Alright, Bungie also set the date for the Destiny 2 reveal, and the reception is all over the place. Renegades and the Ash & Iron Major Update will be shown on Thursday, September 9, 9 AM PT. This is on the usual interview days on Twitch and Youtube, so either block the date or make a dozen reminders because this habit is on them.
Now, let’s talk about the starving Youtube viewers for a second: What do they really have to show? Renegades seems to be the next big expansion or season, which leads me to believe Ash & Iron is an update that may bring multi-system changes. As usual for and in my opinion, Bungie is quiet, waiting for the last minute to reveal it.
Let’s try and break down what the panelists are saying because, I mean, the comments are all over the place. Some are seriously excited, like TeeBee who’s screaming, “Get me to the Plaguelands right NOW!”— which, honestly, same, if we’re getting some Destiny 1 locations back. And Ilse is just ready with the salute emoji, “I will be there 🫡,” which is adorable.
Onto… the not so excited bunch. Steven basically asked if this is going to be “an hour long stream of devs awkwardly showing concept art and talking about visions etc before showing anything proper?” Oof. Though, he’s not wrong—streams do tend to drag on before getting to the good stuff. He suggested they do a vidoc instead, which in all honesty sounds a lot easier.
The comparisons with Star Wars have already started. One Remina said “If I hear a Star Wars sound effect I will crash out.” And Mr. Quig wants a “force subclass” which, okay hilariously I kinda want that now. The whole theme of renegades does give outlaw space vibes that sort of feels Star Wars adjacent.
Now let’s dive into the real salt mines. Anti-Commie Gamer went on a tirade about, “the lack of quality writing, the lies and deception, the stealing of art, the seasons being insipid, and the gas lighting of the community.” They concluded with “Get Woke, GO BANKRUPT!” which, yikes. That is some serious energy for a Tuesday morning stream announcement.
There’s an entire thread of users debating whether Destiny 2 is on “life support” and if people will move to “Destiny Rising,” whatever that is. Some users are concerned about the core game’s issues, which came with earlier updates, not being fixed, while others are just hoping for the best and expecting the worst. “Expectations are low but hoping to be surprised” as Mike put it, which seems to capture a lot of the community mood lately.
In addition, there are just random requests shooting everywhere. Joshi asks for third person mode, ship flying, and more melee weapons while calling hunter skills “trash.” Gary wants catalysts for barrow dyad. The Breadnought just wants info on Ash and iron specifically. It’s a whole mess of desires and expectations.
KleanPlays sang “And I said hey, hey, hey, living like we’re renegades,” which I can’t get out of my head, by the way. Chance is hyped about the “Dredgens/space western side of the lore,” which, I agree, is some of the better Destiny lore.
What makes this more interesting is the opposing sides within the community. There’s a part of the community that’s truly thrilled and waiting for the stream, while the other side is doubtful Bungie is going to even attempt fixing the issues the game is dealing with. It looks like there’s a low simmering conflict between the folks who still love the game and the ones who are burnt out from past updates and choices to the game.
Everybody’s speculating what “Ash & Iron” means. For some, it’s the Cabal or the Fallen, while some think it’s a cool name for a systems update. It’s a curveball, but we’ve come to expect it from Bungie.
Bungie’s stream next Tuesday is going to be important for them. The developers have to somehow make the disengaged players feel like they matter again, while also giving the players who care a reason to feel some sort of joy. That’s a difficult act given how the community is being vocal about the different problems as of late.
For me, I’m tuning in because I want to see if they really have that one little detail that is different, hence the ‘devil in the details’. Even with all the issues, Destiny still stands as one of the more captivating universes in gaming to me. I’m hoping it’s a moment for the community to rally behind and not one that will further drive a wedge within the fans.
Anyway, don’t forget the schedule notification for September 9 at 9AM PT. In case you’re excited to check out the game or you’re harboring doubts about its fate, it’s still likely worth catching in order to see where the game is headed. On a lighter note, the ship flying mechanics others have mentioned might be a reality after all. Probably not, but there’s always hope.
