Last week, everything was under the control of the data-squid Telesto in Destiny 2. No place was safe from the “Queen of Bugs”. But what was meant to be just a little fun from Bungie for a badge ended up showing what the hearts of Guardians really want.
What happened last week in Destiny 2? The exotic and most bugged fusion rifle became the all-controlling power in Destiny 2 and spread through the game like a virus. Telesto was everywhere and no one could really escape her.
- At the beginning of last week, the Exo weapon showed a strange shooting behavior and fired funny soap bubbles that floated up like helium balloons.
- Soon after, curious in-game messages popped up, announcing its takeover with “I have the control”.
- At the same time, Telesto took over Bungie’s Twitter account, paying homage to her new power with crazy tweets.
- During the weekend, Bungie then offered a free Telesto badge for all Guardians.
This “Telesto week” was meant to be a fun entertainment that rewards the Guardians with a new badge and should make the fusion rifle a cult. But one must always be prepared for the unpredictability of a Telesto.
Exo weapon shows Bungie what Guardians really want
Bungie only intended for Telesto to roam a little in the game. But the gone-wild weapon had a mind of its own and instead revealed to Bungie the greatest wish of the Guardians: the longing for new secrets in the game.
The fact is: No real secret has found its way into the game for several seasons. It is precisely these secret and surprising contents from Destiny 2 that Guardians enjoy playing the most.
- “The Whisper” was a hidden Exo quest on IO that involved a difficult jumping puzzle with a tight time limit. It also rewarded Guardians with the coolest ship in the game.
- “The Zero Hour” was also time-critical and had players daringly hop along the outside of the Last City wall for a good reward. There was indeed a ship there too, but we will cloak the look of it in silence.
- The riddle of the “Niobe Labs” from the time of the Black Armory was indeed a secret but ultimately too difficult, so Bungie had to intervene.
- But not only missions, also large community puzzles like the “Corridors of Time” were events that challenged the players and were not announced in advance by Bungie.
When Telesto began to go crazy, many players still hoped that it was finally time for a new secret to be revealed. They eagerly searched the entire game for clues, and even those who did not actively participate followed every new information about it at least with interest.
But this spark of hope was disappointed by Bungie when they stated in the weekly blog post: “There really is no secret!“.
After that, only one big question remained: “Why exactly?”.
Secret missions come with effort: Of course, such secret missions do not belong to the content in Destiny 2 that can be integrated into the game quickly. Bungie certainly needs some development time for this.
- The development of the Whisper quest, which once unlocked the exotic sniper rifle “Whisper of the Worm” along with its catalyst, took four months, for example.
- The development of the “Zero Hour” quest line even took a good seven months.
However, most players would gladly take these longer development times if it meant a secret mission would finally come back into the game. Bungie should know this by now.
Are dataminers to blame for Bungie not hiding anything anymore? Another option could perhaps be the dataminers faction in Destiny 2. They love to spoil early what Bungie has planned.
Therefore, players took the opportunity over the weekend to ask Bungie’s Head of Engineering, David Aldridge, in an interview round on reddit-AMA whether it was difficult to encrypt such secret missions to prevent them from entering the game through datamining?
In his response, he explained that there is indeed a lot that needs to be hidden. It’s not just the secret mission itself. The corresponding quest, possible voice lines, or rewards – everything needs to be “hidden”. And he explains that in the end, Destiny 2’s validation systems are struggling because they have shattered other content sets, as he calls them.
Bungie’s Head of Engineering, David Aldridge, further adds:
Like most things, it’s all solvable, it’s just expensive, and so far we have concluded that it’s more meaningful to spend more money on cool experiences instead. It all would have been much cheaper if we had considered it during the development of the system and enforced more modularity around things we might want to keep secret in the future. But back then, we had many other priorities in mind and couldn’t foresee the future value of secrets and surprises.
said David Aldridge in the reddit-AMA interview
This statement initially implied that Bungie does not intend to do these missions in Destiny 2 anymore in the future. However, Bungie’s Community Manager later called this a misinterpretation and clarified:
The context is crucial. Regarding a recent Reddit AMA with our Technical Director, a question was asked about data encryption. The answer was mistakenly interpreted by some readers as “Bungie is never going to do secret quests again.” We have issued a more accurate clarification.
wrote dmg04, Destiny 2 Senior Community Manager via Twitter
In a further tweet, he also states: “Ultimately, it’s about surprising and delighting, but not every surprise can be a 60-hour cross-community puzzle. I would recommend adjusting expectations accordingly, but we will pass on the feedback and hope for more secrets.”
3 Reasons why the biggest Guardian wish will likely remain unfulfilled
None of the statements really answer the Guardians’ question of why. Paul Tassi from Forbes emphasizes that it is certainly frustrating to deal with a community that seems never satisfied. But Bungie’s own explanation is also frustrating for everyone who may have hoped for something more concrete.
Accordingly, he believes there are other explanations for the lack of new secrets in Destiny 2.
1. Hidden quests cannot serve as a selling point
Bungie is increasingly focusing on more publicly accessible projects. For example, they have set up a seasonal team that focuses solely on seasonal activities that will later serve as a selling point. A new exotic quest, which might have been a new secret before, is now announced to showcase the value when purchasing a season.
2. Bungie’s monetization policy has changed
Although dungeons, for example, are much more elaborate than a smaller secret mission, they have now become an integral part of Bungie’s monetization for Destiny 2.
Those who do not want to upgrade to the Deluxe Edition must buy a so-called “Dungeon Key” in the in-game shop Eververse to experience these contents. This key counts for two dungeons and costs the Guardians about 2,000 silver, which is approximately 20 euros. This is more valuable for a developer like Bungie than a free secret mission.
3. Bungie has learned from the past and your feedback
Another reason Tassi sees in the feedback from players in the past. Certainly, there are players who also want to play difficult secrets and puzzles in the game. But often they lacked the team for it, as Destiny 2 has quite a few solo players who then have to pass on time-critical quests that are designed for 3 players.
The rest feels, depending on the type, also discouraged. Thus, the former criticism was that, for example, the “Niobe Labs” or the “Corridors of Time” were only about “streamer” events. A few core people worked on a solution for the larger community. The average player would have little to no chance of solving them themselves.
The hiding of content also annoys many players because they expect to have immediate access to everything they have paid for.
In the end, the “Telesto week” may not have introduced a new event or a secret quest into the game. But it did ensure that Bungie was once again made aware of this strong desire of their community. After all, it’s not the point to always be “just baited,” as beolden7 finds.
What are your thoughts on secret events or quests in Destiny 2? Do you miss them? And above all, would it bother you if these were introduced into the game but become known in advance through datamining? Feel free to leave us your opinion on this topic in the comments.
Currently, there are also other crises in Destiny 2, as YouTuber KackisHD explains:
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