Destiny 2 has lost half of its solar system and is facing significant criticism. MeinMMO author Philipp Hansen does not miss the old content and sees it rather as new opportunities for Bungie’s action MMO.
Destiny 2 is now in its 4th year. This was heralded by the expansion Beyond Light. Traditionally, with the annual expansions come major changes and innovations – as was the case in 2020.
While the first new damage element since Destiny 1, Stasis, and a well-narrated story are received well, there are also downsides. At the same time as the expansion, Bungie worked hard on Destiny 2 and subjected the game to a radical diet.
What has actually disappeared? As a result, the game takes up significantly less hard drive space – no wonder, as half of the game has disappeared.
- 4 planets, 3 campaigns, numerous quests, raids, and activities have been removed from the game, are no longer playable, and exist only in the collective memory of players.
- Bungie now neatly stores all of this in their content vault (the Destiny Content Vault or DCV).
- The content is not irretrievably deleted. It is stored and can return later – even in revised and polished form. More on that later.
This is what it looked like before Beyond Light 
The Darkness arrives 
This is what it looks like now since Beyond Light
The outcry from the Guardians was great. Statements like “I paid for that content back then” resonated loudly in the ether, and you expressed your displeasure in the comments on MeinMMO. An evolving game that is supposed to keep you engaged for years is suddenly shrinking.
In short, the enforced weight loss program was not well received by many Guardians. But I will say without scruples: get rid of it!
Since 2019, I have been intensively covering the franchise for you on MeinMMO.
In all my playing hours, Destiny has not always made me happy. There are plenty of reasons for criticism, and even one of my loves has left Bungie. It is right to voice your criticism, preferably loudly but always constructively. However, the slimming down process is hard for me to view negatively.
Therefore, I am not mourning the half solar system
That’s why the planets had to die: To this day, some players are still wondering: why all of it? Well, Bungie did not remove all that content just to annoy us. We now know that the planets are being revised. So they are parting with old baggage that slowed the game down and was no longer up to date.
Even if you are not playing the excellent next-gen version on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, Destiny 2 runs significantly smoother on PS4 and Xbox One than before Beyond Light.
Do you remember how you could make yourself a coffee while logging in and flying to the Tower? Fortunately, new Guardians think this is a tall tale. PC players with their powerful machines may laugh, but on consoles, this was a first issue.
Bungie uses the DVC both to revise old content, clean up the code, and make the aging Destiny 2 run smoother. At least that’s the promise, and it has already been partially realized.
Is Destiny rising like the Phoenix? Sooner or later, large parts of Destiny 1 and 2 are supposed to merge. The highlights of the past will return in a new form. For example, the nostalgic Cosmodrome will be gradually expanded, and glorious classics like Fatebringer can be “re-hunted” in 2021.
And if I have the choice of whether I want to visit the Vault of Glass again after almost four years of break, or do my 3,000th patrol on Titan – which has been there every day since 2017 – then I choose the rehashed content that is still fresher. If Titan rises from the ashes in possibly one or two years, perhaps with new content and activities, then I will enjoy the next-gen version of Titan.
If features like the dynamic weather of the new location Europa are included, even better. Because that is exactly the kind of improvement I expect as well.
Veterans had all the time in the world, but I feel sorry for the newcomers
That is why I find insight difficult: From a veteran perspective, I really struggle to understand the many complaints. It’s not like we only briefly enjoyed the missing content. Bungie even gave us a farewell to the locations in the long Season 11.
- Throughout some quests, we took a Best-Of-Tour through the planets.
- The NPCs there got to play heroes one last (and probably first) time.
- Raids could be played up and down for a finale.
- The only activity that was really just there briefly was the Prophecy dungeon. But after a fix, it came back faster than expected.
And let’s be honest: How much time did you spend in your Guardian’s daily life on the vanished locations? Unless a quest led you there. These tasks now just want you to visit the Cosmodrome instead of Venus.
Sure, I had my favorite sector on Mars. I can’t count how often I routinely ran through it to level catalysts. But that’s no integral part of the game that I feel deprived of. Destiny is changing – that is important and right.
That is why I can somewhat understand the anger
But I am not entirely lacking empathy. Sure, I understand the criticism. The choice to not play something is always better than being unable to play something at all. And the feeling of having paid for something only to not find it later does leave a bitter taste.
But even in games with expansions and subscription models like WoW, much content from the past is irrelevant. For the occasional visit in a year, they can disappear if it serves a higher purpose. We’re talking about removals that also bring a benefit to players (in the long run).
But I only truly feel sorry for the Free2Play Guardians of Destiny 2: New Light and new players. The previously very extensive trial version is now really only good for a brief introduction. Previously, you could easily spend days or even weeks just in the campaigns and free content.
PvE, PvP, and if necessary, also Gambit
This is how I play Destiny 2: To better understand my perspective, I briefly suggest how I play Destiny 2. I am a collector; looking into my vault, I would have to say hoarder.
- My goal is to collect all special weapons and exotics.
- In doing so, I can endlessly grind quests or farm kills.
- I put on a movie or a documentary in the background and casually play in the evenings on the couch.
But I don’t just collect all the tools; I also want to show them off (proudly).
- So you’ll find me in PvP, in raids, and dungeons.
- Here, I’m no longer chillin’ on the couch, but intensely sitting on the edge of my seat in front of the screen.
- I have a blast watching insane high DPS numbers and tackling incredibly challenging activities with friends or alone.
- In the crucible, I like to experiment with my arsenal, but I always know what meta is (and I am ready to use it).
So, I am a mix of a relaxed solo player in the evenings and an endgame Guardian, who values team play.
Gratefully, I take almost every carrot Bungie puts in front of me. And it doesn’t matter much for my playstyle whether I grind my 100 sniper kills on Nessus or in the EDZ. What counts when going into the raid with friends is that we raid together. The “where” is relatively secondary. But if I have a choice, I prefer fresh or rehashed content.
Because I have already earned all the weapons before, immortalized them in my collection, or have them ready in my vault.
- The deeply atmospheric environment in the Shattered Throne I internalized years ago.
- The excursion into the Deep Stone Crypt, including a spacewalk and crash landing on Earth, has completely blown me away before.
- No one can take those memories from me. And at the moment, I miss none of the previous raids; they struggle to keep up.
- Therefore, I prefer to hunt for a new quest weapon in the next season or let myself be entertained briefly by the new seasonal activity, collecting another beautiful memory rather than focusing too much on old content that no longer enriches.
Sure, the aged locations or content are still fun, but in that case, new for me is better – or in the future of Destiny 2, often “new” from Destiny 1. Which also brings fresh air when highlights from the past are interpreted differently today. Then the nostalgic view from the golden age gets a reality check. Like the “new” Hawkmoon, which is better in its current form than before:
That is also being removed: With Beyond Light, not only did the DVC open, many items also went into retirement. Many weapons and gear, for which you have sweated and poured your heart into, are practically gone. However, this time they lie in the players’ vaults, not with Bungie. They are gathering dust because they are no longer relevant for the endgame since Beyond Light appeared.
So you must also like sunsetting, right?
Here too, I think the idea behind it is great. As mentioned, I like experimenting. If I have to play the same super weapon for years, I find it tiresome. You could accuse me that I could simply equip a blue pistol, or the white Khvostov. But most gamers do not function that way.
I welcome a fresh sandbox and love the meta-finding phase. When everyone plays what they want or what is new. Usually, that lasts a few weeks, and then you see the same guns and exotics again.
I can also truly understand why the combination of Killclip and Outlaw is becoming less common. We shouldn’t always want the same thing, and then complain that nothing new comes. Therefore, I appreciate the creative weapons from the new raid.
Bungie needs to improve this urgently: However, I can’t view sunsetting as positively as the loss of planets. Here, a large portion of the criticism is simply justified and cannot be glossed over.
The idea is only great if sufficient new carrots are introduced to replace the removed ones. There is still a lack of variety – even if Bungie has promised improvements and made some initial changes.
Speaking of improvements: It’s incomprehensible to me why Bungie doesn’t bring back a PvP map from Destiny 1 every season – that’s exactly what the DVC is for. If all rotating content comes with replacements, then the mood around the missing content and sunsetting would probably look different now. After all, the content vault should be well stocked.
I’m now saturated with the old content. Therefore, I look forward to the further development. I look forward to a Destiny 2 that hopefully brings back the jewels of the past “new” and with a fresh coat of paint while truly incorporating new elements.
What do you think about the topic? Let’s discuss in the comments, but please do it respectfully.
Colleague Sven Galitzki, our shooter expert at MeinMMO, has his own opinion on the development of Destiny 2: Spit on me, but Destiny 2 is doing better at the end of 2020 than in previous years
