Destiny 2 Umbral Engrams: How to decode them
Destiny 2 Ruinous Effigy: Get the exotic trace rifle
Destiny 2 Festival of the Lost 2020: Halloween is back
With Destiny 2: Beyond Light now less than a month away, the latest installment of This Week at Bungie contains a couple of big pieces of news, one personal and one professional. First, the professional: Bungie announced that the new raid coming in Beyond Light, and the traditional Race to World First, will kick off at precisely 10 am PT/1 pm ET on November 21. That gives players more than a month to prepare themselves—but the studio also warned that the process of determining the winners will be a little bit different this time around.
"Following all the immediate fanfare and bustle that follows the checkered flag, our data scientists will be spending extra time validating the finishing team's run. Expect the official announcement for World First to come a bit later than usual," Bungie said. "Disqualifications can happen as per the official rules. So finish strong, even if you hear rumors of another team’s victory."
That heightened scrutiny is the result of widespread concern about cheating. It's bad enough in PvP, but as Phil noted in our recent piece on some of the most outrageous cheaters in PC gaming, raid glory has a powerful allure, and at least one player is already making (and sharing) concrete plans to cheat his way to the finish line. Given all that, it makes sense that Bungie will want to be extra-certain that the players crowned World First finishers—and who will be granted a unique title belt as their reward—are playing clean.
The next raid will take place in the Deep Stone Crypt, which is said to be the birthplace of Destiny's exo race. It's located on Europa, the moon of Jupiter which will be one two new destinations (the other being the Cosmodrome in Old Russian) added by Beyond Light. For those looking to compete from the get-go, normal 'Contest' rules apply. Here's the breakdown from Bungie:
- Contest Mode will cap all players at 20 Power below each encounter for 24 hours.
- Artifact Power will be disabled during Contest Mode.
- 1230 Power is your team’s goal to be at the cap for all the encounters.
- Being above 1230 will not provide any additional advantage in the final fight.
The more personal news—which is even bigger than the raid date, in my estimation—is that long-time community manager David "Deej" Dague, who joined Bungie in November 2011, is leaving.
My final edition of “This Week At Bungie” closes with a personal note about the triumphant conclusion of my nine years at your service:“The next destination on my professional journey lies down another path, but I’ll always enjoy retracing the steps we’ve taken together.” https://t.co/saZtEfvX5oOctober 15, 2020
"My last day at Bungie will be November 6, 2020, thus closing out a full nine years in the service of the player. It has truly been an honor," Dague wrote. "I’ll never forget having the chance to see this community come together and create its own movement. The next destination on my professional journey lies down another path, but I’ll always enjoy retracing the steps we’ve taken together."
"I’m proud to say that I’m leaving Bungie even more a fan than when I arrived those nine years ago. Whoever warned that you should never meet your heroes didn’t have the chance to work in a place like this. I’m taking with me a lifetime of incredible memories of Guardians I would have never known otherwise. Destiny will continue to be an amazing game, in part, because of you. The people who play Bungie games together are the pride and joy of this company. It has been my pleasure to keep our community traditions strong during my time up front."
Dague said that he'll continue to be around in an official capacity until the launch of Beyond Light, "and then I'll be reverting back to my original role as a passionate member of this community."
