We shed light on two recent situations in Destiny 2, where the game was on the verge of another shitstorm but narrowly avoided it.
The atmosphere in Destiny 2 has calmed down in recent weeks. But in December and January, it would have taken just a spark to ignite another shitstorm – so another to add to the ones that were already brewing.
We look back at two incidents that we had not reported on at the time, where Destiny 2 came close to another explosion.
Shitstorm I – the Grimoire Cards Story
Just before Christmas, a statement drove the lore fans of Destiny and Destiny 2 crazy. The sacred Grimoire cards from the original Destiny were to be no longer considered “canon.” What happened?
On December 20, a tweet caused a stir. One of the comic authors of Destiny 2 was asked: “Is your comic really real? Is it part of the game’s canon? Should we take it seriously?”
And the response from Margaret Stohl was: “Yes, it’s all canon. […] But the Grimoire cards are folklore. Even the inhabitants of the Destiny universe see the stories there as true, as far as they know.”
everything in the comics is canon, unless we mess something up. which @ryanqnorth might… but @hellokestrel never does. grimoire is considered folklore, even to the inhabitants of the universe: true as far as they & we know! #destiny2 #bungiecomics #bungie https://t.co/bRuI15lhQc
— Margaret Stohl (@mstohl) December 20, 2017
Alarm bells rang among the lore fans of Destiny. They interpreted the statement as “Bungie just wiped out everything we loved about Destiny 1 with a stroke of a pen.”
A similar stunt had been pulled by Star Wars. With a single stroke, large parts of the Star Wars universe were declared “non-canon.” Thus, they were not binding for the further development of the series. Had Bungie just done the same?
Destiny fans cried out: This is a trick by Bungie. They can now rewrite the entire story of Destiny 1 as they please.
But game director Christopher Barrett was able to calm the situation. He basically said: Guys, this is nothing new. Calm down. The Grimoire cards are important for the background and the world.
The Grimoire is an important foundation to the lore and world building of Destiny. We need many more stories and tales like it. That’s where we are headed – https://t.co/Fzt7EI66PXz
— Christopher Barrett (@cgbarrett) January 28, 2018
What really happened? To look at it soberly: “Folklore” here simply meant that the Grimoire cards are literature within Bungie’s universe and reflect the perspective of the authors. However, this does not have to be objectively true. Comics, on the other hand, depict what “really” happened – from an objective viewpoint. Therefore, they have a different function and perspective than Grimoire cards.
Shitstorm averted – also, probably, because not as many people freak out over lore topics as they do over others.
Shitstorm II – Luke Smith is stirring the pot again, or not?
The second “almost” shitstorm came from Luke Smith, the “Throwing Money Against the Monitor” godfather of shitstorms at Bungie – again over Twitter.
On February 1, he said: “Good things are coming from the Destiny 2 team. Keep giving us feedback. Don’t be foolish.”
And this “Don’t be foolish” was taken the wrong way by some. They got quite upset about how Smith could speak to the fans like that. The criticism was indeed justified, and Bungie must face it. From Bungie came only a gigantic “Fuck You” and now the responsible party had the nerve to stand up and insult the fans.
People were already pulling out their torches and pitchforks. Smith then calmed things down with: “A certain degree of mutual human respect is not too much to ask for,” and tempers slowly cooled down.
What really happened? Smith had actually just wanted to say in his flippant way: Guys, remember that there are people on our side too. Try to express the criticism constructively.
Maybe two little things that show how tense the mood was between Bungie and their fans between December and February. A spark could have been enough for it to explode again.
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