Earlier this week Bungie finally gave Destiny‘s second expansion, House of Wolves, a release date (May 19) before maiming some of the excitement by immediately revealing the expansion would not include a raid. The announcement on bungie.net was quick to include that they are hard at work on “a new Raid for a release later this year,” but gave no information on when Guardians can expect to embark on their next six man journey. With no raid, one of the most substantial post-game elements in Destiny, the community has been very vocal about their concern for the game already half-a-year-old and losing the attention of many.
Instead of a raid, House of Wolves will boast a new social space and two “brand new additions to Destiny‘s end game activities,” continues the announcement detailing the expansion. The first will be “The Prison of Elders,” a battle arena emphasizing cooperation and skill, more of which will be revealed May 6. On April 29 Bungie will reveal more about the second end game activity, the enigmatic “Trials of Osiris,” a long rumored activity which includes its own set of end game gear. Whether these activities will be able to fill the void left by an absent raid remains to be seen.
If a recent data mine is to be believed (it’s worth noting that most data mines performed on Destiny have been exceptionally accurate) the House of Wolves will look a lot like the first expansion and include one new strike, three new story missions, three new quests, and three new multiplayer maps. Those elements certainly weren’t the high point of the last expansion, and many users complained that they wanted more content for their buck. With a $20 price tag on Destiny‘s expansions, and the stories and strikes not taking more than a couple of hours, this may be a fair complaint on the end of the players and certainly puts a lot of pressure on the “Trials of Osiris” and “Prison of Elders” to occupy our attention for a considerable amount of time.
With interest in Destiny being diverted to new titles and other games, Bungie needs to do all they can to keep the interest of their players. The news that there’ll be no new raid is certain to drive away a few. So what can they do to maintain their audience’s attention? Personally, I would seek to incorporate the content previously exclusive to Playstation consoles into the second expansion to entice at least the Xbox half of the crowd into buying. More content and more variety will never hurt, and holding back content from particular players and the precedent that each expansion won’t necessarily include a raid just might.
Until Bungie divulges more information about Destiny: House of Wolves and its eventual release on May 19, there is no predicting the fate of Destiny. Here’s to hoping for a bright, fun-fueled future.