This Year at Bungie - 12/15/2016 12h - DeeJ

This week at Bungie the celebration of The Dawning began.

Every holiday season since the original launch of Destiny, people have wondered if it would snow in the Tower. A light dusting of flurries is in the forecast, but we felt that a chilly weather front wasn't enough to honor your passion for making things explode. Thus, a new season of gifts and games is upon us.

Aside from the gifts in the Tower, we also want you to have the music we created to mark the season. Help yourself to a download of The Dawning and Winter Voyage. Take the music from the game to keep you warm on your holiday travels.

The Dawning is how we'll bring 2016 to a close. It's been another year of evolution for Destiny and our community. The boundaries of our world expanded. Pretenders to the throne of Oryx were overthrown. Guardians discovered the warm glow of Chroma. We avenged our lost heroes. Millions of you became Iron Lords. We met the machines' wrath with our own. Along the way, we even privatized the Crucible.

Every revolution around the sun is a journey, and we've been honored to take another trip with you. Now, it's time to celebrate. So race those Sparrows. Score those Strikes. Break the Ice, again. Add some new sweet loot to your arsenal.

The finish line is in sight, friends.

Found in Translation

Earlier this week, we profiled the team that helps us tell our story to the entire world. It posted right when downloads for The Dawning became available, so we can see why you might have missed it. If English is your second language, the Bungie Localization Team is eager to make your acquaintance.

Check out some of the people who make our game - and even this blog - speak different languages. If you speak the same language as they do, there are some new private groups on our forum where they're waiting to meet you. Pay them a visit, and talk about your experiences in Destiny. As always, we want to give every Guardian a voice in our process.

Download Speeds

New content means new questions. When you have questions, our Destiny Player Support team strives to discover answers - and shout them from the ramparts of the Tower. They are the megaphone for a team of developers who don't rest until every willing player is putting fresh footprints in the snow.

This is their report.

Destiny Update 2.5.0
Destiny Update 2.5.0 was made available to players at 10:00 AM PST (9 UTC) on December 13th, 2016. Accepting this update grants access to The Dawning and other updates to Destiny activities. For all information concerning this update, please see our 2.5.0 Patch Notes.

We are aware of reports that some players were experiencing issues when attempting to download and install Destiny Update 2.5.0 on their consoles. For all information related to Downloading and Updating Destiny, please see this newly updated Guided Support. If you are encountering a "Cannot download" error when attempting to download, please ensure that you have the proper storage space available to accept Destiny updates.

Since release, we've been monitoring the #Help forum for reports of issues introduced with Update 2.5.0. We have investigated and confirmed the following:

The Dawning and SRL 2016

• The Legendary Dawning Class Items do not display Intellect, Discipline, or Strength stat values in either their tooltip or Details screen. All stats values are applied normally.
  
• If the timer expires during an SRL race, and no player crosses the finish line, player placings may not be accurately reflected in the post-game Activity Rewards screen.
  

For additional information, please follow this link to The Dawning and SRL 2016 Guided Support.

Vanguard Elite Strike Scoring

• The Entrapment and Warding Light Medals do not contribute progress toward the Arsenal of Light Vanguard Elite Bounty.
  
• The Explosive Streak Medal does not contribute to the Killing Spree Record.
  
• The "Bounty Hunter" Record within the Competitive Spirit Record Book may only be progressed by daily "Vanguard Elite" bounties, offered by the Bounty Tracker in the Tower. Alternate daily and weekly Vanguard bounties do not contribute progress.
  

For additional information concerning Vanguard Elite Strike Scoring, please see this Help Article.

Emerging Issues

• Momentum Armor from the SRL 2015 Record Book is not unlocking in the Holiday Collection for players who have already unlocked this gear.
  
• The Memory of Felwinter Iron Lord Artifact prevents players from activating their Super with the Aegis relic in the updated "The Nexus" Strike on Venus.
  
• Patrol Activities requiring players to collect items from defeated enemies are not functioning reliably in the Plaguelands. Players may abandon these Patrols if enemies are not dropping the expected items.
  

For a full list of known issues, please see our Update 2.5.0 and The Dawning Known Issues thread. If you are experiencing any issues not listed above, please post a report to the #Help forum.

No Tickets Required

All year long, your Community Manager has waged his very own film festival. One more time, let's see who scores highest honors for excellence in community creativity.

Cozmo: The Creations page is still a hotbed for community art and movies. Today we have one winner which is a little of both. They will be receiving this special Emblem for their triumph. We appreciate everyone taking the time to create Destiny related content to share with the rest of the community. Even if you don't win an Emblem, your work is being admired by other Guardians.

Here are this week's Movie champions of the world. 

Movie of the Week: Weird reports from the Plaguelands

Honorable Mention: Speed Drawing

Honorable Mention:  Shut Down

This is the last weekly blog update of 2016. 

You made it. The next time we go on record from inside our studio, a new year will have dawned. We'll reassemble, rub the sleep from our eyes, try to remember our passwords, and maybe even figure out when the next Iron Banner will happen. You won't need a countdown clock. We'll get back to business as usual once the eggnog leaves our blood.

Until we talk again, work will continue at Bungie. It always does. Destiny is never finished. We have playtests of new content to share with each other. Each of us has pet projects that get some love and attention when special occasions interrupt the regular flow of development. You'll see us on the social networks and forums where we stay connected. And of course, there is always a Bungie squad in the building to ensure the game can flow.

Sometime during the next few weeks, we'll each find some time to enjoy the company of family or friends. We hope you do the same, and we hope they mean as much to you as you mean to us. Stay safe for those adventures. As we warm our weary souls by the fire, we'll contemplate our gratitude that we live in a world where we can bring our wildest dreams to life - and invite you to blow them to bits.

Thanks for playing our games, Guardians. We'll have more to show you next year.

But that's a conversation for another time.

For now, let it snow.

DeeJ, out.