Bungie Weekly Update - Aug 13 at 8:15:33 PM

This week at Bungie we're paving the last mile on the road to launch. Your questions are the cobblestones. Our answers are the mortar.

Before The Taken King commits his Dreadnaught to an incursion into our solar system, we know you're eager to prepare for the next series of missions. We can't have our first and last lines of defense operating with an incomplete intelligence package. You have gear to prioritize, weapons to itemize, and maybe even a few triumphs to immortalize. It's going to be our pleasure to bring you up to speed - and then boost you to escape velocity.

We've been tracking curiosities across multiple forums, feeds, streams, and convention halls. While you've been speculating, we've been putting the finishing touches on your next theater of war. With a few waves of information out in the wild now, we're in a better place to demonstrate in first-person how Destiny is about to change. Would you like to know more? We hope you do.

The information you crave will come straight from the mouths of the creators during an on-site inspection of their creations, and we'll do it live! We're planning a series of broadcasts to brief you on the rising Taken threat and show you what you'll need to know to survive the next evolution. It'll be fun to look you in the eye again and show off what we've been working on.

Scott's downright giddy about the chance to dust off our set.

With our Twitch stream coming up I'd love to hear input on our tech/layout. I don't control content but the tech I can change (1/2).

— Scott Kankelborg (@TheRealSckank) August 12, 2015

Here's the lineup. Set Destination for Twitch.

DESTINY YEAR TWO - 19 AUG 2015 - 11AM PDT

Subject Matter Experts:
Executive Producer Mark Noseworthy
Senior Design Lead Tyson Green
Community Questions sourced live by Cozmo

How will your own personal highlights from the first year of Destiny translate to the second? What will your Guardian's lifestyle be like in the new and improved Tower? How will your Guardian become a more powerful snowflake over the course of your next journey? Is it true that Character Level and Light will rise in exciting new ways? All will be revealed and explained.

Pro-Tip: Don't dismantle anything until the full developer briefing.

STRIKE THE DREADNAUGHT - 26 AUG 2015 - 11AM PDT

Subject Matter Experts:
Design Lead James Tsai
Fruit Nation Ambassador Mr. Fruit

What's it like to infiltrate the Dreadnaught? What surprises do the Taken have for us in combat? How are boss battles different in The Taken King? Join us for a new Strike against a rival Cabal invasion force. See the new Guardian sub-classes in action. Witness the action that will begin Year Two.

COURT OF ORYX - 2 SEPT 2015 - 11AM PDT

Subject Matter Experts:
Designer Ben Wommack
Scarab Lord Luke Smith
Cool Table Ambassador Laced Up Lauren

What mysteries lie in wait within the cavernous hull of the Dreadnaught? How can Guardians plunder the treasures secreted away in its hideous labyrinth? Come along with us on a Patrol of the newest destination in your Director. Learn how Guardians can instigate Public Events. Behold the challenges and the rewards that await you on board the capital ship commanded by Oryx.

Mark your calendar for the next three Wednesdays. Be our guest and let us show you where you'll be going this Fall.

Security Guardians

Earlier in the week, there was this:

Just met with the Bungie Security Response Team for an hour. Expect more information on Crucible Justice in the next weekly update.

— DeeJ (@DeeJ_BNG) August 11, 2015

Today, they'd like to share with you some notes on their process.

Security Response Team: In protecting the Destiny player experience, we have two major types of enforcements: Restrictions and Bans. A Restriction temporarily prevents someone from playing one or more parts of the game, whereas a Ban permanently prevents a player from playing the entire game.

Restrictions are issued to disruptive players to give them time to reform. Depending on the severity of the infraction, first-time offenders are typically restricted for a week or two, but repeat offenders can receive a restriction that lasts months. Bans are only issued to the players we never want to see in the world of Destiny again.

Please be advised that you are the company you keep. If a cheater is a member of your Fireteam, you may well get caught up in the dragnet we have weaved to ensnare them. Be suspicious if someone guarantees you a flawless run in Trials of Osiris. No matter how skilled the player, victory in the Crucible can't be guaranteed. Be extra careful of people advertising their services, especially for a fee.

If your Internet connection is consistently unstable, you may not be considered a worthy adversary. It may happen that you'll be temporarily restricted from Crucible activities until your Internet connection improves. We only make these types of Restrictions in the most extreme cases, so don't be concerned about the periodic Internet lag that is common to everyone.

The mission of the Security Response Team is to protect the landscape of the game from people who ruin the game experience for other players. Our servers track statistics about every player, every second. We analyze the player statistics and corroborate the results with player reports to take action with statistical certainty. We manually verify the results before we issue Restrictions or Bans.

Lastly, we always monitor the Bungie.net forums to survey the results of a series of Restriction or Bans.

Play nice, Guardians!

As the Hot Fix Cools Down

Cooking up game updates is painstaking work. When we serve up new content, there's always a chance that we'll scorch your table. Fortunately, Destiny Player Support is on hand for flame suppression.

DPS: Tess Everis has left the tower. Fear not, all your Special Order items can be found at a new kiosk located in the Tower. If you haven't seen it yet, this Help article can help you locate the new Special Orders kiosk.

Thanks to the Destiny community last month, we noticed the Husk of the Pit was no longer dropping for Guardians who felled the Blades of Crota. This issue has now been resolved, and the Husk of the Pit is no longer as common as Unobtainium.

Also, we are aware of an issue affecting some users who are unable to retrieve Red Bull Focused Light (or other consumable items received via email) from the Tower Postmaster. We are actively investigating this matter. Stay tuned to this Help forum post or the @BungieHelp on Twitter for updates on the matter.

Lastly, if you've encountered any issues applying the HotFix, this Help Article contains steps for manually applying an update to Destiny.

If you need to ring the bell and clear the firehouse, visit the #Help forum.

Best in Show

Who is the toastmaster who illuminates the community legends who rise to the top of the Creations page? It's this guy...

Cozmo: Montages, dance-offs, funny parodies - these are just some of the different types of videos we have been watching all week on the Community Creations page. There have been some great submissions being passed around here at Bungie. Some made us laugh, some made us cry. In the end, winners were chosen, and those winners are getting a sweet emblem to show off to other Guardians in their Fireteam.

WINNER: Dance party crasher.

Honorable Mention: Meh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Honorable Mention: For impressive Peggle shot

Honorable Mention: Because DeeJ gets drunk on Nova Bombs

We know how much you love the weekly updates in which we talk about what we're going to talk about... Soon. You're detecting a necessary transitional period between gamescom and Twitch. We need these moments to get back on PDT and clear our heads of the punishment we relished so happily overseas. Hang in there, because our streams should deliver. In the meantime, GameInformer is still saying some pretty exciting things about the time they spent as our guests.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank everyone who visited our booth in Germany. Meeting people who love Destiny is the very best thing about serving this community. Seeing excited, smiling faces lit by a battle with a Taken boss on a new story mission was a total rush. We hope the show we put on was worth the hours you spent standing in line, warmed by that balmy Koelnmesse air.

The show must go on. Next week. The theater will be stateside this time, and it will accommodate all of you at the same time.

We'll be sure to remind you when you can tune in.

DeeJ, out.