In the MMO shooter Destiny the Iron Banner event has been surprisingly activated without announcement. However, the announced changes have not been implemented. Was the activation really planned or was it a mistake?
The Iron Banner event in Destiny was activated today with the weekly reset. No one expected this. There was no announcement from Bungie. The homepage is quiet, the Twitter account is silent. Yet this event would be a highlight of the week in Destiny. Normally, such events are announced big. Much indicates that a mistake has occurred here.
Iron Banner active without the announced changes in Destiny
The Iron Banner is actually a week-long event where players measure their skills in the Crucible. It was originally intended to be an event where the players’ gear counts. However, the first version of the event was a failure among fans, as the rewards were too weak for players. The gear of the Guardians did not play the promised role. Because only victories were worthwhile, players who felt they were on the losing side left matches, causing frustration. The players’ criticism was significant.
Ideally, the Iron Banner event should, when it returns, be the big and important thing that was originally promised to the players. Bungie announced extensive changes to the mechanics and later presented them. There were supposed to be armor pieces as rewards that would level up to 30. There were supposed to be easier bounty missions, the level advantage in the Crucible would have a stronger impact, and there would be coins for defeats that could be converted into reputation upon a victory. Everything would be different, everything would be better.
Has Destiny just become a victim of automation?
As numerous posts in the US forum reddit show, none of this is in the game. Moreover, it seems to be even more chaotic than in the first version. Although the event is active, for example, reputation points have been reset even though it explicitly was not supposed to. Allegedly, the old shaders and emblems no longer work, where a reputation bonus was supposed to be associated. One presumably has to buy them again.
Some players suspect due to all the problems that Bungie made a mistake and that the event started “automatically” during the night (US time) at the weekly reset. The timing fits: the first Iron Banner premiered at the first weekly reset in October. That was Tuesday, October 7th. Today we have the first reset of the month. A pattern can be recognized.
As it stands now, there are probably not many reasons to participate in the Iron Banner. Much indicates that something is going wrong in Destiny right now.
Update 12:50: That was a short enjoyment. The event was deactivated again around 12:20 our time. Players were kicked from ongoing Iron Banner encounters, Lord Saladin has disappeared, and the Iron Banner has closed. One can assume that there was a mistake with Destiny.
Update 22:20: Now there is also the official confirmation. It is as assumed. It was a mistake on Bungie’s part, which was quickly resolved. Soon they want to announce when the Iron Banner will officially return.
Iron Banner went live this morning for an hour. It was not planned. It was the old version. We’ll talk more about the official return soon.
— Bungie (@Bungie) November 4, 2014
To learn more about the Iron Banner in Destiny and how it is currently going, you can read our articles about the first of these events that took place almost exactly a month ago:
Destiny Iron Banner: New legendary items for PvP players *Update*
Destiny: The Iron Banner is live – Reputation Rank 3 for armor
Destiny Iron Banner: Much criticism for PvP event – Legendary items from reputation level 2 *Update*
