Over the last week, Bungie fans have been trying to solve a new puzzle-based activity in a place called the Corridors of Time. The quest popped up on January 14th, prompting you to explore a new area and to solve the mysteries within. No other directions were given and it was on the community to solve the mystery of what lies within.
The result? Well, a case could be made that the Destiny 2 Corridors of time Puzzle was a waste. Some have said players didn’t have the opportunity to contribute enough, and that they didn’t understand the mechanics. What’s more, after a big community effort and heightened expectations of a big surprise payoff, the reward turned out to be the Bastion fusion rifle already revealed on the roadmap. While I can understand the argument for it being a letdown, you can look at it from another perspective, too.
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Sure, the submission process was convoluted (players had to run through the puzzle and then send a photo of the floor to streamers, not Bungie, which was… strange). And it’s not unreasonable to feel like the reward was ultimately lacking. But, even so, it’s inarguably impressive that the community rallied together to collect thousands of pictures, piece them together, and then provide the solution allowing schlubs like myself to just click the link on Gladd’s twitter to get it done. Ultimately, Corridors of Time was a success in player collaboration and brainstorming — it just didn’t deliver on a comprehensible collaboration that fans have become accustomed to in Destiny 2.
Yes, it wasn’t great feeling sidelined, not being able to help in a hands-on way beyond sending in a few screenshots. One of the loudest pieces of criticism over the event was how unclear instructions for participating were. Fans cobbled together a system that helped encourage contributions through a Google form and algorithm generator, but the limited event still wasn’t coherent enough for everyone to feel like they could easily contribute. Without a more clear way to show how you could help with in-game indicators, players were lost or stuck because the submission process was too complex, or they didn’t understand what the player base needed to solve the puzzle. Instead, they just sat and watched the streamers participating to wait and see when the solution was found.
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The lackluster reward was addressed by community manager dmg, who said that Bungie had obscured the reward on the roadmap to retain the idea that there was still “value” on the horizon. If the reward of the Bastion fusion rifle that was found behind door number 523 were a unique item that was veiled in the same mystery the puzzle was, word would have spread quickly about the new weapon and analysis would have ensued as to what the weapons final value would have been to the sandbox. Revealing Bastion as a prize as opposed to a “thing we already paid for and knew was coming” would have been much more exciting. There’s no doubt fans were excited for a big surprise, such as a returning exotic from prior games — which would have fit much better with that fantastic lore beat introduced in Corridors of Time. Bastion was a good weapon, but it won’t end up redefining the sandbox and because it was an already known quantity many were left feeling underwhelmed.
Again, the real problem here was that the roadmap “spoiled” the weapon surprise of the puzzle. If you’re a longtime Destiny player, you might remember the first time you saw Vex Mythoclast in the wild. It was an unknown quantity that briefly broke the multiplayer sandbox as it was unbelievably overpowered. Eventually, through word-of-mouth, we discovered that this was a rare drop obtained only by those who braved the Vault of Glass raid and walked away with this coveted treasure. Destiny 2 has lost that mystery because of the roadmap. We love being surprised and The Corridors of Time lost that intrigue.
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The final criticism I keep seeing online is that Corridors of Time felt like it was “only” for streamers. I disagree: While there’s no arguing that Gladd, Sweatsicle, Chevy, SayNoToRage (and many others) got some good views while solving the puzzle, that didn’t bar others from helping. The streamers provided a centralized location to solve the puzzle, and they also offered ways for the rest of us to contribute to the solution of the puzzle. Still, I would have loved it if there was an easier toolset for something of this magnitude as it required a massive amount of JPGs to be sourced.
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At the end of the puzzle, players experienced one of the coolest lore beats to ever enter the game. Apparently your guardian ventured through this Corridors of Time puzzle, into the future, all in an effort to reacquire their favorite weapon from their own coffin. Not only does this change your fate, but you also get a coveted exotic. Stopping your own death will likely have some dramatic implications for the overall story of your character, and you additionally learn a lot more about Saint-14 if you unlock the lore entries. If there’s one thing Season of Dawn has done well, it’s the story of Saint. The revelations uncovered in this puzzle make the 10 or so minutes it would take to run through the final solution worth it. And while there’s room for improvement for the next challenge (and I hope they do this again), it’s always great seeing community members come together to solve one of Bungie’s fun, thoughtful puzzles. Hopefully, we can all contribute to it in an easier fashion the next time — and Bungie won’t spoil the surprise
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This article discusses the recent Corridors of Time puzzle the Destiny community came together to solve and I wanted to make sure to add credit for those who contributed. Below you’ll find some of the main people who helped with the solution. These names are in addition to all the fantastic community members who took the time to send in images of their own. Thank you!
Streamers: Chevy, EvanF, Frank_UK, Gladd, Clyde, KatieKat, Phammy, Raz, SayNoToRage, Skarrow9, Scycof, Swearcicle, Vendetta, Zoe.
Community Teams: Cor’s Cat Army, Corridor Crunch, Corridors Inc, Rick Kackis, Marsh, Team Ninjy, Team Raid Secrets, Vault Explorers, Zycore
Data Managers: Acey, Chevy, Ebuch, HahaBananas, Infynitee, FatSleepyPanda, FrankUK, iihavetoes, Parisito, Roboto, Stream Chat, Yorickdowne
General Managers: Flame, Hoplite, Parisito, Raz
Art/Dev: Aetherlore, Cor Vous, Niris, Regina, Steffwiz, TJ09, Zycore
Source: IGN.com The Destiny 2 Corridors of Time Puzzle Was Almost Perfect