Bungie earned some player goodwill after the rewards-focused second livestream detailing Destiny 2: Into the Light. However, community sentiment soured after learning that half of the showcased rewards would be time-gated. The player response was exasperated by the fact that this time-gating would result in yet another case of FOMO in Destiny 2.
The streams Bungie’s been hosting have taught players a lot about Into the Light. The first showcased the new Onslaught horde mode, while the second stream revealed the Brave Arsenal weapons, the Hall of Champions, and the return of the Superblack Shader. Additionally, Bungie showed that the Brave Arsenal weapons would have rare variants with unique appearances. The catch was that these variants wouldn’t be around forever.
How does time-gating the Brave Arsenal create FOMO?
In a Dev Insight blog post following the second stream, Bungie provided more information about the timing behind Into the Light rewards. After diving into the Perks on each weapon, the studio closed out the post, saying, “Half of these will be available starting April 9, including The Recluse, Hung Jury SR4, Succession, Edge Transit, Elsie’s Rifle and Falling Guillotine. The remainder will unlock one at a time each week through the week of May 21.”
Bungie followed up on the previous information with a reminder about players’ timetable for Brave Arsenal variants. “The BRAVE Arsenal weapons will continue to drop from Onslaught after The Final Shape, but the limited-edition variants won’t be available after June 3, so go get them while you can!”
The issue here is that players expected to have the whole two months between Into the Light’s April 9 release and The Final Shape on June 4 to grind out those low-drop chance limited variants. Now, players know that’s only possible for half of the Brave Arsenal, with each additional entry seeing fewer and fewer opportunities. And there will be one unlucky weapon that’ll only be on the table for under two weeks.
Players aren’t happy about the news, with many voicing frustration on social media. Forbes’ Destiny 2 expert Paul Tassi shared his take on the timing choice, saying, “Oh come on, man, that’s absurd. Especially with the shiny variants going away.” Tassi even doubled down on the sentiment, later creating a YouTube video pointing out that most of the weapons players are most excited about will be subject to the time-gating. He urged Bungie to reconsider delaying half of the Brave Arsenal or else risk the hype and engagement it’s working so hard to build.
