The Festival of the Lost started this week in Destiny 2 and brought with it new armor ornament sets, new Haunted Sectors, and the Jurassic Green pulse rifle. All of these limited-time features are specially designed for Festival of the Lost, but they’ve also renewed a consistent topic for Destiny 2, the game’s struggle with FOMO. Many long-running games have run into problems where players feel like they’re missing out but Destiny 2 fans seem to struggle with this problem continuously.
The recently introduced Destiny Content Vault pulled a lot of classic content from Destiny 2 when it went into effect in the fall of 2020 and only exasperated the FOMO many players have. Several locations were pulled from the game as well as raids, major campaigns, strikes, and exotic quests. While many of the top-tier exotics in Destiny 2 have had associated quests those whose locations and questlines were put in the DCV were added to the Monument to Lost Lights as an alternative way to acquire them. But this solution only works so well when considering everything that was pulled from the game.
Destiny 2's FOMO
Not every piece of Destiny 2 content found an easily accessible home the way exotic weapons did, and that’s where many player grievances come in. The vaulting of activities like the Leviathan and Scourge of the Past raids also made their cosmetics and weapons unavailable to new players. As it is, Destiny 2’s cosmetics need some love but the removal of so many means that new players have no way to access them. This trend also expands beyond raids and campaigns as well.
Items like the Gambit Jadestone shader were connected to questlines for game modes that have either evolved or been retired on top of their quests no longer being available. This might not seem like too big of a deal for many other titles but for a looter shooter like Destiny 2, much of the game’s replay value comes from the grind for specific items. When many of those items become unavailable for one reason or other, Destiny 2 players can feel like they’re missing out.
Lately, this sentiment only continues to prevail with many fans frustrated by the fact that much of the Forsaken expansion will be vaulted when Destiny 2 Year 5 begins with the Witch Queen. While vaulting Cayde’s story is a big step for the overall narrative of Destiny 2, fans still have concerns about how it will affect New Lights. These new players are often thrown into a solar system that is in the middle of serious chaos with burning questions. Many of these questions go unanswered since much of the original Destiny 2 story has been vaulted and the Witch Queen narrative has become the primary focus for the future, despite major connections to pieces of the game like the Forsaken expansion and Season of the Splicer.
Solutions to FOMO in Destiny 2
Fixing the FOMO that some players have isn’t the easiest task. It can be viewed as simply re-adding past stories and gameplay but that could bog the game down. The space opened up by Destiny 2’s DCV has allowed for core areas and content to be focused on. This will likely be important for maintaining a healthy gameplay environment as well as preparing for the Final Shape expansion and the finale to Destiny 2’s current saga.
At the same time, more manageable pieces of content would be fantastic to see back in Destiny 2. Many of the cosmetics that fans have encountered in the past could easily be brought back into the game. Those that were part of specific raids or questlines could find a home in the Monument to Lost Lights while others could be added to the loot pools for different playlists and locations. These would be great quality-of-life changes for Destiny 2 that could also keep players invested in the grind.
Simultaneously a more in-depth visual history could be provided for New Lights in Destiny 2. The game has had some incredible cinematics and moments for players to experience. While much of what players are missing will be gameplay, summary videos and key story cinematics could be gathered in a primary location. This wouldn’t necessarily fix the problem of content not being available but it could help to alleviate the stress of one clear problem: new players not understanding what's currently going on in Destiny 2. It's important to help them feel included as Destiny 2 continues to evolve, and while past content is being unvaulted in the Witch Queen expansion it won’t necessarily connect cleanly with what players will know as the present.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.