Bungie has simply made the announcement for the much-awaited Equilibrium Dungeon race reveal stream. This event will get started tomorrow at 6 AM PT with CBGray and EvanF. The twist is, in order to get the exclusive ‘Paranoia Pink’ emblem, you have to watch the stream for at least an hour and have your Twitch account linked. This is really a very standard strategy in endgame content hype-building and marketing. But the community’s reaction? Oh my god, it’s a completely different story. The vibe in the comments is more like ‘the train has derailed into a ravine’ than ‘hype train’.
The reason for this is a harsh reality: it has been widely reported that the entire Equilibrium Dungeon has been leaked. Besides that, this is not just a blurry screenshot; players have surpassed the limits and have actually visited the dungeon, built it using apps like Blender and Garry’s Mod and have even seen some of the bosses. Remarks from MayaMatt such as ‘Whole dungeon has been spoiled wrap it up bud’ and from KC_4191 ‘I literally just seen the bosses’ perfectly summarize the whole and messy affair. Even one user, 0kElysyum, provided a link proving the dungeon was being explored via a 3D modeling software. So, the big and mysterious reveal that Bungie had intended? The cat is out of the bag and, moreover, it has a complete walkthrough on YouTube.
This scenario presents a very strange tension. On one hand, there is the official promotion by Bungie which goes hand in hand and offers a lovely pink emblem as a reward for players’ participation. Other gamers are totally on board with this. DaeBaccWood simply replied ‘W Emblem wtf,’ which can only be described as pure excitement. The others like adonutplays, however, are making practical queries as to whether the emblem will be exclusive to players who watch the streams or if they can get it by watching their favorite creator, like Cross, instead.
However, on the other hand, there is the much louder side of the argument which is indeed the other side. There is a mixture of frustration from the leak and more general complaints about the endgame of Destiny 2. An anonymous user -𝕟𝕠𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪- explained the cause of ‘Hardly anyone does this content or any endgame content.’ The reasons are? The game features harshly difficult mechanics like limited revives, gear only for certain activities, and no matchmaking for tougher content. They point out that this mixture creates a wall that keeps people away, and they link it to lower sales and player counts. People may agree or disagree but it is a very raw and unfiltered opinion that most of the lapsed players probably strongly relate to.
And there is the problem of technical support mayhem that is hidden in the background. A lot of users, such as slymarbo666 and AdamWright94079, are saying that even after linking their accounts, they have not been able to claim Twitch drops from past events. On the one hand, here is Bungie giving out a new drop and on the other, a part of the community cannot even make use of the old ones. Community members are trying to assist each other in the comments by offering troubleshooting tips, but it all adds a little bit of ‘come on, man’ to the entire situation. Even HaytonsGB noted, ‘Hope the stream doesn’t crash again lol,’ alluding to the previous problems with the broadcasts.
But what is the big news? Bungie will reveal the new Equilibrium Dungeon in Destiny 2 officially through a race stream on May 22nd at 6 AM PT with streamers CBGray and EvanF as the lead characters. There will be an exclusive ‘Paranoia Pink’ emblem up for grabs to those who watch for 60 minutes with their Twitch account linked. Unfortunately, the release is overshadowed by the considerable leak that players have reached and are already exploring the dungeon’s geometry and bosses, through out-of-bounds exploiting and third-party applications. This has sparked the debate regarding content secrecy and, more importantly, the players’ worries about the endgame accessibility and reward systems.
The whole situation is reminiscent of a classic modern gaming saga. What was supposed to be a magnificent unveiling by Bungie has become the chaotic, data-mining reality of a super-engaged community. Some are simply delighted with the new challenge and the cool emblem that comes along with it. Others are questioning the entire philosophy behind the content’s design. And then, there are still those who just want the Twitch rewards they earned to appear. Bungie is still going to have the show – leaks or no leaks – betting that the dazzling nature of the race and the appeal of that pink emblem will be enough.
