Bungie Weekly Update - 10/31/2014

This week at Bungie, we carved a pumpkin. Then, we slam dunked it onto your head.

If you grew up canvasing your neighborhood for candy once a year in a macabre disguise, you're in on the joke. If you're playing Destiny in a far-flung land that does not observe Halloween, welcome to a harvest tradition that began back in the 1700s. I shoplifted this quote from the Internet to provide some context as to why your Jackolyte consumable is relevant to all Guardians:

"In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve, our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule, to confront the power of death."

Thank the Traveler that such wisdom survived the collapse of the Golden Age. Guardians can't be destroyed, and neither can the spirit of the reaping season. Here are some examples of people getting in on the revival.

Happy Halloween, Guardians. Thanks for playing. We hope you enjoyed the treats.

These are not the only tricks we have tucked up our gauntleted sleeves.

Face What Waits

Also this week, we revealed The Dark Below. The first expansion pack for Destiny will be available for you to play on December 9th. Between now and then, we'll be releasing more details about the next phase of your evolution as a Guardian. To begin, let's talk about what you'll find in The Dark Below, and how it will change the experience of every Guardian - even those who don't opt in.

Q. Hey, Bungie. I saw the marketing stuff for The Dark Below. Can you please tell me what I get for my purchase?

Sure! Here's a version for those of you who don't like to read things that are too long. The Dark Below contains the following:

• 3 Story missions featuring new enemies and encounters in the Cosmodrome and Moon
  
• Tower Character and Vendor, Eris, featuring new Quests, Bounties, and rewards
  
• Exclusive Legendary Weapons and Armor
  
• New Exotic Weapons
  
• "Will of Crota" Strike
  
• "Crota's End" Raid
  
• 3 Crucible Maps: Pantheon, Skyshock, and The Cauldron
  
• Maximum Light Level increase to 32

There will also be tweaks to activity playlists (e.g. a new Crucible playlist featuring new maps). We'll detail those out in full just as soon as we put the finishing touches on them.

Right now, the Dev Team is preparing some notes to cover exactly how Weapons and Armor will be updated and upgraded alongside The Dark Below. We plan to publish those notes in the coming weeks.

Q. Do I get anything if I don't purchase The Dark Below?

Yep. There will be some updates and alterations that every player will be able to enjoy.

All players will also benefit from these updates to the Destiny player experience:

• Some new Weapons and Armor
• New Daily Bounties
  
• Five additional Bounty slots

Q. What else can you tell me about The Dark Below? Who is Eris? What are Quests?

The Dark Below is themed around The Hive summoning their dark god, Crota. Without spoiling the details, Crota's summoning is a multifaceted ritual that has implications for Story missions, Quests, the "Will of Crota" Strike, and the "Crota's End" Raid.

The story missions will take you into untapped spaces with brand new encounters. There's new music, custom effects, and some serious challenges to undertake. The Strike and Raid will also feature beautiful new spaces and difficult new engagements to overcome for you and your Fireteam.

The storyline of the Dark Below kicks off with the return of Eris to the Tower, bearing a grim warning about the rise of Crota. Eris is a new character that appears in the Tower to serve as your guide. She has her own story to tell, and serves as the primary narrator for the Story missions. She offers her own reputation stream, unique weapon and armor rewards, as well as other item rewards for Guardians who earn her favor.

She also offers new Bounties and Quests. Some of her Bounties will be available whether you purchase The Dark Below or not.

Quests are a new storytelling mechanism that we're using in the Dark Below. They are multistage tasks that culminate in a reward, similar to the Exotic Bounties you may have experienced. Unlike Exotic Bounties, the Quests in the Dark Below can be completed by players who are solely focused on the cooperative story content of The Dark Below.

For example, one Quest creates a continuous chain of multiple tasks that culminates in the "Will of Crota" Strike. Another may simply ask you to return to Earth to take down the surging Hive threat.

This new way of storytelling in Destiny is a bit experimental in nature. We've seen players spending a lot of time in the Tower, and we've heard loud and clear that players would like more unique gear and additional Bounties. Eris is one part storyteller, one part Tower Vendor, and tens parts creepy.

Q. And Exotics?!

We promised to make all of your Exotics worth the price of ownership, and you should expect to hear more about how they'll continue to be prized possessions in the short term future. Stay tuned!

As mentioned above, in the days and weeks ahead, the team will also start opening up about how The Dark Below content will be featured in the Director, and what additional changes you can expect to roll out alongside the new expansion.

Shock the Monkey

Updating software is always a ton of fun (insert "Barrel of Monkeys" joke here). When you crush one issue, a number of others can pop up where you least expect them (insert "12 Monkeys" joke here). Fortunately, the Destiny Operations Center is on the case. If you've had a bumpy ride these past few days, please help yourself to their weekly address on the state of the game.

After the 1.0.2.3 patch went live, many players encountered some never before seen error codes, which caused some confusion. This was largely due to Bungie splitting off a number of errors previously grouped under CATERPILLAR/CATTLE, CENTIPEDE, and ZEBRA into different categories to make them easier to track. This process is required to help us expedite investigations and fixes. If you're still seeing ZEBRA after this patch, we would love to hear from you because that shouldn't happen!!! Please report any remaining ZEBRA errors on our Help forum.

Along with yesterday's patch, we encountered a significant increase in error code MONKEY. Soon after, we released another update to reduce the number of MONKEY errors users were seeing. This appears to have resolved the issue for most players. We'll continue to monitor this error as the hit rate continues to decline.

Lastly, we have been adding more guides to help.bungie.net to assist our players. We know linking accounts on Bungie.net can be weird, and our Weekly rewards loot table reset is expansive, but we're here to help and provide answers. Be sure to look through our "Newly Created" and "Top Issues" sections on the Bungie Help main page for new and informative articles. If searching for your issue yields no results, don't hesitate to give us a shout on the Help forum.

We hope you can draw some comfort from the fact that they're always watching you. Unless you turn off the game, of course. In that case, what you do with your life is completely up to you. If you're in the Tower, however, or anywhere in the wild, we can see you. And we think you look frabjous.

MEDIC!

When last we plucked a player from the tree of community to scrutinize the fruits of their legend, we introduced you to a Warlock who made the survival of other Guardians their personal responsibility. For another celebration of selfless bravery, we're training our sights on the Crucible. Reviving someone in a Public Event is one thing. Reviving someone under fire from sentient opponents is something else.

Porter6958 is a Hunter who has revived more teammates in a competitive matchup than any other combatant (2,526, to be exact). Check out the breakdown of time spent in Destiny. This player is a warrior, and only living targets will quicken the pulse. One thing that Porter has discovered is that the team that plays together wins together. For leading our pack in revives, this trusty teammate is our legend for this week.

Cheers, Porter. We'd have you on our team any time.

This is the part of the Weekly Update where you realize it's coming to an end. You might be feeling like you have more questions now than when it began. That lets us continue this chat next week, and across the weeks to come.

There are six more Weekly Updates between now and when you'll be able to face what waits in The Dark Below. Between now and then, we'll be chatting with some of the people who've created the things that we're packing into our first expansion. Stay tuned for new details about the weapons you'll wield, the destinations you'll visit, the things you'll be able to do, the rewards you'll be able to earn, and the new arena where you'll battle to the last.

That's all for later. For now, be safe out there. Ghosts and Goblins are on the prowl.