Destiny 2 is a game that has always been susceptible to data mining, but it is quickly becoming more and more detrimental to the experience. Destiny 2 fans have been using data mining to gain information about the game for many years now, yet what is being datamined now is far more than what it used to be.
Specifically, datamining has recently been causing more problems for the Destiny community in terms of spoilers. Typically, datamining is used to gain information about Destiny 2 weapon perk pools and new mods or gear; not many have ever found this to be particularly problematic. Recently, however, it has been used to spoil the Destiny 2 experience for many guardians.
Destiny 2: What Is Datamining?
Datamining is the process of looking into Bungie’s public Destiny 2 API or the game's files to gain information about various parts of the game from weapon perk pools and what those perks do to what other gear is coming to the game. Aside from weapons and gear, datamining can also be used to view quest steps, lore books, or most other pieces of information around the game. This is different from Bungie giving preview images or information on upcoming content, as it is not meant to be seen yet.
Over the years, the public API used in datamining has been used to create amazing community-driven apps like Destiny Item Manager and Light.GG, tools that help Guardians manage their inventories, and gain more insight into the game. Recently, however, some people have been using the datamined information to spoil the game's seasonal story and upcoming Bungie surprises.
Using datamined information in a way that ruins the game for other people is not going over well with the community. Throughout the current season, Guardians have had Destiny 2 cut-scenes and story dialogue spoiled for them. Bungie has a way of classifying some of the API information, however, not everything gets classified.
Is Destiny 2 Datamining Good or Bad?
Guardians have proven that datamining can be useful when used responsibly. The API used in Destiny 2 datamining has also been used to create many community tools that help Guardians every day. Some tools are Twitter bots that inform Guardians what mods Banshee and Ada-1 are selling. Others are full-scale apps that allow Guardians to manage their inventories and view additional information about the game. These things prove the usefulness of datamining.
Regardless of how useful the Destiny 2 API is in creating these community tools, it is also the source of spoiler content such as story plot points, upcoming gear that hasn’t been announced, or special gifts from Bungie like the Spicy Ramen Coupon Emblem that was recently spoiled. This can also go much worse, with people taking vague datamined information and using that to scam other players. Most recently, the upcoming Spicy Ramen Coupon Emblem was being sold by people on Discord to Destiny 2 Guardians. The emblem itself is supposed to be free, and this shows how datamining can not only spoil content but also be used for nefarious reasons.
Destiny 2 Datamines Shouldn't Spoil Big Surprises
While the Destiny community has been datamining and using the Destiny 2 API for useful and beneficial means, the balance has seemingly tipped to less than good reasons. With the stories of Destiny 2 becoming more and more interesting, more and more Guardians want to know what is going to happen without waiting for Destiny to deliver the story in its drip-fed, week-to-week manner.
An increase in interest leads to more and more questions around the Destiny 2 story and some people prefer not to wait for weeks to get their answers. Bungie’s method of drip-feeding content has been a point of criticism since Bungie took this direction, but many Guardians like the slow drip as it gives them a reason to play the game every week, which is also good for Bungie’s metrics. Either way, if someone does want to know, they shouldn't be using that information to spoil the experience for others.
Some people datamine Destiny 2 content to make content on the spoilers first, getting ahead and being the ones to provide new information. This problem increases as the interest in the Destiny 2 story increases for the general population. For many content creators, it is their job to provide new information as fast as possible to gain the most exposure on their content, which leads to datamining and posting spoilers of upcoming content. On the one hand, this is understandable, but at the same time, it's not the way that it is meant to be experienced.
Again, the Spicy Ramen Coupon Emblem being sold on Discord is a prime example of this. This is not the intended purpose of the public API and things like this hurt the community and offers no benefit to the community. Many people have mentioned that Bungie should just use its ability to classify information that reaches the public API, but without understanding the behind-the-scenes Bungie process, it is hard to say if this is a viable solution. There could be a lot going on that prevents this; after all, it can be as harmful and hurtful to devs as it is to the community.
Hopefully, Bungie finds a way to maintain the Destiny 2 public API for the benefits it provides in the form of community tools that Guardians use every day, while also hiding or preventing certain important information from being mined. The downside to this is that as security grows, the skills of the people datamining this information also tend to grow. It’s a game of cat and mouse on a digital scale; however, many Guardians hope Bungie can find a solution before more spoilers ruin the Destiny 2 experience.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.