In Destiny 2, Bungie once again demonstrated how to artificially extend the launch phase. With clever time gates and scarcity of items, the “launch week” becomes a “launch month,” but this phase will soon be over, says our author Schuhmann.
That’s not how you do it: In September 2017, a “classic launch phase” could be observed in Destiny 2. The game was released, players dove into the campaign, rushed to reach max level, and had a lot of fun discovering new things and becoming increasingly powerful.
But just a few days later, the campaign was completed, players had all the gear they wanted, and the feeling was: “Nothing is happening here anymore.”
The initial euphoria was replaced by a cold realization: Destiny 2 had nothing more to offer us after the initial rush of the new.
While the experience was acceptable for “casual players,” it disappointed the veterans from Destiny 1. They had planned to set up their tents in Destiny 2 and engage with the game for months. That was not possible.
Destiny 2 quickly became stale.
Launch phase of Forsaken turned into a launch month
This is how you extend your launch phase: In Forsaken, it’s wonderfully observable how a launch phase becomes a launch month.
Bungie kept some aces up their sleeves and played them out calmly over a month. While classic games reveal everything on day one, Destiny 2 has a launch plan that Bungie has set up beforehand.
Time-gated content keeps Destiny 2 fresh throughout September
This is the key: The core element for this “extended launch phase” is relying on “time-gated content.” These are pieces of content that players cannot access in the first week but will be unlocked after several weeks.
In Destiny 2, the key was the “Dreaming City.”
With the delayed opening of the raid “Last Wish” and the death of the final boss there, a curse was set in motion that changed the Dreaming City in the following weeks.
A “three-week cycle that brings variety to the game world,” was set in motion.
This curse unlocked new exotic quests that granted access to the “Fate of Service” or the “Wisher”.
Players already knew that these items existed in the game, but they could only truly find them three weeks after the launch.
It’s helpful to be stingy with loot and leveling
Stretching content helps: Additionally, Destiny 2 has become much harder with Forsaken. It takes a long time to reach the max level.
During the leveling period, players always feel like there is still something to achieve and strive for. There are so many activities, so much to do.
The random rolls with Forsaken are also meant to ensure that players still have goals even after reaching 600. Optimizing a character by just a few fractions of a percent is enough for players to set goals.
Forsaken makes it interesting again to experiment with certain item combinations to discover new facets of gameplay.
Few exotics: It also corresponds to the fact that it’s difficult to optimize. The artificial scarcity of “masterwork cores” and the new exotic weapons ensure that players have long-term goals.
And if the “frustration” becomes too great, Bungie can still give in and open the floodgates.
A community in euphoria
These advantages come from this strategy: Destiny 2 felt throughout September as if it had just “released.” Players had new tasks to do every time they logged in.
Due to the “time-gated content,” which unlocked later, there were also frequent news and surprises. This kept Destiny 2 present in the media throughout the month. In 2018, this is no easy task when “games-as-a-service” titles like Fortnite have dominated gaming sites for months.
Players felt during Forsaken: “This is insane,” anything could happen. Especially when wishes came true.
Inspiration “WoW”: With these tricks, Bungie clearly draws inspiration from games like World of Warcraft and their developer Blizzard. They are also known for such “time-gated content” that comes after a while.
WoW is also infamous for being stingy with items at the start of an expansion and making raids rather difficult.
Over time, everything becomes significantly easier, and there are easier loot options through “catch-up mechanics” for players who do not want or cannot invest as much time.
Destiny 2 will likely become easier in the coming months: Bungie seems to be following this strategy with Forsaken as well: They start off stingy and gradually turn the loot valve. However, with Destiny 2’s release, they made the mistake of being too generous from the start.
The high phase for Destiny 2 is likely now over
How long will this last? Bungie likely doesn’t have many secrets left to reveal at this point. October will certainly keep players busy, but the time for major “time-gated events” is likely over for now.
Destiny 2 must do better now than in 2015
Inspired by “The Taken King”: For Bungie, this is nothing new. They used these very tricks with “The Taken King”. Even then, September and October felt as if Destiny had just been released.
However, by November, that peak was also over, and the first players demanded new content. However, it didn’t come at that time. The peak of “The Taken King” was followed by a long drought of content. Bungie had exhausted all its options.
It will be interesting to see if Bungie can maintain this momentum from September longer with Forsaken than they did with “The Taken King.” The annual pass with the three new DLCs must deliver here.
On top of that, Bungie should now show that after four years, they have learned to deliver regular content. Because that exactly posed unsolvable problems for Bungie between 2015 and 2018.
The golden age of Destiny: But even if Bungie fails to achieve this, no one can take away from the players the greatness of their experience in September.
If “The Taken King” is remembered as the “golden period of Destiny 1” due to six great weeks in 2015, it can now be said: Bungie has once again succeeded with Destiny 2 Forsaken.
Stay updated with Destiny 2: What is coming for Destiny 2 in the coming weeks will be covered here on Mein MMO. If you don’t want to miss any news, be sure to follow our Facebook page for 100% news on Destiny 2.
So far, it seems that Forsaken has kept all its promises:
