Imgur album link of designs/drawings: http://imgur.com/a/kTmvj Last week I was proctoring a series of standardized tests for my high school students. This task is the perfect definition of boredom… like watching other people watch paint dry. In spite of this, I determined to make the week useful. So, I let my mind create Destiny 2 as if I was a lead designer on the project. Everything you see below came from that thought exercise - I was excited to share with other Destiny fans - The big ideas: (imgur link to the story graphic: http://imgur.com/wUQ0w7s ) The story would revolve around the “Wells of Chronos” - these subterranean Vex structures would have been something anticipated from what we know of the Vex… anticipated and feared. The game picks up with a guardian (you) on a routine patrol mission exploring a small moon. The player would stumble across (literally fall into) a hidden vault in a long abandoned structure, emitting a signal yadda yadda… with information describing these Chronos Wells. These “wells” are locations of the Vex’s deepest power/ability to control time/architecture to commingle with the universe itself. The rest of the game is the urgent chase to stop the darkness from controlling these structures and, you know, save the world. [This idea makes sense to me b/c, 1. the Vex are super interesting and 2. b/c the way the Destiny 1 was chopped up and delivered in parts/the fractious development vision, etc… it all opens the door for some restoration storytelling allowing the team to go back and do what was left out/undone if needed.] The backdrop is: Rising tensions/fear in the Last City - as the darkness looms, raised stakes and alliances between between our enemies, and a peripheral narrative following the queen - who is alive but being held by the “stranger” and her allies. The narrative would follow 5 threads. THE QUEEN AND THE STRANGER THE FACTION WARS REBORN THE LAST ROSE THE WELLS OF CHRONOS THE CONFLUENCE OF DARKNESS Each narrative thread would have at least 3 but no more than 5 story missions that would unlock a Strike. Strikes would be different than Destiny 1. They would be more intense, include Dark Souls style summoning for matchmaking in addition to current auto matchmaking. Most importantly, the boss fights would be more technical/tactical and less bullet-spongy. The completion of each Strike would unlock a special Artifact. The Artifact would trigger a “Memory of Light” when the player nears a “Chronos Well” - these memories would take the player away from the current conflict and explore the historic but thematically parallel (and very personal) tale of the Thorn and The Last Word - The called ‘The Last Rose.’ The player would experience this conflict like a grim western… it would be an instructive/incisive telling of the fabled heroes and the fall from grace… rise of the light etc. The way this story mirrors and deepens the larger narrative would be very important. These “Memories of Light” flashbacks would create the template for future DLC backstories and give in-game presence to important events in the history of the world of Destiny. I think these flashbacks would be amazingly fun as DLC content… giving much needed story and character richness - making the fabled in-game weapons all the more cool to use. The Chronos Wells are the focus of the main story. I have included a quickly drawn storyboard of a possible opening cinematic: (Click here for the storyboard: http://imgur.com/Lfbc63P) I have included some Well of Chronos doodles (Click here: http://imgur.com/wdalYQn) Here is a graphic of the “ways to play” Destiny 2: http://imgur.com/ryihByv And Here is the link to a Strike Boss Illustration I painted on the last day of testing: http://imgur.com/o5ePXXg (please note: This was a shotgun sketch/design session. All the designs, drawings, and illustrations in my breaks between sessions during the testing week. Nothing is spell-checked or perfected. This was just for fun). That said, I hope you enjoy it!