Bungie Weekly Update - 08/01/2014

This week at Bungie, we put the Destiny Beta into millions of players' hands.

No easy feat. You all kicked mountains of ass. While you battled aliens and each other, we learned a lot about how things work behind the scenes. We discovered even more by watching you fight and win and die and revive.

Now that it's over, we're having a blast all over again as you all try to tell your war stories in the loudest voice. The Destiny community has changed. You've seen some things. What's been seen cannot be unseen.

The Beta was like a blizzard of data. As we dig ourselves out from underneath the numbers, we're finding a few you might like. We know you hunger for stats. A lot of you mined them from the Destiny Companion. Here's a post-game carnage report we can all click and enjoy:

Our favorite achievement is the concurrency statistic. At its peak, the Destiny Beta became the most simultaneously played Bungie game of all time. There were more people online at the same time to play Destiny than any other game in our history. The Beta was more played than even final versions of previous Bungie games. You joined forces to populate the last safe city on Earth, and blew our minds.

This test was huge for us. In the final hours of our grand experiment, we put you to the real test. We knocked you down, but you got up again. We shrank the pool of available servers. We kicked you into orbit, applied patches to your ships, and watched as you descended to fight and dance and rage. Again. There was no stopping you. In the end, we had to kick the plug out of the wall.

We're running out of ways to thank you for what the Beta has meant to us. We hope you had fun. Destiny will be a better game because you played it. Perhaps that's the best gesture we can manage - to deliver a game that's better than it was before your contribution.

Time will tell. Not much time, either. Today is the first day of August. Start the countdown on your last month of waiting. Next month, we'll all start playing Destiny for real. You might even think you're ready.

You're not. (wink)

"Where'd you get that?"

We're already starting to hear that question being asked. One Guardian to another, people want to know where to dig the gold out of our brave new world. Everything worth having, from the guns in your grip to the armor on your back, will be tied to the action that you survive. When your friends ask where you got yours, you'll have amazing stories to tell. Maybe you'll even relive them through their fresh eyes.

Here's a great story - and it cannot be relived or shared. If you played in the Beta, we're equipping you with proof. It'll be something that people won't be able to mimic or obtain. It happened, or it didn't. If you put your boots on the ground in the Destiny Beta, a launch emblem will be waiting for you in September.

With this emblem, we lured you to the July 26th rally. We needed to fill up our servers; see if you could break our backbone. You showed up to help us set our new record for concurrency. Now that we've seen how our new tech responds to a heavy load, we're a lot more prepared for launch day.

This emblem is for everyone who played, or wrestled the centipede and lost. Every moment of the Beta was important. Every tester was worthy of celebration and decoration. Polish it up and pin it to the upper right corner of your screen. Like all the best things in Destiny, you earned it.

You'll be the envy of the people you meet in orbit. They'll wonder where that came from. Feel free to tell them: "I played in the Beta. I helped Bungie make this game. I was there before Destiny was cool. Where were you?"

Oh, man. They're gonna be jealous as their jump drives kick in.

Let's see what you're all noodlin' about. The Beta is behind us. We still have a few stops to make around the world before we light this candle. There's still plenty to talk about, so let's open the Sack.

Mr Wonderful Will the Warlocks still have the visually limited "bond" items? The Warlock is my favorite class to play, but I'm strongly considering playing as a Titan just to have the cooler class items.

The Warlock is anything but subdued. It's easily the most eccentric class in Destiny, which is why Urk and I chose the order. We have swagger. We don't need to wear a cape like the Hunter to get noticed. We have better ways to get attention than to pound the ground with our fists like the Titan.

If you crave flashier items for your inventory, wait 'til you see what we have in store for you in the final game. Would you say the Bond was limited if your arm was bathed in light? I'd tell you more, but I've already said too much. You ain't seen nothing yet.

ScytheNL Can I delete the Beta or will there be something for me on 9/9?

You are free to delete the Beta. It has served its purpose. Free up your drive space.

Sowryn Will there be cross generation play? Say I have friends on Xbox 360, will I be able to play with them if I upgrade to Xbox One?

When you migrate to a new generation, your Guardian will follow you, so long as you stick to your platform. Your friends will need to follow you, too. Every box gets a unique version of Destiny, lovingly optimized for the specific platform.

Xxplosions What's the competitive scene going to look like? Are you guys going to heavily support it like you supported the Halo games?

You tell us. What's the competitive scene going to look like? We'll support the community however we can. We always have. We love that stuff. While we make the game, it is the community that makes the scene. It's hubris to think that you're building an esport. Job number one is for us to build a place where you believe in the battles you fight. We need for you to care about what happens there enough to wonder who is the best.

Do you yet? We saw a lot of hard-case Twitch assassins on the prowl. They protested the closed gates that led to Lord Saladin's part time job. We think they'll be back. And we'll have more champions for them to seek out.

Blaster73 Plenty of feedback has been received since the Beta went live and subsequently closed. Assuming that a decision can be made internally, how feasible is it to see changes made to the game at this point? Basically, is there enough time to implement changes?

We implemented changes before it ended. It happened both during our maintenance window and on the fly while you were in orbit. You were oblivious to the magical bits beneath the hood. Space magic! Let that bake your noodle.

It's been a roller coaster, people. What should we talk about next? In one week, we leave for Germany. We should probably get to work on something we can share with them when we pay a visit to their Haus.