainment, we believe, is that players can construct their own story moments. We’re not speaking about “Choose Your Own Adventure” style storytelling, but rather the sandbox and social aspects of the game. We’re going to build big, beautiful worlds. We’re going to fill it with great stories that take players on sweeping adventures filled with great action moments, but we’re going to fill it with your friends. We never want to lose sight of the fact that the players are our most important actors. In a lot of ways, once we invite them into the world, it becomes as much theirs as ours.[/quote]