Destiny 2: The Archive – This idea could revolutionize the lore system

In Destiny 2, Bungie finally listens to the community – just the right time for fresh ideas, like the Archive!
A guest contribution by Sven.

Destiny 2 currently resembles a gigantic construction site. Bungie is visibly struggling to listen to and meet the demands of the upset and dwindling community – as evidenced by the recently released roadmap for Spring 2018 – but the list of necessary changes is long, and it will take a lot of time before they are implemented.

While Bungie focuses on some core elements of the game, like PvP or Strikes, one topic is being overlooked, many Guardians feel: The Lore of Destiny 2. Numerous players wish for the Grimoire Cards to return, or at least a similar system, that allows players to retrieve and look up information gathered in the game about the Destiny universe and its associated lore at any time.

The YouTuber and recognized lore expert My name is Byf, who gained fame through his profound lore videos on Destiny, has now developed a detailed concept for just such a system in cooperation with his friend and colleague NFSgaming.

This is “the Archive” – a kind of compendium for Destiny 2, which meaningfully expands the Grimoire system with the functions of the seal books and cleverly connects it with the collections (kiosks) from the predecessor, while also taking into account the existing lore systems from Destiny 2.

Thus, Byf addresses multiple weaknesses of the current Bungie title and offers some remarkable solutions for them. The community and Bungie itself have already taken notice of this concept and expressed consistently positive feedback.

What is it all about?

The lore should be told in the game – the dilemma of the missing Grimoire Cards

With regard to the story of Destiny 1, Bungie has not exactly shone. Story missions without clearly recognizable goals and sometimes without any connection led to long faces in 2014, and finding a red thread in the first part was often a fruitless endeavor. Disillusionment soon spread among the Guardians, followed by mockery and derision. Anyone wanting to dive deeper into the story and the lore in the background ultimately had no choice but to deal with the Grimoire Cards.

What are the Grimoire Cards?

These are a kind of collectibles for Destiny 1 that were meant to shed light on the story surrounding the Destiny universe and could be unlocked in various ways in the game – such as by killing enemies, reviving dead ghosts, or participating in certain activities.

The content of these cards, which mostly consisted of detailed lore texts, could only be viewed through Bungie’s website or the companion app, which caused even more frustration among large portions of the still fairly young community at the time.

While the Grimoire Cards offered interested players some very profound background knowledge and helped to close some narrative gaps and rectify a few logical errors, their poor accessibility and lack of integration in the game itself turned out to be no truly elegant solution for conveying the undoubtedly exciting and captivating lore of Destiny to the broader player base.

What has happened to the Grimoire?

With Destiny 2, Bungie has discarded this Grimoire system. The lore is now supposed to be told in the game world. The cards from the predecessor have been replaced with items that are distributed throughout the playable world and reveal details about the background story to players after a scan.

Additionally, players can now undertake so-called adventures at all locations. These are self-contained instances that function as mini-missions and provide players with deeper insights into the story surrounding Destiny 2.

Moreover, all exotic weapons and armor, as well as the entire raid and “Trials of the Nine” gear, received what are known as lore tabs. So now, when viewing these items, players have the option to display the associated lore by pressing a button.

Many players initially reacted positively to this new lore concept. Information about the background story was finally available directly in the game. External sources were no longer necessary. Hardly anyone seemed to truly miss the Grimoire Cards.

The problem with the lore system in Destiny 2

Only a small minority – the lore community – warned that the lore surrounding the Destiny universe could lose its depth if it completely abandoned the Grimoire system. And to a certain extent, they were right. For soon, the new concept revealed its first weaknesses.

Yes, the adventures play well and are mostly interestingly designed, the scannable objects often provide exciting background information about the story, characters, and locations surrounding Destiny 2. However, there is nowhere to read or watch all of this again. Not even on bungie.net, where at least the Grimoire Cards could be viewed.

There is no encyclopedia, no journal, no collection of objects and background information in the game that one has already found, to read or view again later when needed. There are also no indications of where exactly to search for these objects, should one wish to listen to the recordings again, because one might have been more occupied with shooting than listening the first time.

Ironically, linking complex storylines and better understanding new insights isn’t as easy anymore as it was in Destiny 1 – even though one had to rely on external means back then, while Bungie in the case of Destiny 2 itself resorts to external means like the comic “Fall of Osiris”, as it apparently isn’t possible to adequately address such a complex and extensive universe solely in-game.

Furthermore, participating in adventures and searching for scannable objects is not necessarily tied to the game’s progression system and can generally be completely ignored.

This leaves a lot of potential background knowledge hidden for many – knowledge that could still have been easily accessible via Grimoire Cards in the first part, even if one had rushed through the story.

Moreover, there are no worthwhile incentives for the broader player base, such as Grimoire points, progression rewards from a seal book, or special quests that encourage players to dive deeper into the game’s story than what was necessary during the initial playthrough of the campaign.

And precisely this issue is where My name is Byf and NFSgaming focus with their concept for the “Archive”.

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The Archive – more than just the return of the Grimoire

The core idea behind the Archive is to optimize various lore and tracking systems, such as the Grimoire Cards, the seal books, and the different collections from Destiny 1 and integrate them into the game as a unified construct, primarily to minimize or eliminate the following problems in Destiny 2:

• Destiny’s universe and associated lore have always been
  phenomenal. However, the lore is often so poorly accessible that it simply does not reach the mass of potentially interested players.
• There has never been a truly successful attempt to motivate players through gameplay
  mechanics or incentives to willingly delve into the lore and uncover and pursue the background story.
• The world of Destiny almost overflows with lore, but the game fails to tell it in a suitable manner because of a lack of
  support. It’s like trying to view the Mona Lisa through a keyhole or listening to Mozart through a tin can.

The Archive:

The “Archive”, according to the idea, is located in the character menu, where it can be selected as a standalone tab. It is divided into 6 different categories, which are structured and function similarly to the various seal books from Destiny 1. The following categories are represented in the Archive and can be selected there:

• Path of Enlightenment
• Cutscenes
• Grimoire
• Codex
• Arsenal
• Collectibles

Path of Enlightenment

• In “Path of Enlightenment”, this is an archive-specific progress and reward system – essentially a huge seal book from Destiny 1. By progressing in the archive, players can enhance their “Enlightenment Score” or “enlightenment points”.
• The “Enlightenment Score” point system includes both the Grimoire points and milestones achieved in Destiny 1, as well as individual achievements and completion of certain milestones in Destiny 2, cumulatively calculating the amount of the mentioned enlightenment points.
• This system is designed to honor Destiny veterans for their past deeds in Destiny 1 with unique cosmetic items like auras, class items, or emblems, while also offering new players who have just started with Destiny 2 lucrative incentives for endgame grinding – both in PvE and PvP. Reaching different milestones offers fixed thematic rewards such as unique armor sets, sparrows, ghost shells, shaders, weapons, etc.
• The “Enlightenment Score” or the “Enlightenment system” represents a kind of Grimoire points, but with more significance and relation to the actual gameplay.
• The “Path of Enlightenment” section includes, tracks, and rewards progress in the following areas: Story, Adventures, Collectibles, Crucible,
  Strikes, Faction Rally, Iron Banner, Trials of the Nine, Raids, and cumulatively
  calculated “Enlightenment Score” and milestones.
• All of this also applies to any future content. The “Path of Enlightenment” section will be thematically expanded accordingly.

Cutscenes

• Under the category “Cutscenes,” players can rewatch all previously unlocked cinematics in the game.

Grimoire

• The category “Grimoire” contains all Grimoire Cards from Destiny 1. These do not need to be unlocked first; all knowledge is available from the start.
• The Grimoire points are still counted and displayed if a player has played Destiny 1 or still does. However, these no longer influence the availability of the cards.
• The cards will maintain the same categories and order as in Destiny 1.
• This category is primarily aimed at Guardians who truly want to immerse themselves in the world of Destiny.

Codex

• The area “Codex” essentially resembles an encyclopedia. Here, everything worth knowing from the Destiny universe – that is, from both games – can be quickly referenced.
• The “Codex” also serves as a beginner’s guide for new players who want to gain a quick overview of the world of Destiny.
• This category is not as profound and complex as the Grimoire. It is meant to be accessible, straightforward, brief, and self-explanatory.
• The “Codex” is divided into 4 sections: People, Events, Places, and
  Objects.
• If new players are asking, “Who was Rasputin again?”, “What is the sword of Crota?”, “Who or what is SIVA?” or “What small cubes is Osiris holding in the trailer?”, then the Codex is the perfect place to find answers to these questions.

Arsenal

• Under “Arsenal”, all lore tabs from Destiny 2 are compiled and listed – sensibly ordered into different categories like exotic weapons, exotic armor, raid armor, trials armor, ghost shells, ships, sparrows, etc., with corresponding subcategories. This ensures that, for example, the lore for the Trials gear can be coherently traced under the category “Trials”.
• The individual items with lore tabs and additional information will be unlocked as they are acquired in the game.
• The “Arsenal” also serves as an overview of the items already obtained or still missing in the personal collection.

Collectibles

• In the category “Collectibles”, all collectible items from Destiny 2 are to be listed. Nothing concrete is known yet, but it was recently confirmed by Chris Barrett that new collectible items are coming.
  
• Furthermore, Byf suggests reintroducing the artifacts known from the predecessor. Unlike in Destiny 1, these should not carry stat boosts but function as collectibles that do not take up inventory space and are archived.
• These artifacts could be found in the open world like dead ghosts, serve as milestone rewards, or be obtained as a reward for completing certain activities. All artifacts would have a lore tab and tell their own story. Primarily, however, they would be obtainable by completing lost sectors to further illuminate their background story. Additionally, collecting these artifacts would contribute to the “Enlightenment Score”.

What do you think about this? Would such a system benefit Destiny 2 and contribute to
long-term motivation, or is the current system sufficient for you, and should Bungie focus on other things instead? Feel free to share your opinion
in the comments.

This guest contribution comes from Sven.