This Week at Bungie - 11/10/2016 0h - DeeJ

This week at Bungie, we migrated from one ritual to the next.

Like a ghost merging with the fog of night, Festival of the Lost disappeared with the weekly reset. As it departed, and the Lost Broom was returned to its rightful owner in the Tower, Lady Efrideet arrived for her second appearance on Felwinter Peak. The fiery shield adorning her perch sent a signal to all challengers: Iron Banner competition is again burning bright. At this very moment, Fireteams are battling to Control the zones.

Destiny is a game of rituals - daily, weekly, monthly, and so on. Special events like these give us a chance to create a different mood in the game or provide a unique call to action to the players. As a Guardian, you have different reasons to fight and different ways to evolve. Whatever it is that brings you back to play Destiny, we keep a sharp eye trained on what you're playing, what you're earning, and what you're saying about that whole experience.

There has been some interesting chatter about Iron Banner since it returned. Let's dig into it and see what's in the forecast.

Purple Reign

The Iron Banner is more than a chance to lock horns with your fellow Guardians. It's been designed (and redesigned) as a reliable source of endgame loot for warriors of the Crucible. The competition has endured many evolutions since Saladin first appeared in the Tower. The launch of Destiny: Rise of Iron was no exception.

With Guardians grabbing bounties and ranking up under a new system, Crucible Designer Jeremiah Pieschl has some notes on what's new in this monthly ritual.

JP: Hello, Guardians!

I'd like to thank everyone for expressing their opinions on the latest changes to Iron Banner. Overall feedback on the structure and rewards of the event has been positive. We believe we're achieving our goals for the event. We'll continue to monitor feedback and event participation so we can improve the Iron Banner experience more in the future.

If I had to summarize the goals for the latest changes to the event in one sentence, it would be this:

"As a player, I can play Iron Banner and be rewarded fairly for my time, regardless of which days of the week work with my schedule."

Now, if that bland sentence leaves something to be desired, let's dive into more detail about our intended goals for the current event structure!

Ranks
The goal for Iron Banner Ranks are to provide a system of progression that we can tie to specific rewards. Currently, these rewards include items with curated rolls on the event vendor and progress in the Rise of Iron Record Book. Previously, we used Ranks to grant reward Packages that provided a chance to earn specific Legendary items. Using the Rank mechanic in such a way was confusing to many players. It caused an unrewarding experience during the first several matches played in the event. Some players were even losing intentionally to avoid changing potential post-game rewards.

In the current event structure, you'll find that you no longer need to reach Rank Five on all of your characters to unlock all possible rewards. This is intended to reduce the amount of pressure associated with the time commitment. For players who have the time to continue playing after unlocking the Rank-restricted rewards, you'll be able to continue earning rewards by completing Bounties or finishing matches. The rate at which you gain reputation in Iron Banner was also increased to make unlocking those Rank-restricted rewards less time consuming.

Bounties
The goal for Bounties is to provide additional sources of Reputation, Experience, Legendary Marks and event-related rewards. The decision to feature only Weekly Bounties was aligned with the removal of the Tempered mechanic and the overall reduction of time needed to increase Rank. Previously, players felt pressured to login each day with all of their characters to pick up the daily bounties, whether they were going to complete them that day or not. It also felt necessary to optimize your Bounty completion by stacking Daily Bounties and waiting until late in the week to turn in completed Bounties. This resulted in a lot of effort being required on the part of the player that was not a valuable aspect of the event.

The addition of a guaranteed Legendary item earned from each Bounty is a replacement for the Rank Five package. This new reward system quadruples the amount of non-post-game Legendary items players could previously receive per character. You have more chances to earn Legendary items, and the Bounty rewards include items that are not available from Efrideet. That helps to increase the variety of loot you can obtain during each Iron Banner.

Quest
The goal for the introductory quest to Iron Banner was to introduce players to Lady Efrideet. It was made available to be completed once on each character. Additionally, it was an opportunity to provide some additional rewards to celebrate the launch of Rise of Iron and the new Iron Banner event structure. This Quest was not intended to be a replacement for Rank packages. Given that repeatable Quests was a feature introduced in Rise of Iron, we can understand how players made an assumption about the introduction to Efrideet being repeatable. Sorry any confusion around this issue. I hope that players continue to find Iron Banner to be a fun and rewarding experience.

TLDR
We want you to play Iron Banner for fun and rewards. We don't want you to have to do complex math, abstain from participating until your investment is optimal, or feel like you have to grind just for the sake of grinding. The event is technically more rewarding than ever, in multiple ways. I hope that expressed goal reflects your experience. As always, your feedback is welcome. 

And as always please, please... two zones is enough, Guardian.

Pro-Tips and design philosophy, straight from the source. Thanks, Jeremiah!

Get out there and fight. Enjoy those Legendary drops.

Boosting the Signal

If your finger is on the pulse of this community of Guardians, you know that Twitch is something of a big deal when it comes to Destiny. An interactive stage filled with colorful personalities is the perfect match for a live game that casts the player in the role of the hero. We've had great success hanging out on Twitch and getting to know players like you.

Our website and our mobile app were designed to be a Companion to your Destiny player experience. Along with player stats, free Clan real estate, discussion forums, and thrilling blog narratives, Bungie.net also serves up an API. The smart guys on our web and mobile development team call this an "Application Programming Interface." You can call it the free data that the community uses to make cool things like Destiny Item Manager or Ishtar Commander.

In the interest of sharing out the content that lives on their site, it turns out that Twitch has an API, too. For a while now, we've been using it to create new features that will make streamers more discoverable in our online clubhouse. The Creations page is currently a great place to browse art or videos. Coming soon, you'll be able to find streamers in the same way. 

Companion Designer John Stvan has the details on the vision:

JS: "The Companion team is always looking for ways to promote you, our fans and content creators. We hope that this next addition to your Creations will give you another medium to create some of the most elaborate and enjoyable content we've seen. Get out there and share your legend. You can't stop the signal."

click to embiggen preview images

Next week, you'll find a place to browse streamers based on following, trending status, or preferred activities. If you only want to see Raiders or Strikers, you'll be able to do that. Follow the leaders of the Twitch directory or discover rising stars.

While you're watching your favorite streamer, you can contribute to the party in their Twitch Chat, or inspect their Guardian build. You'll also find links to their channel, so you can support your favorite heroes.

With a click on an item they have equipped, we'll show you their roll. This will let you analyze their fighting style and save them from answering recurring questions about their gear or their subclass, leaving them free to talk mad trash.

To be an active participant in Chat or add your own Twitch channel to our directory, your first step will be to link your accounts. You can opt in right now on your profile page. Fair warning: The Bungie.net Code of Conduct applies to all things in our domain!

Once the new Twitch integration features goes live, you'll be able to host your own stream right on your profile page, giving each streamer a permanent link to where their audience can follow the adventures of their Guardian.

Stvan said we Can't Stop The Signal. It just so happens that's the name of this new Emblem. You can earn it if you stream Destiny content for 77 non-consecutive hours on a channel linked to a Bungie.net account.

People will say "Cool Emblem, where did you get that?"

You'll say "I'm a Streamer. Please follow and subscribe!"

These features will be activated soon. In the meantime, you have some time to link your accounts. Stay tuned for the big unveil next week.

Let's Ride

A Bungie Ride Along is one of the ways we host our own livestreams. It's a chance for us to get in on the act, too. We take the people who made the game on a ride through their creations to give us notes and commentary on their creative process during a live fire exercise. When it's a Raid Along, as you can probably guess, we're playing a Raid.

Next week, we'll be hosting an exploration of Wrath of the Machine. What were the inspirations for this new Raid? Who brought this experience to life? Why does Aksis teleport everywhere when we're about to take him down? Does Bungie even play their own game?

These are all questions we'll answer. See you next Wednesday. Remain alert for more details.

The Ritual of Service

Event Vendors may come and go. Destiny and Player Support remains ever watchful from their perch above the coffee machines in our kitchen. Their mission is to keep the peace as masks are swapped out with the best helmets you have in your inventory.

This is their report.

SIVA Cache Keys and Key Fragments
Internal investigations continue concerning player reports of SIVA Cache Keys or Key Fragments missing from character inventory. As we troubleshoot these reports, we have noted the following actions that may lead to the loss of SIVA Key Fragments:

• Players report that this may occur when leaving White Engrams containing SIVA Key Fragments within the game world when returning to Orbit, or turning off a Console.
  
• Players report that this may occur when SIVA Key Fragments within the Postmaster are removed, due to Postmaster inventory limits.
  

We are also aware of reports that some players are not receiving SIVA Key Fragments rewards after accepting Destiny Update 2.4.1.1. Initial reports indicate that this may only be impacting players who completed a checkpoint within the Wrath of the Machine Raid between 1:00 and 10:00 AM Pacific on Tuesday, November 9th. 

As we continue to investigate these issues, stay tuned to @BungieHelp and the Destiny: Rise of Iron Known Issues list on the #Help forum. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Iron Banner
Iron Banner will be available through the Weekly Reset on Tuesday, November 15th at 1:00 AM Pacific. The Iron Banner Help Article received an update with the release of Destiny: Rise of Iron, to detail all changes to this recurring event.  Players new to Destiny may also view this help article to learn about the following:

• Entry Requirements
  
• How to earn Reputation
  
• How to earn Rewards
  
• Changes from previous Iron Banner events
  

If you experience any issues when playing Iron Banner, please post a report to the #Help forum with details concerning what has impacted your Destiny experience. Destiny Player Support and Community Mentors are on standby to assist.

Auto-filmography

Your community manager doesn't get a fancy lookout on the mezzanine like his partners on the Player Support Team, but he doesn't need a strategic vantage point to preside over our art galleries. He has an Internet connection at his desk! Check out his picks for the week.

Cozmo: Get ready for some movies. This week we have four more lined up for your viewing pleasure. Only one can be crowned Movie of the Week, but all of our Honorable mentions will also be taking that sweet Emblem home. You can submit your own entries to our Creations page for your chance at winning it all.

The lights have dimmed and we don't have to wait through any previews. 

Movie of the Week: A Nightfall at the Movies

Honorable Mention: The Way You Move

Honorable Mention: Et Tu Gjallarhorn?

Honorable Mention: If you had one shot...

We've reached the first step in your bridge to the weekend. Trials of Osiris begins anew tomorrow. The hostilities to reach the Lighthouse will resume with great fervor. Iron Banner will rage all the while.

Yet, no matter how much you might give each other hell, the Destiny community remains a pretty special place. The wild frontier is a place where people band together to make the world more awesome than it would be without them. When you look out across the Tower, every person you see might be an ally who will help you overcome an obstacle someday.

We see that ideal reflected in the way you treat your fellow Guardians, and we love you for it. Keep being excellent to each other and we'll keep creating new ways for you to do that.  Peace.

DeeJ, out.