This Week At Bungie - 08/03/2017 6h - Cozmo

This week at Bungie, things are heating up.

Welcome to August. We've arrived at the last full month of waiting until Destiny 2 launches on consoles. Earlier this week, the words "five weeks 'till launch" sent a shiver up our spines during our morning huddle with the player support team. Don't take that the wrong way. We can't wait for you to experience what we've experienced in playtest, and to experience it again with you, but there is much left to say and do before the first wave of you rush home to defend a City under attack.

There are still some great moments we're looking forward to. We'll be at gamescom to mix it up in Europe. Back home at PAX, we're planning an entire Destiny experience. We haven't met the last of you in real life before we cross paths with you on The Farm.

Far away from any farm, DeeJ is in New York City right now. He won't tell me why, but he did leave town wearing his uniform black shirt, so I'm assuming he's not running away from home to join the theatre again. While he's away, it's my pleasure to deliver the news. 

Once More Unto the Beta

Last week at Bungie, we told you that the Destiny 2 PC Beta will begin on August 28. That began a conversation that will lead new players to our community. We promised that there would be more information to come, and it's time to deliver the goods. 

All summer long, we've been using a baseline of activities to introduce players to Destiny 2 and test its functionality. DRE, E3, the console Beta... They've all relied on a small sample of the game we're making. Each occasion introduced something new to experience. As the final step of our pre-launch exploration, the PC Beta will be no different.

Our goals for the PC Beta:

• Test the functionality for Destiny 2 on a new platform
  
• Give PC players their first taste of Destiny 2 in action
  
• Leave a world of surprises in store for the final version of the game
  

What you'll play in the PC Beta:

• Homecoming Story Mission
  
• Inverted Spire Strike
  
• Countdown on Midtown
  
• Control on Javelin-4 (New Map!)
  

The PC Beta will also include evidence of some additional tuning of the player experience. We've answered feedback on how often you have access to power ammo or your super abilities. These changes will be subtle. If you were onboard for the console Beta, see if you can detect them. If this is your first dance with Destiny, be sure to tell us how it feels.

It must be said, once again: This is a Test! The PC is a platform we've never shipped Destiny on, so there will be evidence of ongoing construction here and there. Even if you played in the console Beta, you'd be a priceless test resource for us. Not only will you have a chance to appreciate the differences, you'll be doing your part to ready us for launch.

Keep It Secret - Keep It Safe

Exclusive to the PC build for Destiny 2 will be an issue that might impact the way you capture content or talk to your teammates.

We've seen this question a lot since we first talked about the PC: "What will Bungie be doing to prevent online cheating in Destiny 2?" For obvious reasons, we won't explain our full counter-cheating strategy in depth, but there is one element of how we'll protect the game that might require adjustments on the part of our new friends in the PC Gaming Community.

Some applications that people use when they play games try to add code to the game client. In the right hands, this can enable some nice features to enhance your experience as a player. In the wrong hands, this can be destructive to the world we share in the game. To help ensure that every player will have a fair shot at fun and glory in Destiny 2 on the PC, we'll resist attempts from applications to add code to Destiny. Our game needs to be the foremost authority on your fate as a Guardian.

Several types of programs can be affected. On most occasions, the impact will be minor. There are two main categories that you'll want to be aware of for the Beta:

• Communications applications
  
• Capture/Streaming applications
  

Both types of applications can be crucial to a community that shares content and experiences. Destiny Player Support has put their heads together with developers working on the PC build to produce an analysis of notable applications that may be impacted by our architecture. You'll also find notes on how you can still use some of them to manage your gameplay experience.

Click here to explore the issue in full.

As always, we're standing by on our #Help forum to answer your questions. Sorry in advance if these precautions interfere with the way you like to configure your PC when you play. Wherever possible, we're committed to doing our best to provide information you need to make adjustments on your end.

Our hope is that we can all agree that keeping the world of the game safe is a mission we all share.

Tidying Up

The Destiny Player Support has always got your back. As you prepare for the PC Beta and the inevitable launch of the full game, they will be your guides to ensuring you are ready for action.  

This is their report.

Server Maintenance and Downtime on August 8, 2017
In preparation for Destiny 2, the Destiny Servers will be taken offline for maintenance.

Date: Tuesday, August 8. 2017
Start: 8 AM Pacific (3 PM UTC)
Expected Completion: 12 PM Pacific (7 PM UTC)

Players will be unable to sign in to Destiny servers for the duration of this maintenance.

Additionally, some Bungie.net and Destiny Companion features will be unavailable. For all vital information about server maintenance, please see this Help Article. If you experience any issues signing in once maintenance has completed, please post a report to the #Help forum.

Preparing for Destiny 2: Companion App Group or Clan Chat Functionality
In last week's What's Up DOC entry, we answered some frequently asked questions concerning Clan and Group functionality leading into the release of Destiny 2. Group Founders have through August 23 to prepare their Clan or Group for the transition. This week, we would like to specify the availability of Clan or Group communication features after the transition period:

• Group Wall Messaging will continue to be available through the Destiny Companion App
  
• Clans will also have a chat with several new features that will be revealed before the new system goes live
  
• Other Group features such as Forums, Administration, Rosters or General Settings will only be available by accessing Bungie.net through a web browser
  

Please note: Group Walls must first be enabled through the Group Settings page, and have an at least one message sent on Bungie.net in order to appear on the Companion App.
Destiny Player Support will be updating the Bungie.net Group Guide and publishing a Destiny 2 Clan Guide in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to the News section on Bungie.net for future announcements.

Help.bungie.net: Destiny 1 Content Consolidation
Moving towards the launch of Destiny 2, Help Articles covering Destiny 1 features will be removed, retired, or consolidated within the Legacy Support Guide for Destiny 1.

• Players following older links to Help content may encounter a 404 page
  
• Game Guides for Live Events or some in-game activities will be retired and consolidated on the Activities and Events page of the Legacy Support guide
  
• Contact Forms for Silver Issues will continue to be available for the foreseeable future
  

The Destiny Operations Center will continue to provide service alerts through @BungieHelp in the case of service issues or outages impacting Destiny 1.

Rifles and Reels

We have another Bounty lined up and waiting for you to claim. You'll be on the hunt for Ramez. Seek him out in a match and win to claim glory and riches.

Bungie Bounty: Ramez
Region: California
When:  4 PM Pacific 8/08/2017
Console: PS4
Playlist: Clash

Ok riches might be going a bit far, it's not a chest full of treasure, but it is a pretty cool Emblem. If you match with Ramez and win, you will receive said Emblem sometime in the following week. 

This will be the last D1 Bungie Bounty on PS4. Next week will be the last D1 Bungie Bounty and played on XB1. You've got one more shot, good luck!

Time to fire up the projector and see what crazy creations you've come up with this week. We picked a few of our favorite videos and will be rewarding their creators with this fancy Emblem. 

Movie of the Week: Clean Sweep

Honorable Mention: Lost To Light

Honorable Mention: Hard Times

That's all for this week!

The PC Beta is only a few fortnights away. We're all extremely excited about our first live fire exercise for Destiny on PC. Tune in next week to learn more about the tuning changes mentioned above, and hear from the team how the console Beta and our own playtests are influencing the final cycles of developing Destiny 2.

<3 Cozmo