The Destiny 2 Veil quest ‘Parting the Veil,’ newly rolled out in Destiny 2 Season of the Deep, is causing Guardians to question Bungie’s choice to timegate essential narrative story elements. A previous TWAB promised answers regarding the Veil in Destiny 2 Lightfall would be coming as part of a quest in season 21, but, as many players have noted, Bungie didn’t mention that this questline would be extended over a matter of weeks. Lore enthusiasts are now frustrated they will have to wait even longer for the FPS game to reveal what’s driving one of Destiny 2‘s major plot points.
While Bungie never explicitly stated whether the quest would be self-contained or would continue over a matter of weeks, the implication seemed to be it would model most non-seasonal storyline content. As such, this would mean players would be free to complete the entire quest at their own pace when it dropped.
Bungie’s choice to extend such non-seasonal content (it is open to anyone who owns Lightfall, not just players who have paid for Season of the Deep content) via timegating feels to some within the community like a ploy to force players back into the game over a matter of weeks as a way to increase time-in-game metrics.
The Destiny 2 team’s decision to withhold answers about the Veil, a paracausal object once used by the Witness to create a portal of both Light and Darkness but never fully explained in detail, caused controversy among players with the launch of Destiny 2 Lightfall. The game teased its existence but didn’t provide enough depth to give players clear motives regarding its significance in the game’s overarching narrative.
Plenty of Guardians weighed in with their frustrations regarding the Lightfall story, stemming from the lack of clarity regarding the Veil, as many players struggled to understand their character’s motivations without more insights into this powerful item. Even YouTuber ‘Byf,’ dubbed the ‘Lore Daddy’ of the Destiny 2 community, weighed in with a powerful commentary on how any future communication regarding the Veil would already be too little, too late.
While Destiny 2 Season of the Deep is off to a beautiful and dramatic start, some players feel the Bungie team’s suggestion that season 21 would include a quest that explains the significance of the Veil was misleading as it continues to slowly drip content about the entity. Due to Bungie’s omission regarding the time-gated nature of the quest, those excited for answers are now upset at the prospect of waiting even longer to get answers to something they feel should have been addressed months ago with the game’s main Lightfall campaign content.
Pushing out content this way undoubtedly gives the community a reason to keep talking about the game long after seasonal content releases. But, considering this narrative isn’t intended as seasonal content and is meant to be an extension of the Lightfall campaign storyline, it also frustrates those who would prefer to watch the storyline content that they already purchased unfold in a few longer sittings as is typical with more traditional approaches to gameplay, such as in campaign-based RPGs. Ultimately, this strategy contributes to the sentiment that Bungie has begun to model financial aspects of its live service game on mobile game monetization tactics.
Fortunately, the quest does seem to confirm answers are coming as long as players can continue to be patient. As you wait for these answers, you still have plenty of time to grind toward any Destiny 2 Lightfall Exotics you may have missed.