Bungie Weekly Update - Sep 24 at 5:05:38 PM

This week at Bungie we watched as the King fell.

On the first day, 777,270 Guardians attempted the King's Fall Raid. Only 37,591 of them were able to send Oryx floating toward the rings of Saturn. Since then, almost a million attempts have been made on the King's life. A grand total of 88,733 Guardians have successfully committed regicide.

(Thanks for all the stats, Bungie User Research!)

And now, from our home office in Bellevue, Washington...
Here are the Top Ten Fireteams to clear King's Fall:

• Tenth
• Ninth
• Eighth
• Se7enth
• Sixth
• Fifth
• Fourth
• Third
• Runner Up
• World First

Our World First Fireteam crowned themselves after seven hours of fierce battle and confounding challenge. Yesterday, they told their tale of bravery and glory right on this here blog - and unabridged on our forum. Their tactical collaboration and grace under fire carried them across the finish line.

At Bungie, we were humbled and fascinated to be part of the live audience for everyone who broadcasted their Raid attempts in plain sight of the entire Internet. All day long, our people jumped from stream to stream to compare strategies and hair styles. All of you were absolutely fabulous. Oryx is challenge enough - without the elective addition of prying eyes and a raging chat room. Thanks for letting us see the experience we created unfold in real time. That was an absolute trip.

So what now? The game has launched. The King is dead (long live the King). What do you Guardians have to look forward to?

The answer is: Plenty. Destiny Year Two has more in store for you than The Taken King, and Oryx still has more tricks secreted away up his sleeves and aboard his fortress. There are rewards we have yet to reveal and that you have yet to earn. One or two of them were discovered by you this week.

We could illuminate the path for you, but that would be too easy. Rather, we prefer for you to emerge as the heroes in your living, social world. We just built the place. You're the legends.

You want to know what riches abound in your realm? Fan out and find each other on the Internet. If there is one thing this community is good at, it's kicking off a gold rush.

"Control the Zones!"

Not to be left out of the evolutions on display in Destiny, our old friend Lord Shaxx is presiding over an ever-changing theater of war between the Guardians. The Crucible has a new game mode and it's live right now. The featured activity for this week is Zone Control.

Here is Senior Designer Andrew Weldon to serve up some tactical analysis to keep you on the winning side of any match-up.

Andrew: While Control has been our most played mode in the first year of Destiny, many players both in the community and at Bungie wanted a more traditional objective-focused experience. Zone Control is the result!

In Zone Control, we have removed all individual player scores and score bonuses. Instead, your team receives points every five seconds for each zone you hold - +10 for one zone, +20 for two, and +30 for all three. Now, your path to victory relies far less on individual combat skills and far more on your team's ability to effectively hold territory in the zones themselves. Good luck!

Zone Control also marks the debut of our featured weekly PVP playlists - in addition to the Legendary Marks for completing a match in the daily, you can now earn 10 Legendary Marks for each of your first three wins in the weekly featured playlist for a total of 30 Legendary Marks over the course of the week. We'll feature a different rotating mode as the weekly featured playlist each week.

Get out there and fight, Guardians. And check out the homepage calendar for updates on what modes will shape the ongoing battle in the weeks to come. The Crucible is no place for routine. Even the source code is getting in on the action. Coming soon, we'll also be tuning the matchmaking formulas to improve the quality of Crucible matches. It's all very technical, so I'll spare you the details. We'll be sure to let you know when it goes live, so you can give us your #Feedback.

The one that shipped on the heels of Oryx.

Destiny Update 2.0.0.4 is live. Without warning, prelude, preview, or fanfare, it has been delivered to your console. With the game boosted into orbit, the Live Team is set to take over with their stewardship.

Like any good post-launch housekeeping, there is some give and take in this one:

• If you've been missing your Moments of Triumph rewards, the fix is in - and thank you to those of you who were made to wait for your patience
  
• In accordance with forum prophecy, The Three of Coins that Xûr sells are slightly modified:
  
  • Each of them provides a smaller increase to Exotic Engram drop chance when used in rapid succession
  • When used with more time between kills (for example, on Strike bosses), they remain as effective as before
• There are also some basic fixes for Quests, Strikes, and Rewards
  

Don't take it from me. Read the Patch Notes. They're live, too.

This is just the beginning. With a year under their belts, the Live Team is a lot more nimble in terms of supporting the player experience. Your next update should land in October. That bundle of fixes and tweaks will contain some more of what you've asked for, along with some developments for Year Two we're looking forward to talking to you all about.

Helping You Help Us Help You

For long-form updates to the game, there is the Live Team. For immediate assistance in maintaining a healthy Guardian lifestyle, there is Destiny Player Support. This is their report.

DPS: In the past week since The Taken King was released, Guardians on the #Help forum have been helping us keep track of issues and questions as they arise. Destiny Player Support thanks them for their patience and communication in helping share this knowledge with others on the forum. We've added a few new Help articles to help cover some of the new features Destiny: The Taken King:

• Armsday
• Infusing Year 2 Weapons and Armor

As mentioned above, anyone effected by the Golden Chest count issue regarding their Moments of Triumph should now have access to the emblem. If this pertains to you, check out your Postmaster or Emblem Collection.

Lastly, we have updated the Guided Support for Destiny: The Taken King, which includes a FAQ article on Legendary Marks. Please note, viewing the FAQ does not require a multi-pass.

You can always get notifications of these new Help articles from @BungieHelp on Twitter. It's a hashtag-free, no-nonsense source of information and nutrition. Follow up and profit!

Null and Void

There are many ways, other than firsting a Raid, to become legend around these parts. For the rest of us, another path to digital immortality is a sweet video to be enjoyed far and wide.

Cozmo: Time to crown the Movie of The Week. The Creations page is flowing with great content. Thank you for continuing to share your amazing talent there for the world to see. We'll always be watching there to pull exceptional videos to feature here. The stakes are high, as the winners will receive a rare emblem shared only by previous MOTW victors. We have another special edition of MOTW today in which the winner is Void themed. More specifically, that sweet Nightstalker Void subclass. Next week we will be rounding out our themes with Arc videos, so submit accordingly. Today we stare off into the Void.

Movie of the Week: You merely adopted the Void, I was born in it, molded by it.

Honorable Mention: World first team first encounter with Oryx. (Warning: Language!)

Honorable Mention: An elegant weapon of a more civilized age.

Honorable Mention: Beautiful fan-made lyrics to Destiny music.

What will happen in the world of Destiny next week? No one knows. That's the best part. Every day, we roll out of bed and look at our phones, just like you.

Keep us on our toes, Guardians, and we'll do the same for you.

DeeJ, out.