7 Tower Thoughts: Grumpy Guardians

Greetings, Guardians, and welcome to another edition of 7 Tower Thoughts. This weekly feature is my place to weigh in on issues and events taking place in the Destiny 2 universe. Nothing is off limits here, so let’s dig in.

Bungie Help

Players who encounter issues manifesting Spectral Pages should clear their D2 console/PC cache, complete a strike, and then complete a Haunted Lost Sector.

Players should also ensure they have available space in their inventory, and are wearing a festival mask.

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) October 20, 2022

Logic would suggest that as a game grows and becomes more complex there will be more bugs and issues that pop up. I don’t think that would surprise many. Still, as someone who has Twitter notifications on for Bungie Help, there’s been a dramatic rise in the number of tweets coming from that team. Maintenance and patch notes were always tweeted, but more and more we’re getting notifications about broken systems, armor pieces, and weapons. I’m hoping that this season is an outlier, and we will see a reduction in the future, but only time will tell.

Community temperament

If you pay close attention, you’ll notice the dissatisfaction within the community is growing. At least, within the vocal portion of the community. This season is a bit slower, and players don’t have as much to keep them busy. Every bug, nerf, or otherwise poorly received change seems to be fuel to the fire. Things aren’t out of control yet, but I’m starting to get a bit concerned we will enter a Destiny 2 dark age. I don’t mean less people playing, just a community in a bad mood that is likely to fall onto the negative side of the fence instead of the positive. I’m sure Bungie notices this, and I’d love to see what plans they may have to calm things down. Destiny 2 needs to give their players a win to stomp out this movement before it really gets rolling.

Population fatigue

This is a continuation from my previous point, but I’m fascinated by the idea of fatigue within a group or population. You see this all the time in society, such as the pandemic and folks being completely over social distancing, masks, lockdowns, etc. Well, I believe we’re seeing fatigue among the Destiny 2 community. Fatigue over the seasonal model being similar is growing. That is somewhat concerning because by the time Bungie realizes the community is tired, they’ve already mostly completed work on the next thing. That is to say, if players are tired of the current seasonal model, they are unlikely to get a new model for Season 19 launching on December 6.

One hand in my pocket

I’m of the belief that players don’t spend too much money to play Destiny 2. Paying for DLC, dungeon access, or season feels just fine to me. There’s value added to this game on a nearly non-stop basis. I also don’t mind Eververse, which mostly stays out of my way unless I choose to engage with it.

What I mind, though, is how intrusive Upgraded Event Cards feel during Festival of the Lost. Every time I open my Event Card, I’m presented with an Upgrade Event Card button with a shiny animation to highlight that I should press that button. I often dismiss this complaint from players, but boy howdy does that feel like a free-to-play mobile game with in-app purchases.

This worries me a great deal because here’s a fact: Destiny 2 is not going to get less aggressive asking players to spend money. What you see now is likely as good as it will ever be. Finding new ways to monetize this game is a priority for Bungie, and we’re going to see more examples of players being smacked in the face with things like Upgrade Event Card. This should be interesting to see play out over the next 12-24 months.

I like what you’ve done with the place

There have been some heavy (perhaps negative) thoughts today, so I wanted to add some balance and shift gears. It may be a small thing, but Festival of the Lost is a very aesthetically pleasing event. Loading into the Tower and seeing that haunted tree near Eva Levante always brings a smile to my face. Side note: if you haven’t read the Eva's Journey lore book about her time from the Red War, you really should. It gives you some background on why hosting these events are so important to her.

More crossover content coming to Destiny 2?

Seeing Destiny 2 in Fall Guys and Fortnite got me thinking about what’s coming next. Now that Sony and Bungie are hooked up, think of the possibilities. Not just for armor and ornaments, but for weapons. Who here wouldn’t be down to equip Kratos axe in their heavy slot? God of War Ragnarok is coming out soon, Guardians. I have zero insight into if this is a consideration, so don’t take anything I say on the matter seriously. I’m just thinking as a fan of what Sony properties could find their way into Destiny 2. Nathan Drake is totally a Hunter, isn’t he?

Rest up, Guardian

You hear this all the time, but it’s okay to take a break from Destiny 2. It doesn’t have to be because you’re tired, or frustrated, or anything. Take a break because Destiny 2 demands a lot of you, and right now things are a bit slow. Go play something else, or binge that television show you’ve been putting off. Walk away from the YouTube videos, the livestreams, and even all these wonderful words I’m putting on the page and decompress. We often get so caught up in the game and the conversations about it online that we need to take a step back, give our head a shake, and look at it all with a fresh perspective later. If you’re feeling burned out, or frustrated, why not take a Destiny 2 vacation?

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.