This Week at Bungie - 04/28/2016 1h - DeeJ

This week at Bungie we're feeling punchy.

The April Update has been a reality for a few weeks now. Guardians across the system are aglow with fresh Chroma. Taken stragglers are on the run. The Reef is buzzing with the chatter of heroes. At this very moment, it's raining purple in Iron Banner.

Next Tuesday, May 3rd, we're deploying Update 2.2.0.2 to correct a few things that were bugging us. (See what we did there?) It will fix a few chests, quests, and rewards - nothing major. Also included in the bundle will be some changes to help you land a punch a little more squarely on the jaw of your opponent.

Let's talk about how those changes will make their way from our workbench to your game room.

The Only Good Bug
[Spoiler: It's a dead bug]

In a game ruled by magic and exotic weaponry, there is still a seat at the table for a good, old-fashioned, bare-knuckled attack. Isn't that right, Titans?

Ever thrown a punch - we're only talking about Destiny here - that seemed to land (you heard it and you felt it) but it didn't deal any damage? Yeah, us too.

Ever thrown a punch (or a shoulder) that seemed to "whiff" right past your intended target when you were so sure it would land? Yup, the same thing happened to us, so we put one of our top men on it.

The empty threat of a melee is a thing we aim to fix in this next update. Anyone remember Sandbox Engineer Jon Cable? He's one of the killer elite among bug hunters. If losing Heavy Ammunition upon death in Destiny Year One threw you into a blind rage, Jon was your champion. We sent him deep, deep into a hellmouth of code to eradicate that bug, and he came back a hero.

Recently, he's been investigating the complexities of a proper melee attack. Here he is with a diagnosis.

Jon: When a melee attack seems like it connects, but it doesn't do any damage, this is usually a networking problem. Most commonly, it occurs when there is an issue communicating your position to the other machines in the game, or if your would-be victim is having a similar problem. I've tweaked some networking logic related to player positions during melee attacks which should help address these issues. This error can still occur, because the internet isn't perfect, but it should be better.

When a melee attack whiffs, this is usually a sandbox problem. I've fixed a bug where we were starting the target search from an incorrect position.  Normally, we begin searching for targets from the perspective of the attacker's head. This bug would result in the target search falling short. If the melee lunge didn't get you close enough to the target, or if the target was moving away from you, your melee would not connect. The new fix should make Arc Blade and Shoulder Charge much more reliable. There are still situations - especially when the target is moving away from you - where you will not connect.

Listening to these guys talk about their work makes my palms sweat the way they did when a pop quiz would rear its ugly head in math class. Thank the Light for the guys who actually did their homework back in the day.

These melee fixes will NOT go live when we deploy Update 2.2.0.2.

Changing the Sandbox always runs the risk of wreaking havoc on the fabric of virtual reality. We're going to roll this out nice and slow.

Here are the steps we'll take:

• Update 2.2.0.2 deploys Tuesday, May 3rd starting at about 10AM Pacific
  
• We'll monitor the base update for stability over the weekend
  
• New Melee code will be manually activated Tuesday, May 10th at 10AM Pacific
  
• We'll monitor performance and gather feedback on the Sandbox
  

Of course this plan is subject to change, but that is the plan at this moment. We'll give you some advance warning before we flip the switch. In the event that something terrible happens once the changes go live, we'll be able to roll these "fixes" back immediately. If you see something weird, say something weird. We know you would without us asking, but we want you to know that we'll be listening and ready to take action.

The last thing we'd want would be for you to take a swing at us. 

Guarding the Guardians

Who looks out for you when you're venturing forth from the Tower? It could be the teammates on your Fireteam, but you can always count on Destiny Player Support.

DPS: Iron Banner Clash is currently available, and ends on Tuesday, May 3rd, at 2:00 AM Pacific. For all information concerning this Live Event, please see this Help Article.

At the launch of Iron Banner at 10:00 AM Pacific on Tuesday, April 26th, we became aware of a slight delay in resetting previously earned Iron Banner reputation. At 10:30 AM Pacific, reputation was reset for all players. Resetting reputation granted the ability for all participants to earn Iron Banner Reputation Reward Packages, which may only be acquired at Ranks 3 and 5. The contents of these packages were changed with Update 2.2.0, and we wanted to ensure that players were able to acquire these rewards with the return of Iron Banner. We apologize for the loss of any Reputation earned during this time. 

Additionally, an issue has been resolved impacting the appearance of Lord Saladin and Iron Banner Reputation on the Destiny Companion Application. You may now view your personal Reputation gains under your Legend, and inspect Lord Saladin's current inventory, including stat and perk rolls assigned to these items.

Finally, to earn the Weekly Crucible Sterling Treasure, players must complete one match within the Mayhem Rumble playlist. This may be accessed through the Crucible node within the Director. Players can also earn their weekly Crucible Legendary Marks in this playlist.

You Have To Shoot To Score

Your community manager is as loyal as Variks, always watching to see who among you is a champion.

Cozmo: The High Scores for Week Two of Challenge of the Elders are in and these three Fireteams stand victorious at the top. Their grenades were accurate and deadly, racking them up tons of bonus points. 

High Score - 112,595

• RainDog56
  
• Crunchytime
  
• ianskills1995
  
• Bladed_Wolf (substitution)
  

Second Place - 90,560

• sc Slayerage
  
• EPICOOKIEZ
  
• Eavr
  

Third Place - 84,455

• TheUltraSaint
  
• PickaxeSwinger2
  
• Nutley99
  

This week is all about melee kills, and your bonus points will be granted for being up close and personal. Be careful though: Exposure is active and will give you a finite amount of shields each round. We will let you know next week who had the highest scores with these modifiers.

Fresh Out of Movie Puns

Not every champion is a killer. Some of you are also artists.

Cozmo:  Fresh movies have arrived. We watched a bunch of 'em, but these stood out among the rest. As always, the winners will be rewarded with the sacred Emblem that commemorates their moviemaking achievement. If you too seek this treasure, submit your entries to the Creations page for a chance to win. Let's get this show started!

Movie of the Week: Destiny is Gorgeous.

Honorable Mention: Pew pew pew.

Honorable Mention: Flawless with Wiimote

That's all we got for you right now. There will be Patch Notes again soon. Keep an eye on us, and we'll keep looking out for you.

DeeJ, out.

Oh, and hey. Rezyl Azzir is not one of us. We cannot confirm nor can we decipher these riddles. It's a mystery to us as well. Fun stuff, though. If you don't know what we're talking about, don't worry about it. If you do, enjoy the speculation.

Just remember, nothing about Destiny is true until you read it right here. Or here.