This Week At Bungie - 02/09/2017 0h - DeeJ

This week at Bungie we're studying our notes.

Patch Notes that is. After a design pass on the Sandbox, Destiny HotFix 2.5.0.2 will arrive on Tuesday. At this moment, we're checking and rechecking all the details that will get published for your scrutiny. There are statistics to verify and changes to confirm. We cross-reference information provided by every discipline. Designers. Testers. Engineers. Ninjas.

On the morning of Tuesday, February 14, those bullet points will be fired from this here blog. When we're delivering content, we tend to get started around 10AM Pacific. Our deployment team will push the Big Red Button* and the servers will do their thing.

That's when you'll be able to jump into the Crucible and sample the Sandbox tuning for yourselves. After hundreds of hours of playtesting, iteration, and more playtesting, we'll subject ourselves to the ultimate test: The moment when you go in to play.

*Metaphorical Satire: no such button exists

Notes from the Sandlot

Yesterday, we returned to our Twitch channel for a conversation about how combat in Destiny is about to change. Josh Hamrick and Greg Peng were in the hot seat. The chatter on stream was all about your expression of power in Destiny. The ways you fight and your means of defending yourself are the things they think about all day. If you missed it, please take a look through this window into their world.

Weapons and abilities were the focus of this work. The post-show dialogue has observed the absence of changes to Artifacts - namely Skorri's. You haven't heard the last from the Live Team, and the Sandbox is always an important part of their exploration of where the game should go next. With 2.5.0.2 almost off the workbench, our design team is looking at another future release as a potential vehicle for some tuning on artifacts as well. Time will tell, and you're always a part of the conversation.

Damage Per Second?

Just outside the PlayTest Lab at Bungie, "DPS" stands for "Destiny Player Support." The acronym still applies to firepower, but it's about solving problems instead of destroying your enemies. These warriors fight on the #Help forum.

This is their report.

Next week, Destiny Hotfix 2.5.0.2 will be delivered to your console. There is no expected downtime for this deployment. This hotfix fully focuses on Sandbox tuning. There will be no other changes to Destiny, nor will any known issues be addressed.

Prior to accepting Destiny Hotfix 2.5.0.2, please note the following:

• Hard Drive Requirements: Players should ensure they have the proper amount of console storage space available to complete the full installation process. For more information, please see the Console Storage Space guide.
  
• Interrupting Update Downloads: When receiving a patch or update for Destiny, please do not interrupt the download or install process. Doing so may force some consoles to re-download all previous patch data. Once this occurs, it cannot be undone and may only be resolved by allowing all deleted patch data to be re-downloaded.
  
• Wired Connections Recommended: Players that are using a wireless or wifi connection may want to switch to a wired connection for the download and installation process. Wireless connections are susceptible to a variety of different sources of interference and may cause issues in the stability of the Destiny download or installation. For more information, please see the Network Troubleshooting Guided Support.

If you encounter any issues accepting Destiny Hotfix 2.5.0.2 onto your console, make sure to visit our Updating Destiny guide. If you are unable to find a solution to your issue, please post a report to our #Help forum.

If you have any feedback concerning this Hotfix, please visit our #Feedback forum on bungie.net. This is the best place to post and discuss your feedback with other players, where #Help is the place for in-game or connection issue troubleshooting.

Rotten Potatoes

Vanquishing the hunted during a Bungie Bounty is not the only way to win a fancy emblem that only Bungie can give you. We celebrate art as much as violence. Behold your weekly critic.

Cozmo: Welcome to another edition of the award-winning section of the blog. What award, you ask? The coveted Best Recurring Section in a Weekly Bungie Blog. Enough about our made-up awards, let's get to the real awards we give out to the community each week. We pick our favorite movies from the community and award the creators with this special Emblem. Submit your movie to the Creations page for your chance to win. We get thousands of submissions, so please allow some time for your video to be approved. This week we have a group dedicated to turning a boss's minions against them, an Exotic rap, and a strange occurrence in the Vault of Glass. 

Movie of the Week: The Dank Meme Consumed You

Honorable Mention: Feeling Exotic

Honorable Mention: Rewired

The Sandbox show was not the only conversation we had on our streaming set this week. We also talked to the Guardians who host IGN's Fireteam Chat. Hard to believe that they've released 99 episodes (or 99.5.0.2 episodes, to be exact). Have we really been a community for that long? Their 100th episode will be a great chance to take a look back at our journey as a community. We joined them on the show and pried open our archives to share some memories of our own. You should tune in tomorrow and check it out. Any seasoned Destiny fan is sure to be hit with a wave of nostalgia.

Next week, we'll take a look at your reactions to the new Sandbox. Change is never easy, especially when it happens in a place where bullets (and space magic) are flying past your head. No matter how you fight, it's a safe bet that you're about to enter a period of adjustment. Good luck out there, and be sure to let us know how you fare.

DeeJ, out.