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If a new Battlefield 3 easter egg, planted in the recent Back to Karkland DLC pack, is any indication - it sounds as though DICE might be gearing-up for a sequel to their Battlefield 2142 game, tentatively titled Battlefield 2143. While we’re still in the dark regarding the oft-rumored Call of Duty: Future Warfare game, DICE released Battlefield 2142 back in 2006 and essentially planted their franchise staples (larger battles, team-based strategy, etc) in the 22nd century - where the fictional European Union and Pan Asian Coalition duked it out in the frozen battlegrounds of a new ice age....

But Sheehan’s got the kind of credentials that ought to make us stop and listen. He was a U.S. Army Green Beret fighting guerrillas in Central America in the 1980s, he served on the National Security Council staff under both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and he held the post of ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism from 1998 to 2000. In those days Sheehan was among that persistent, relentless and finally shrill chorus of voices trying to warn the Clinton administration that Osama bin Laden and his boys represented a horrific danger to the United States and its interests....

The interview surfaced on the Internet site thesmokinggun.com and promptly made its way into the media food chain just as Schwarzenegger was trying to nail down support from Republicans suspicious of his liberal social views and his marriage to a member of the Kennedy clan. “I never lived my life to be the governor of California,” Schwarzenegger sheepishly told one radio host after the story broke. “Obviously I’ve made statements that were ludicrous and crazy and outrageous and all those things, because that’s the way I always was....

James Tsai sat with Game Informer for an exclusive interview and continued to sow the seeds of anticipation and intrigue for The Witch Queen expansion. Bungie has been setting the table and leaving crumbs for lore-craving Guardians about this expansion’s big villain, Savathun. The hype for The Witch Queen has resulted in over 1 Million pre-orders and more players are potentially returning or becoming New Lights leading up to the release....

This is not necessarily the best approach, though, and it draws comparison to the way Bungie dealt with the new player experience in vanilla Destiny 2, with The Red War campaign. While The Red War was not Destiny 2’s best content, it did provide a great introduction to the game both in terms of lore and how gameplay worked, be it with locations feeling like tutorial areas or progression being gated....

Destiny 2 players might argue that balancing builds and combinations in PvP is even harder than it is in PvE, simply because the enemy always changes and it’s not programmed, but rather another person playing the game. As such, it’s useful to strategize in the Crucible, maybe adjusting one’s playstyle to overcome a tough opponent in creative ways. Another aspect of it is to find good counters to some of the most disruptive builds and abilities there are, while also trying to stay alive and possibly keep teammates alive as well....

For those who don’t recall it or didn’t experience it, the protagonist of that weekend was the Exotic trace rifle called Prometheus Lens, which dealt massive damage due to a bug, and Bungie capitalized on it by making Xur sell it on that week’s Friday. Weapon glitches are common in Destiny 2, even though the award of the most bugged gun has to go to Telesto. This Exotic fusion rifle has always been very problematic, and often it breaks the game in critical, yet comical ways....

That being said, there were still some exotics that were hard to acquire in Year 1, like Gjallarhorn or Vex Mythoclast. And when a player did earn that exotic it felt like a major moment. As Destiny evolved with new DLC and expansions, though, those moments became fewer and further between. Now, if a player wants an exotic weapon or armor piece and is determined enough, they can get it....

Exotics in Destiny 2 are the linchpin of a player’s build, offering powerful and unusual perks that can facilitate unique playstyles and synergize with subclass skills in interesting ways. Gjallahorn is an exotic rocket launcher, with its special perk, “Wolfpack Rounds,” causing a cluster of smaller, tracking missiles to be produced when the initial rocket detonates. This perk inflicts massive damage, allowing the weapaon to clear out large packs of weaker enemies, as well as causing high single-target damage to high level enemies and bosses....

Faction Rally has been a monthly staple of Destiny 2 ever since the game’s launch, but outside of some reskinned weapons and armor and a milestone to complete, the event has been mostly lackluster. In fact, many players have tried to min-max their effort during the Faction Rally by finding the best Faction Token farming spots. Bungie said in its weekly blog that developers are aware of fan complaints about the event, so Faction Rally will get some time off for a redesign....

As seen in the tweet below from Bungie, the video game developer congratulates Dead Orbit, and it has even decorated The Tower in Destiny 2 to commemorate the win, which was determined by the faction that managed to earn the most reward packages during the week-long Faction Rallies event. While the studio hasn’t confirmed it in an official capacity, it did say that “There is always next time!”, which insinuates Faction Rallies making a return at some point in the future....

Bungie’s August showcase included a short presentation of various additions that will come to Destiny 2 with the Lightfall expansion in February 2023. This includes a new Guardian rank system that gives players points for completing specific tasks within the game, an in-game LFG system that allows any player to find a team for Destiny 2 activities with no third-party apps, and a loadout system that makes switching between sets quick and seamless....

What weapons stand out in a given season definitely depends on balance changes and new loot added to the pool. However, since the introduction of artifact and seasonal mods, certain weapons have risen above the rest. S tier Swords finally made a comeback with Season of the Worthy’s buffs and they are just as good, if not better, now. Season of Arrivals essentially saw the return of two fan-favorite exotic Destiny swords, but in legendary form....

With the upcoming Destiny 2 Season 17 set to launch next Tuesday, May 24, this pattern is seemingly changing. After there was no reveal of any kind when the community expected it to come, Bungie’s Destiny community manager chimed in on the issue, explaining that the company is experimenting with its “moments of discovery,” as it were. RELATED: Bungie Raising Money for Charity in Wake of Buffalo Shooting While Bungie already talked about stuff such as Destiny 2’s Iron Banner changes for Season 17, everything that’s been shown so far has been related to mechanical changes and existing content....

As far as sparrows go, this is the arguably the goofiest Destiny 2 vehicle (as seen below) Bungie has ever made. Typically, sparrows follow a very specific design philosophy and try to play within that framework, but this one throws a lot of those ideas out of the window. RELATED: Bungie Explains Why Destiny 2 Players Can’t Use Sparrows on Mercury Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about this stubby sparrow except that it will be available from Eververse....

The Solstice of Heroes event is one of Destiny 2’s most popular, as it revolves around upgrading a set of armor that is wholly unique to that year’s event. Each class gets its own distinct armor set and players have to complete a series of challenges over the course of the event to level them up and increase their power. Every year, the event also features other exclusive rewards, like legendary weapons, ghost ornaments, or new emotes and vehicles....

One Destiny 2 player has taken things to another level by filling the 500 slots in his vault with only exotic armor pieces. If that was not impressive enough, he has also made sure that all 500 pieces are fully masterworked, giving off that “Golden Vault” vibe that many players will be jealous of. Twitch streamer Ekuegan showed off his impressive vault on his stream and shared the clip with Twitter, where many Destiny 2 community members asked questions regarding how long it took to achieve, as well as trying to gauge the value of Ekuegan’s vault....

With that also came a new annual structure with Bungie taking full control of Destiny 2 after its split with Activision and the end of its Year 2 Annual Pass that was developed with the help of some of Activision’s studios. Bungie said it could not maintain the content delivery of the Annual Pass as it moved forward into Year 3, which meant a new seasonal structure that Bungie could support....

Earlier this week, Bungie filed a trademark for the term DestinyCon with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. According to DualShockers, it was filed under classification 41, specifically denoting “fan conventions […] in connection with the game ‘Destiny.’” While this does give Bungie the ownership of the term, it does not necessarily mean that a Destiny convention is in the works. It was filed as “intent-to-use,” which means Bungie would have to actually use the term DestinyCon within two and a half years in order to keep the trademark....

Juggler - No ammo drops for your equipped weapon. Exposure - Guardian shields are increased but do not replenish. Melee Kill Bonus - Melee kill are worth more points. Players will be able to use the same general strategy common in Challenge of the Elders to drive up the score for this week: kill enemies exclusively with melee (melee does not have to be fully charged to count towards the bonus score) and then damage the boss until another wave spawns in....