It was the talk of the last days: Bungie had locked access to the last Forge activity in Destiny 2, Bergusia, behind a complex puzzle. But even after 29 hours of intensive efforts, the puzzle could not be solved, and Bungie opened the Forge for everyone. Right decision, believes our author Robert.
Why was Niobe Labs discussed so controversially? With the Weekly Reset, Bungie handed the Guardians a new puzzle whose solution would unlock the last Forge of the Black Armory, Bergusia.
Unfortunately, this task turned out to be an insurmountable hurdle for all Destiny experts on this planet.
Countless streamers and thousands of viewers, as well as the subreddit of puzzle solvers, were stumped by this task. They made progress, but could not solve the puzzle.
After almost 30 hours, Bungie pulled the plug and announced: We are opening the Forge even without solving the puzzle. This decision sparked both outraged and relieved reactions alike.
While many players believe that Bungie acted “too hastily” here and capitulated to the criticism of the “crybabies”, I keep asking myself how anyone even comes up with the idea of defending this “puzzle”.
Puzzles should be hard, not unsolvable
Why couldn’t the puzzle be solved? To understand this, let’s take a look at the sixth stage of the mission where the Guardians despaired for many hours. The only hint was the word “Brocéliande”.
A simple Google search reveals that this is a forest in Brittany. Here parts of the Arthurian legend are said to have taken place.
However, regarding the puzzle in Destiny 2, there were hundreds of combinations:
- Which weapon needs to be shot?
- Which symbol needs to be targeted?
- On which platform must one take a seat?
You guessed it – logic or sensible combination skills won’t get you anywhere here. Specifically, Stage 6 and the (presumably) final Stage 7 turned into a mindless try & error.
Those who followed the streams must have seen how ludicrous the suggestions for solving the puzzle became. Despair spread.
One thing is for sure: If the puzzle is ever solved, it will only be because someone accidentally tried the right combinations. Good puzzle design is different, as Bungie has at least acknowledged by opening the Forge.
That’s why the Niobe Labs are not comparable to other puzzles: In recent days, I have read the hints from many players that there were also great challenges in the past that players had to face.
While this may be true, the puzzles could be solved with good dexterity, combinational and perceptual skills.
The puzzle in the Niobe Labs, on the other hand, is simply incomprehensible.
However, there was an even bigger problem that made it hard for the puzzle solvers.
Why were there no checkpoints in the Niobe Labs? My suspicion is that Bungie wanted to prevent the Guardians from just trying any combinations one after the other until they found the correct solution. In fact, the mission always had to be restarted from step 1. Those who made it to Stage 7 had to input the first six combinations again – each time.
This made a run take easily 15-20 minutes, just to try the “new idea” for the 7th step.
This situation led to
- Only little progress being made,
- Watching the streamers becoming monotonous and boring, and
- The streamers themselves eventually losing the desire to fight through the mission every time
That it can be done differently, Bungie itself has shown. Those who fail at the Escalation Protocol can replay the activity at the second-to-last stage. A start from the very beginning is no longer necessary.
Why did Bungie not provide tips? In fact, a developer stepped in at some point and told the Guardians at least some minor hints on how the sixth stage can be solved.
For the seventh stage, Bungie did not give any tips, probably because any serious hint would immediately solve the puzzle.
Instead, Bungie opened the Forge for everyone but at least kept the puzzle active so that the Guardians could continue to ponder.
An experiment went wrong – no more and no less
Why did Bungie even introduce the puzzle? According to their own statement, the developer wanted to try something new, an experiment. Bungie must have learned some lessons from this event:
- Puzzles of this kind are generally received positively by the community
- The basic design of the task is refreshing (Anyone can participate)
- The puzzle itself was far too difficult because it was apparently arbitrary – Here, more fine-tuning will need to be done in the future
- A puzzle that excludes content is a questionable design decision. Puzzles and new forges could have run parallel as well
That’s why Bungie reacted correctly: The actual opening of the Bergusia Forge and simultaneously keeping the puzzle was a sensible compromise between frustrated players who wanted to play the new content and the mystery hunters, who anyway gave up except for streamer Gladd.
Bungie also had to intervene in time since the exotic weapon Izanagi’s Burden requires a visit to the broken throne, which is only available once every three weeks. If no one could solve the puzzle by the next Weekly Reset, Guardians would have to wait another three weeks.
Even the puzzle fans must be heard
This action showed: Bungie can not only learn from the “negative” reactions, but also from the positive feedback. After all, there were many Guardians who liked the puzzle.
Here Bungie can see: People definitely want “really challenging” content that is not solved within a few hours.
Many enjoyed that there was something “really hard” in Destiny 2 that players bit their teeth on. Such difficult content that keeps players engaged for days is definitely desired. Only regarding the form should Bungie rethink.
Was it all worth the fuss? The Forge is now open, new content is available, new exotic weapons can be obtained. The design of the puzzle quest may have been questionable, but it was just an experiment – no more and no less.
If Bungie learns from these experiences, the next quests of this kind should be a complete success.
What do you think? What lessons will Bungie have learned from the current controversy?
