Yesterday was the big reveal stream for where Bungie is going in the near future laying out a long term road map. As the countdown ticked to the show beginning, the screen showed a sequence of all of the places we visited starting with Destiny 1 all the way through Shadowkeep. All of this to hype us up for the big reveal, and then as the countdown ticked to zero we were presented with this screen. We sat in 8 minutes of 46 seconds of silence as a sequence of slides played out in front of us ending with a number of links to organizations that need our help in the Black Lives Matter movement.
I have to give Bungie huge credit for the way this played out. By hyping us to a fever pitch with the “best hits” reel playing out in the moments as the countdown ticked down, this came across with maximum effect. Those 8 minutes and 46 seconds that the Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck felt like an eternity. I guess I must be following the right crowd because I saw nothing but respect for the display. I still throw some serious side eye that it is to corporations we turn for solace in this time of global need… but it only makes me think more than we are sliding into a shadowrun esc corporate hellscape. That doubt aside however, I still greatly respect Bungie for their actions in not only donating to causes but also in taking time out of their big moment to make sure we remember.
Over the last week we have been getting fragments of a video showing two characters heading towards what we can only assume is Europa. Eris Morn and the Drifter have been characters that are all too willing to blur the lines between the Light and the Dark, so it is befitting that they represent what is ultimately the envoy in dealing with the Darkness. Over the last season the ships were a present threat looming on the Horizon, but now they have arrived and are interacting with the various planets in our solar system in what appears to be a similar manner to how the traveler was described.
The big reveal however is that we are adding a third to this rogues gallery. The Stranger is a character that we have heard nothing from since Destiny 1. She is the infamous source of the line “I don’t even have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain”. She is also the one who called our Ghost “Little Light” and represented a character that knew far more about our circumstances and predicament than our then fledgling guardian first stepping foot into the Ishtar Sink on Venus. Now she has returned at the same time the darkness has returned and appears to be the individual ushering us into the new expansion.
I said earlier that Bungie laid out a roadmap, and in doing so they have announced the next two expansions and with that dispelling any rumors that a Destiny 3 was waiting in the wings. This in theory begins a regular release cadence of a new expansion coming out every September with the first being Beyond Light in 2020, The Witch Queen in 2021 and Lightfall in 2022. Additionally we have an established structure of four seasons per year, which in theory means every three months an infusion of new content. The feature addition for 2020 is that console generations will be able to play together without purchasing the game again as we transition between the PS4/Xbox One to the PS5/Series X. They also hinted that a feature on the longer term roadmap was unifying the players so that there was a single Destiny platform.
I played through the first mission, but that is pretty much as far as I made it last night. I’ve had this fraught relationship with Destiny since the introduction of the seasonal model. Especially with the season pass unlocking a number of items, but only if you manage to make it to level 100 each time. Instead of prompting me to engage and grind away, this has prompted me to check out since I know I won’t actually manage to achieve that goal unless I swap to ONLY playing Destiny. One of my frustrations has been that the seasons set up content that only lasts while that season is currently happening, and in theory content will be sticking around for several seasons afterwards solving one big problem I had.
They also however presented a new problem. They talked about the introduction of the Content Vault, and shelving old content that isn’t seeing much play time. This means that they are going to be removing a number of destinations and activities connected to them including the Leviathan with the release of Beyond Light in September. They said however that they were going to dig into the Destiny 1 vault and pull back out some content from there like the Cosmodrome. Pending they cycle content in and out of the vault on a pretty good schedule, then it might not be a bad thing. I am just not entirely certain how I will feel about losing what is currently my favorite grinding Destination… Titan.
In truth I am not really sure how I feel about the entire model going forward. Like I said, last night I only played long enough to make it through the first mission and even then only because the game didn’t give me a choice. As I loaded into the game the mission started without me having any ability to stop it. After playing through, I went to the Tower, did a bit of maintenance and then logged out to play PSO2. I am not nearly as the friends who are deeply engaged with this franchise. Yesterday for them seemed to be a re-ignition of a spark, and I am pretty jealous of.
It would be a lie if I said I would not be there playing Beyond Light in September. I like the concept of wielding the darkness and growing the abilities we have access to. However due to the stance of rolling out new content and removing old content, I am wondering what exactly we will sacrifice in the process. My preference will always be with constantly expanding the world, making it a more exciting and vibrant place to play. However it seems Bungie feels like they need to shrink it down a bit to keep from having to restart once again with a new game to keep the scope manageable. I understand that desire, and I absolutely do not want Destiny 3 to cause the same big reset that Destiny 2 did. For now I mostly just have to mull over these thoughts and determine at what point I will engage with this franchise again.
The post I don’t Even Have Time to Explain… appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
