not the same at all,  differemt classes,  clans,  factions,  races,  missions are carried out solo or with other players the only set figure in the story is the speaker,  reach is full of set figures. 

as the story progresses through the updates,  expansions and events these differences will all play a growing role in the story of each player. 

again,  it should be pointed out that this is the base of a game that is going to be constantly worked on for the next ten years,  keeping the base as liberal and open as possible without nailing it down to a specific lore or plot that would limit it later on,  ensures that there are options open to continue to expand and develop both the story and the gameplay over this course. 

the only difference using your multiplayer character in reach makes to the story is the skin of the character that plays the lead.  

i. e.  the game is set to make you the hero,  around a set in stone outcome. 

destiny attemps to make everyone heroes and in doing so puts a large portion of story in to the hands of players. 

the fact you are calling the acknowledgement of key structural differences "excuses"  says it all,  to me. 

What portion of the story is in your hands? You make it sound like Mass Effect when theres nothing that backs that up. Are the cutscenes not the same for everyone? Just because you can play on the same server as other people does not justify the story being underwhelming. 

again, 

this is a base game to be expanded over the next 10 years,  its plot has to be sparse on purpose otherwise it greatly limits the options for the future. 

didnt you get the feeling through all of the missions that they were opening various plot points but not really following them? 

rasputin,  the hives actions on the moon,  the reason for the fallen to raid the moon,  lots of major things that were introduced and left as is,  then the rather obvious line that this is just the beginning multiple times at the end of the story arc. 

Of course its liberating. MS would've made them make nothing but Halo for their rest of their natural lives. MS doesn't believe in creativity if there arent dollar signs attached to it.

So it was liberating that they gave up working on a single IP for a decade just so they could work on another IP that's almost the same as the old one for the next decade?

Yeah, they didn't want to make Halo games for the rest of their lives. Or maybe they didn't want to work Halo games because they didn't own it.

Destiny is a Halo clone and clearly lacked inspiration. Hence, they're still spending their lives making Halo games just with a new name.

This comment was great.

Feeling a bit sad for 343i, forced to make Halo ans only halo like bungie was

Well it was kind of the purpose of MS bying Bungie :). I think it is way better to have studio make the most of a franchise instead of jumping between games. Case in point: Nintendo with the Mario franchise ;).

I do hope 343i will take the Halo games into both TPS action adventure, battlefront type games or RPG. There is so much potential in the growth of Halo.

Oh Bungie...