The excitement of the recently revealed Into the Light weapons, called BRAVE Arsenal, quickly turned into frustration as players found out Bungie will be time-gating the content, drip-feeding it throughout the coming weeks and only giving fans a set amount of time to get their hands on them.
Into the Light, a free update for all players to enjoy starting on April 9, will reprise 12 weapons from throughout Destiny's history, including some that haven't been available for years like The Recluse SMG or Midnight Coup.
Bungie revealed that when the update arrives, only six weapons will be available to get: The Recluse, Hung Jury SR4, Succession, Edge Transit, Elsie’s Rifle and Falling Guillotine. With Midnight Coup, The Mountaintop, Forbearance, Blast, Furnace, Luna’s Howl, and Hammerhead releasing one each week.
The above is a problem on its own, and while most of the guns will be dropping via Onslaught, the free three-player activity coming with Into the Light, the limited edition variants that come with a unique ornament that will stop being available once The Final Shape launches, aggravating the situation as more casual players with less time to grind might not be able to get their favorite gun.
It's difficult to dispute the reasoning behind that criticism. Those who play Destiny 2 regularly will undoubtedly manage to acquire all 12 weapons, regardless of any time restrictions. However, for more casual players, limiting their options and providing them with only a fixed number of weeks to obtain the exclusive variant will feel more discouraging.
Destiny 2's limited-time events and rewards keep players engaged, but also exacerbate FOMO syndrome. Weekly rotating rewards for hard activities like Nightfalls and exclusive rewards like Guardian Games' Skimmer are examples of this.
It'll be interesting to see if Bungie decides to respond to this criticism and allow players to grind out all 12 weapons right from the get-go. For more content, check out Into the Light's brand-new social space: the Hall of Champions.