This Week at Bungie - 4/13/2023

This week at Bungie, we’re sharing our thoughts on security concerns and challenging Guardians to put their best-dressed foot forward by getting those kilts ready for the Bungie Foundation.

Some third-party peripherals are a godsend, others can have unintended consequences. With the topic of certain third-party usage becoming more and more frequent, our security team is here to answer some common questions we get concerning how these interact with Destiny 2. But before we get into that, here’s a brief summary of what you may have missed and what we’re talking about this week.

In case you missed last week’s TWAB wisdom:

• We reflected on Lightfall.
• Prepped for Grandmaster Nightfalls.
• Shared which weapons are leaving at the end of Season 20 and which are on the way for Season 21.
• Got cutscene-happy.
• Prime Gaming rewards recap.

As for what we’ll be talking about this week:

• Specific third-party peripheral usage.
• Dresstiny would like to Commend you.
• Reminder about Trials Labs.
• Bungie Foundation is getting kilt happy.
• An update to our Known Issues list.
• Weekly #Destiny2MOTW and #Destiny2AOTW picks.

All caught up? Dope, let’s jump right in then, shall we?

Bungie's Stance on Third-Party Peripherals Entering Their Villain Arc

Our community has grown increasingly frustrated by a form of cheating that uses third-party peripherals with the intent to manipulate the game client. These devices are plugged into a computer or console, where they can—for example—execute simple scripts or trick the game into giving you extra aim assist. You’ll note that we aren’t calling out the services by name, the primary reason for that is we simply don’t want to offer a bigger spotlight than necessary. Instead, our focus is on what the impact of using tools like this has on a PvP environment. To this end, Bungie has adopted the following policy on any form of external aides:

Bungie embraces the use of external accessibility aids that enable an experience the game designers intended but will take action, including bans, on people who abuse these tools specifically to gain an advantage over other players.

1. “External accessibility aides” are any device or input that augments the player’s ability to control the game beyond what the game itself normally provides. This includes, but is not limited to, programmable controllers, keyboard and mouse adapters, advanced macros, or automation via artificial intelligence. This does not include features that Bungie provides. For more information on how Bungie supports accessibility, check out our goals outlined by Accessibility at Bungie right here.
2. “Experience the game designers intended” means that content meant to be difficult or prestige is designed like that for a reason. We do not intend for difficulty to be automated away via software or hardware. Therefore, simply using an accessibility aide to play Destiny 2, where a player could not play otherwise, would not be a violation of this policy. Using these tools to mitigate challenges all players face, such as reducing recoil or increasing aim assist, would be a violation.
3. “Gain an advantage” means used for the purpose, directly or indirectly, of achieving victory. For example, some players that abuse these tools rise in PvP ranks at a rate far beyond what is expected for a player improving through typical play. Because the benefits of cheating in PvE can affect things like the World First Race or even spill over into PvP, we will be evaluating all gameplay for violations.

We will be monitoring for violations of the policy and issuing warnings, restrictions and/or bans appropriately. This has been a matter of extended conversations both internally and in the community, and we want to strike the right balance between Bungie’s goal of simultaneously enabling everyone to enjoy our games and protecting our community.

Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby

Here at Bungie, we love ourselves a good fashion show. After all, you can’t fight crime if you ain’t cute, am I right or am I right? Here to talk about how fashion is taking over Commendations is our Player Identity Team, so let’s talk drip.

Player Identity Team: Hi Guardians! Back when we were first developing Commendations, we had a sneaky suspicion that a fashion-focused Commendation would be highly desired. As we continued into long-form playtesting, the need became even more obvious—but by then we were past the point of adding anything new to Season 20 and could only tweak and tune what we already had.

So, when we started on Season 21, it was one of the first things we worked on.

But once Lightfall launched, we saw the feedback over and over again, "I just want a Best Dressed Commendation." Or, "I'm just giving the Commendations to the teammates with the best outfits." And on and on! So, because we love our fashion community so much, we dug in and moved it up to the Season 20 Midseason Patch!

Now, Best Dressed isn't going to have a large Commendation score, but fashion is never about getting the highest score, just the most accolades.

Best Dressed Commendations also are restricted to what we call "low-trust" activities—matchmade activities that don't rely on significant communication or teamplay. Not raids and dungeons, not Trials of Osiris. And if you think your clanmate is the Best Dressed, you can just tell them! This isn't a high-school award, Best Dressed is about giving a stranger a compliment.

To the Labs! The Trials Labs.

Just as a reminder, we will have two more Trials Labs on week 8 and 11 of Season 20. In both, we'll be testing the new matchmaking parameters to gather analytics and verify they work as intended on a large scale. For a refresher on how the new matchmaking works from the dev team:

• We will now have two always active “soft” pools (soft means that matchmaking initially prefers not to blend the pools but will, if necessary to find a good game quickly, so the distinction is not as dramatic as the one between Flawless and non-Flawless in the current system):
• Challenger Pool - This is where most players who currently play Trials on a week-to-week basis and who want to go Flawless will play. It represents an experience more like the original iteration of Trials in D1, without the focus on making games more difficult as the card progresses or after you have been Flawless.
• This pool matches based solely on connection. There is no matchmaking based on tickets (wins on ticket), wins (weekly wins), or skill.
• Players who have any card with no losses (including a card after reset), or those playing with someone in their fireteam that has a card with no losses, will be placed in this pool.
• Practice Pool - This pool is targeted at new or less experienced players (players who are not yet ready to give going Flawless a shot) and represents a place for them to dip their toes into Trials, without being thrown straight into the deep end.
• This pool matches based on connection and weekly performance (how well you have done in Trials this week, resets every week).
• Only players with a Flawed card or those on their first game of the week can play in this pool (everyone in your fireteam must have a Flawed card or be on their first game of the week).
• This pool has:
• Stomp protection - If you are consistently struggling, it will reduce your weekly performance rating to give you slightly easier matches until you recover.
• Farming protection - If the system detects that you or a fireteam member are likely attempting to farm the Practice pool, it will slow down your matchmaking times initially, and if you continue it will lock you into the Challenger pool for the remainder of the weekend, regardless of your card state.

As a reminder, the updates to the Passages of Wealth and Mercy, and the changes to the gilded Flawless Triumph requirements will not be live on these weekends. Those will come in Season 21 alongside the new emblem and introductory quest.

We will be playing alongside you all in both pools and monitoring feedback on the new matchmaking system over the course of these Labs. Later in Season 20, we will have a more in-depth discussion about the changes that are coming to Trials in Season 21.

Got Some Time To Kilt? Asking for Bungie Foundation.

The 12th Annual Kilts for Kids is back in action, full of plaid and prizes to help raise critical funds for Seattle Ronald McDonald House! Joining the familiar faces of Christine, Mark, and Forrest is our newest kilted comrade, Aaron Rosler. Thank you to all of you who have helped keep this tradition going for so many years. To date, the Bungie community has helped fund over 26,000 nights for families from all over the world to stay free of charge at RMHC Seattle while they receive medical treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital. That’s astonishing!

Help us achieve our $77,777 goal by heading to the RMHC Donation Page and casting your vote for Team Bungie. Each vote is worth $10 and every donation of $30 will pay for a family to stay at RMHC Seattle for one night.

In addition to helping kids and families facing illness, check out these incentives*:

• $50 Donation: Receive the Knees Out Emblem
• One emblem code will be sent to each unique $50+ donor via email after the event ends. Expect it in your inbox before Friday, April 28.

• $100: The prize above, plus receive a postcard, digitally signed by our Kilts for Kids team and mailed to you.
• $250: All prizes above, plus a digital copy of a new and unique piece of artwork made by Mark Flieg himself.
• $500: All prizes above, plus a physical print of Mark’s exclusive art shipped to you.

*Rewards will not be automatically redeemed, as we must receive donor data from RMHC before reward distribution.

Thank you for bringing hope, smiles, and comfort to kids in need by participating in this fun annual event. We can’t wait to share with all of you the impact of your support!

Player Support Report

Second Strand-type game.

It’s that time again, time for our Player Support Team to chime in with the latest updates on known issues and what’s coming down the pipeline in the immediate future. Because they're superheroes like that.

This is their report.

Known Issues List  |  Help Forums  |  Bungie Help Twitter

UPDATE 7.0.5

Next Tuesday, April 18, Destiny 2 Update 7.0.5 will be released. View our Destiny Server and Update Status page for maintenance times, as well as the timeline below (all times are Pacific):

• 8 AM: Maintenance is scheduled to begin.
• 8:45 AM: Destiny 2 is brought offline.
• 10 AM: Destiny 2 will be brought back online. Update 7.0.5 will be playable on all platforms and regions.
• 11 AM: Destiny 2 maintenance is scheduled to be completed.

GUARDIAN RANK OBJECTIVE DATES

We have made scoring updates to the following Guardian Rank objectives:

• Legend Score: 115,000 (was 130,000)
• Nightfall Score: 180,000 (was 200,000)
• Scoring Grandmaster: 210,000 (was 230,000)

Additionally, we have increased the Lake of Shadows score multiplier to 1.0x.

KNOWN ISSUES

While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help forum:

• Weekly red border weapon focusing may not count progress for the Defiant Focusing Triumph.
• If players wipe in the boss encounter of the Lake of Shadows Nightfall, already defeated Champions may respawn in previous zones, resulting in inaccurate scores and completion rewards.
• Suraya Hawthorne may continue to reference visiting Amanda in her voice lines.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Lo-Fi Fears and the Threat of a Beautiful Collapse

Hippy: “Don’t let your dreams be dreams” sounds inspirational... unless you have oneirophobia. Then it’s terrifying. Oneirophobia is the fear of dreams but one thing that doesn’t inspire fear is this incredible 8-bit #Destiny2MOTW submission with sounds that inspire the best nostalgia.

Movie of the Week: Oneirophobia

Sam: 2D animation is one of those crafts that can push the boundaries of your creativity in a new way because you aren't able to tap into the depth of field and curvature of 3D. In this video, we get to see this artist's perspective of what it would look like to be on Titan in its final minute during the Collapse in 2D.

Movie of the Week: Collapse

From Nightmares to Delicious Treats, Just a Normal Thursday

Ivan: Do you think this Hunter is planning her next adventure? Or just finished one? Probably both. The transparent chair and Black Talon's blade pattern are such great details. Also, these vibrant colors give a feeling of warmth. Emily, congrats on the well-deserved #Destiny2AOTW!

Art of the Week: Pastel Hunter Queen

🌈💖Pastel Hunter Queen💜✨

Everything about this is just 🤩
Totally aesthetic 👌🏻

This was so fun and satisfying to draw, All my fave colours!

Piece for @AlIysvn + @wheaty8806 🤍#destiny2art #Destiny2AOTW @Bungie pic.twitter.com/tVKqnDf4c5

— ☽ EmilyMegan Art ☾ (@EmilyMeganX) April 7, 2023

Timon: This amazing piece celebrates the chaotic jumping from Nightmare Containment with a scythe in Season of the Haunted!

Art of the Week: Scythe Hunter

Nightmare scythe Merit for @The_Gamestr! 🔥 Thank you very much
_#Destiny2Art #Destiny2AOTW pic.twitter.com/JJDtQ2CPqR

— Brighan⚡ (@BrighanArt) April 7, 2023

And that’s a wrap! Another TWAB in the books and another week in Destiny 2 getting our swing on and ignoring those that may or may not swing off of cliff edges despite numerous warnings from a surrounding fireteam. Totally not a self-dunk. Because that would be silly...

Anyway.

Just your usual reminder to make sure you go out into the world leading with your kindest foot forward, practice that self-care, and drink some delicious H₂O. We’ll catch you next time, friends.

"I should go,”

<3 Hippy