David Cross, perhaps best known for his role as Tobias in American sitcom Arrested Development, was actually involved in the development of Destiny at one point, the actor has revealed. Along with comedian Brian Posehn, the duo was asked to "punch up" the sci-fi shooter's script by adding in some jokes.
"We were flown up to Bellevue, Washington to do a punch-up on the Ghost character in Destiny about a year ago. We were both very excited about it," Cross told IGN. However, as you may have noticed, Bungie didn't use a single scrap of the pair's work for the finished product. "They did not use a single, solitary thing that we wrote, which is a shame. [But] I would imagine somebody somewhere said, 'We can't inject this levity or humour into it'," comments Cross.
However, the actor has actually "played Destiny quite a bit", and reckons that, at times, the writing is yawn-inducing. "it's like the Ghost is kind of monotone saying this thing, 'We must get over the ridge. That's the Cabal - we've got to defeat him.' Whatever, it's boring as s***."
He continues: "I speak for myself and Brian, and I know thousands if not millions of other gamers would be like 'It would be nice to have a joke or something in there," and honestly, we can't really disagree. Whether Cross' writing was actually funny, we'll never know, but we can certainly see his point.
What do you think of all this? Is Destiny's writing really that bad, or do you think it fits the bill? Feel free to show us your stand up routine in the comments section below.
[source uk.ign.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 38
Yes, Destiny's writing really is that bad, possibly worse.
What writing? I went to make a cup of tea and missed the entire story 😀
The "writing" doesn't bother me. I stay so focused on what I'm doing in the game I don't notice or care about jokes.
Well I like Destiny, and I love Arrested Development. I'm inclined to agree though. It could have done with better writing. However, seeing as the missions are meant to be played repeatedly, wouldn't the jokes get a bit annoying?
"Douche chill"
I knew this from the Alpha and Beta. The game bored me to death.
So seeing as he has played Destiny he should known Destiny isn't a story driven game obviously for a good reason, what story Destiny does tell fits the game perfectly. Otherwise repeatedly playing missions, strikes etc in co op or solo with anything bigger then the story already is would be a nightmare to play. Destiny isn't about its story anyone who has played the game should surely know this, its about Strikes, Raids, Bounties, prison of elders and loot etc. Bungie has done an excellent job of it, boring? I haven't got time to be bored in Destiny.
I've been hearing so many people complaining bout the story, but I actually think it was a good call of (probably) Activision to take it out. How many Destiny players were really in it for the game? We like to use it as an excuse not to play, but I honestly think Destiny is better off the way it is: light on a story. I'd rather see that they focus on more content with new areas, new enemies, extra raids etc, than have the story rammed down my throat.
Don't get me wrong, there are games where I really like to be sucked in by good writing. But I play Destiny just like I play Diablo for instance: I'm just in it to grind, shoot some enemies and listen to my podcasts while I'm at it. I'm up to date with all my podcasts whenever I'm done playing Destiny (or Diablo) and I've collected some loot or gained a few levels.
I strongly feel that we, frequent readers of websites like these, strongly overestimate the amount of people that would actually like to see more story content. Destiny now speaks to a large group of people who else perhaps would've dropped out and started playing CoD, BF or TF again.
@Boerewors yup your spot on, I love telltale games and a good story, but I also love shooting aliens in the face for no reason other than they are the darkness with little story. The games a blast.
@themcnoisy
I bet you with the skippable cutscenes 90% of the players don't even watch them anymore. A game like the Witcher can literally take over my life and have me thinking bout the land and the lore all day, but Destiny's shooting is so solid, so addictive that it can do the same without any backstory.
Destiny is great for it's moment to moment gameplay and pvp multiplayer but even hardened fans would admit it's faults (repetitive missions, lack of plot, waste of great voice talent, massive grinding for little reward and over expensive DLC) I really hope Bungie take on board the feedback and criticism because they can make an incredible sequel.
@Boerewors That's a pretty good opinion there. I'm personally disappointed by the lack of story content (mostly because Halo had a pretty decent story and I expected better from Bungie), but I'm also aware that Destiny is styled like an MMO, and that story would be more in the background. It's just one of those games you play to play.
That's definitely not a bad thing. In fact I sometimes wish be this simple again. Don't need an excuse, just play!
I can see the point people are making here about how it's not a game focused on its story, but the fact is that they made the decision to put a story in to the game. If you're going to do that, then it falls to you to make sure that the story is done well. Story modes should never be shoe-horned in to a game just because they can.
The fact that the main focus is elsewhere doesn't really sit well as an excuse anyway. In FFXIV the main focus is arguably the endgame content, dungeons, dailies etc, same as here, but they still managed to fit in a large and enjoyable story on top of everything else that is squeezed in there. Yes, I know, different style of game, but everybody's defense seems to be based around the MMO structure of Destiny so I'm just looking to other MMOs as an example. It's not even like Bungie have no experience of crafting games with a good story - they made Halo for crying out loud!
I know not everyone might agree, but as far as I'm concerned if you're going to put a story into your game, you should try to do it well or not at all. And if it turns out badly, you can't use "it's not the main focus" as an excuse, because at the end of the day you chose to put it in there, which clearly means you thought it was worth putting in.
It's not just the writing that's boring, it's the whole damn game.
Wait, there were supposed to be jokes in Destiny? Is this a joke? D:
Not only is it boring but it is absolute garbage. Don't get me wrong. had it since day one & play it nearly every day (and yeah I am furious at them for what they pulled lately, after being a huge defender). I have always fond the writing to be complete garbage. "Evil so evil it despises other evil'. What? "I don't have time to explain why i don't have time to explain". What?
Please watch the language -Tasuki-
Definitely no objections here.
@banacheck um.. because we CAN actually SKIP cut scenes in EVERY OTHER game once we were tired of the humor. as if what Destiny does have in story even resembles a coherent thread.
They sold us on there being a story to tell.. eventually. .. as in give us your money every few months and we'll string you along with exposition that will lead to nowhere. ever.
"Are you a bad enough dude to rescue president Ronnie?"
All the story Iv ever needed in a game.
Correct. It's a complete bag of sh*te, I love the gameplay though. When I finish off witcher next week I'll be trying out that DLC I aint touched yet.
@themcnoisy @Boerewors its all about the gameplay, its just this frickin' shizzle. As for witcher, I love, but lore, I want a whole lot more, maybe I'm just greedy, also more cut scenes.
@Mickael486
They did tell a story a pretty easy one to understand too, one of the reasons I didn't buy Destiny day one was because of its story. But now it's. 42.99 on the PSN for the base game plus all DLC with Taken King I got it, after playing it again Destiny isn't about it's story it would be like saying you buy COD for its story. People that have played Destiny will understand what I am saying.
@audiobrainiac the whole game is a joke. How can you miss that?
@THEundying27 Matter of opinion, bub
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi You tried poe or 3v3 in the reef yet? Will be up for that sat or sun from 9:30pm if you want? Will set it up in the forums. Let us know pal.
Hmmmm, initially I was going to purchase this game but after hearing so many negative things about it I'll probably just try the demo. I guess you could say I'm buy-curious...
@AntMac the demo is a bit pointless as i dont think it includes any multiplayer pvp @themcnoisy away this weekend but I've only a few hours left before I move on from witcher so I'll be on next week.
@themcnoisy nope, not touched house of wolves at all yet
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi its good, not worth £15 but its a nice addition. Will get another person to join in for it.
@themcnoisy ha, 15 quid, I picked up the limited edition game including season pass from game for 27 quid in some flash sale, absolute bargain
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I paid 90 notes for this game.
And it certainly is not worth that.
No one will ever change my mind about it.
Ive done 3 of the HoW "story" missions and was so bored that they were EXACTLY the same as the others.
Thats just my two cents though.
My main gripe is the why.
Why am I helping the speaker?
Who appointed the speaker?
Who exactly is the Cryptarch?
Why am I helping that weird robot hunter chick?
I personally like context and Destiny did not have much if any.
And Bungie openly stated that there was a deep rich story.
Maybe you get it from an Engram?
@ToOGoodOfAPlaya just keep throwing money at it and at some point those questions will be answered
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I only played the DLC because I bought into the hype and bagged the pass.
I never even hit max light, ever!
@ToOGoodOfAPlaya neither have I, I've ploughed many many hours in but the upgrade system is a joke
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I spent the first 3 months getting nothing but energy.
Did the raid, got a weapon and energy.
It took me 4 months to get any raid armour.
Bought the Vanguard stuff, and sacked off the raid entirely.
As it stands, I have never run out of energy, and that's after upgrading 10-15 guns.
I think at the highest I had 340.
No shards, no nothing else!
The gameplay's not bad, but the writing sucks serious balls. I never though I'd play a game with worse writing than the Call of Duty series, but lo and behold, Destiny's plot actually bored me more.
@Boerewors I'd imagine many people, including myself, were beyond let down with Destiny's story. I mean, Halo has one of my favorite stories in gaming and the fact that we could have had something like that kills me inside. It's obvious that the game was gutted and thrown out with minimal content and most of the DLC has been on disk from the start. I don't think we'll ever know what it was supposed to be, but the game we got is, other than mechanics, awful. Most of Destiny's player base is gone with only the most hardcore remining. If half of the things were put into the story that were put into grimiore cards, the game would be much more bearable. I would like to know why I'm killing the same enemies, in the same areas and why I should care at all. If I had a reason, slugging through content I've already played several times would be much more bearable. Destiny is about as bare bones as it gets in many areas and doesn't really excel in any. Of course that's just my opinion and yours is just as valid as mine, I suppose I'm still just bummed about what a disappointment Destiny ended up being.
To me the whole game is bad. Bought it twice and traded it twice. Spent a long time playing it before I realised I was getting ripped off.Never gave in to giving bungie and acticon anymore of my cash. So without buying dlc the game became crap for me.
Please watch the language -Tasuki-
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