Are you G'd up?
August 14, 2015 5:05 PM Subscribe
Now I've never played, but it looks like in an effort to give Destiny players a little taste of egalitarianism, everyone's favorite merchant Xur will be selling the Gjallarhorn this weekend.
Long rumored for the nerfpile, the Gjallarhorn has made many things in the game much easier than they should be. Fearing an imbalance in the game, Bungie (makers of Halo) have indicated that an upcoming patch would be correcting this imbalance, possibly by removing the "wolfpack" aspect of the weapon. Early this morning someone noticed that Xur, the regular merchant that passes through the gameworld on weekends, was carrying the most sought after weapon in the game.
Unfortunately, many gamers are on vacation this weekend. They are far away from their consoles and Destiny accounts.
Long rumored for the nerfpile, the Gjallarhorn has made many things in the game much easier than they should be. Fearing an imbalance in the game, Bungie (makers of Halo) have indicated that an upcoming patch would be correcting this imbalance, possibly by removing the "wolfpack" aspect of the weapon. Early this morning someone noticed that Xur, the regular merchant that passes through the gameworld on weekends, was carrying the most sought after weapon in the game.
Unfortunately, many gamers are on vacation this weekend. They are far away from their consoles and Destiny accounts.
Is this a feature or a bug? I remember a few years ago in WoW, I think during Wrath of The Lich King, for about a 24 hour period, you could buy an Epic Arena axe for zero honor/conquest points (or whatever the currency was back then). Basically only top level Arena players could afford it (and it could be that a high rating was required as well). It was OP for PvE content as well. Of course everyone bought several (you could also disenchant them into expensive crafting materials I think). Once Blizzard fixed the issue, the 6 month bans followed (not sure who got banned though; like I said, everyone bought at least one).
There was also an item during Wrath that essentially made a user invincible and OP, and was designed for use by GM's only. A player got his hands on one somehow, cruised through the Ulduar 25-man heroic raid, and was, of course, banned.
posted by Brocktoon at 5:25 PM on August 14, 2015
There was also an item during Wrath that essentially made a user invincible and OP, and was designed for use by GM's only. A player got his hands on one somehow, cruised through the Ulduar 25-man heroic raid, and was, of course, banned.
posted by Brocktoon at 5:25 PM on August 14, 2015
I've only messed around with the PS3 demo, but couldn't people who are away from their consoles use the "vendors" section on the smartphone app? Or does this guy not show up there?
posted by Merzbau at 5:30 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by Merzbau at 5:30 PM on August 14, 2015
"Fuck people. Buy Gjallarhorns."
AAAA+++ COMMENT WOULD READ AGAIN
posted by GuyZero at 5:30 PM on August 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
AAAA+++ COMMENT WOULD READ AGAIN
posted by GuyZero at 5:30 PM on August 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
so people are rushing to buy these just before a patch that will make them useless? seems like a smart move on bungie's part.
posted by andrewcooke at 5:43 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by andrewcooke at 5:43 PM on August 14, 2015
A list of ways Kotaku has described Destiny.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:58 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:58 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Lots of good tweets about this on my feed, including Jeff Gerstmann being a troll
I had one drop first time I did the prison. Never used it.and Brad Shoemaker being jokingly salty
Only artisanal, locally sourced, sustainable Gjallarhorns dropped in the wild have any merit in my eyes.But the best might have been the extended Xur fanfic from Felix Kramer:
Oh hey xur wanna go ride bikes or something--
I wonder what it’s like 2 smooch u
Dear xur--
Do you think I’m cute
◻️yes
◻️no
Pass this back to the cryptarch when yr done
I brush the soft tentacles back from xur’s face--
They’re weightless, like the mists off the shores of The Shattered Coast
Xur pulls me closer
“I’ve thought about you every day since Sunday”--
I’m close to him, now.
The glow of xur’s exotic collection casts my face in soft amber light
I slip my hand into his jacket, around his waist. He shifts as I brush by Gjallahorn. I simper.--
Don’t worry, xur, I’m not here for that
“I don’t know where I’ll be next time”--
Xur and I stare out into the skies beyond the Tower. I take his hand.
“I won’t let DLC keep us apart”
“Care…to dance?” I ask as I boot up the jukebox.--
Xur looks down at his hands and feet awkwardly
“D…dance?”
“It’s easy. Let me…show you.“
“Come with me”--
Xur had never climbed a tree. I tried not to giggle as he jumped awkwardly. “Up here!” I beckoned from the canopy above,
Sunday would come too soon, I knew, as I rested my head on Xur’s shoulder.posted by kmz at 6:02 PM on August 14, 2015 [7 favorites]
He felt my sigh and wrapped a cloaked arm around my waist
Hahaha. Destiny is the most ridiculous game. I say that as someone who would have three maxed out characters if I hadn't left the country right after the last expansion pack came out.
I got my Gjallarhorn in a Cryptarch engram.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:10 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
I got my Gjallarhorn in a Cryptarch engram.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:10 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
am I missing something? why would more gamers be on vacation this weekend than any other?
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:12 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:12 PM on August 14, 2015
I'm happy to report I scored my first Gjallerhorn kills with a Triple Down today on Twilight Gap, firing from the balcony of B towards the rail platform near A. Baptism by fire!
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:23 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:23 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've had a Gjallarhorn since forever ago and spent a very long time not even understanding how coveted it was. The best part is I've never even leveled it enough to unlock Wolfpack because I don't play Destiny very often and never even bought the expansions.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:32 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:32 PM on August 14, 2015
I don't even play Destiny at all. Got a Gjallarhorn free with a set of snow tires. Never really used it. Maybe I should put it on Craigslist or something.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:22 PM on August 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:22 PM on August 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
"Chris I may need you to go to my house and buy a thing for me in Destiny." The text came around 8:20AM from my colleague, Polygon's Griffin McElroy. "It's an emergency
I can totally hear that in Griffin McElroy's voice, too.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:29 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can totally hear that in Griffin McElroy's voice, too.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:29 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I quit this game about 4 months ago, but i left enough Strange Coins in my account for this very eventuality, I'm going back in!
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:05 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:05 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Destiny, a video game in which players gradually learn how to quit playing Destiny.
I like this description. I learned my lesson with these lootfest games when I nearly failed out of highschool from playing Everquest and Diablo 2.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:41 PM on August 14, 2015
I like this description. I learned my lesson with these lootfest games when I nearly failed out of highschool from playing Everquest and Diablo 2.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:41 PM on August 14, 2015
Yay, an opportunity to link this Gjallarhorn (the Finnish musicians)!
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 8:49 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 8:49 PM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Got mine a month ago; am on vacation this weekend. So is at least 1 friend of mine.
posted by habeebtc at 9:25 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by habeebtc at 9:25 PM on August 14, 2015
am I missing something? why would more gamers be on vacation this weekend than any other?
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:12 PM
It's summer vacation time in the US. School is out, kids are off.
posted by butterstick at 9:30 PM on August 14, 2015
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:12 PM
It's summer vacation time in the US. School is out, kids are off.
posted by butterstick at 9:30 PM on August 14, 2015
Yay, an opportunity to link this Gjallarhorn (the Finnish musicians)!
I watched some of these guys' videos after falling down a mythology and language wiki-hole at the video game developer where I work when this news was going round. I guessed it was an Icelandic word from the "ll" - and it turns out Gjallarhorn is Heimdall's big ol' warning horn, and has slightly different pronunciation in a bunch of the scandinavian languages. I tried to drum up a linguistic nerd fight at work, but was sadly disappointed.
This Destiny podcast video has a nice interview with an Icelandic dude about the word: here
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:42 PM on August 14, 2015
I watched some of these guys' videos after falling down a mythology and language wiki-hole at the video game developer where I work when this news was going round. I guessed it was an Icelandic word from the "ll" - and it turns out Gjallarhorn is Heimdall's big ol' warning horn, and has slightly different pronunciation in a bunch of the scandinavian languages. I tried to drum up a linguistic nerd fight at work, but was sadly disappointed.
This Destiny podcast video has a nice interview with an Icelandic dude about the word: here
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:42 PM on August 14, 2015
Oh god, Destiny. The worst game I can't stop playing.
The Gjallarhorn is hands down the most powerful weapon in the game. It allows you to beat activities designed for six people, by yourself.
Everyone knows it's the best weapon, and yet what's so frustrating about the game is that there is nothing you can do to get it. It's completely random. It's not tied to a boss or any specific activity. Some people get one in their first week, others don't get one after a thousand hours. If someone gets an extra one, there is no way to trade items between players.
Even this, buying it from Xur, was something you couldn't plan for. Bungie claims that Xur's inventory is completely random, that they "can't" control it, and they have no idea what he's going to be selling in the future. Xur sold the Gjallarhorn exactly once before, almost a year ago, before anyone knew what it was or could afford it. If you can't get to your console this weekend, you may never get it.
I got mine after 340 hours of gameplay. It was literally the last weapon in the game I didn't have. I got two more in the following month.
posted by Sibrax at 9:58 AM on August 15, 2015
The Gjallarhorn is hands down the most powerful weapon in the game. It allows you to beat activities designed for six people, by yourself.
Everyone knows it's the best weapon, and yet what's so frustrating about the game is that there is nothing you can do to get it. It's completely random. It's not tied to a boss or any specific activity. Some people get one in their first week, others don't get one after a thousand hours. If someone gets an extra one, there is no way to trade items between players.
Even this, buying it from Xur, was something you couldn't plan for. Bungie claims that Xur's inventory is completely random, that they "can't" control it, and they have no idea what he's going to be selling in the future. Xur sold the Gjallarhorn exactly once before, almost a year ago, before anyone knew what it was or could afford it. If you can't get to your console this weekend, you may never get it.
I got mine after 340 hours of gameplay. It was literally the last weapon in the game I didn't have. I got two more in the following month.
posted by Sibrax at 9:58 AM on August 15, 2015
Destiny, a video game in which players gradually learn how to quit playing Destiny.
Well, they succeeded on the MMO front if that's the case.
I got off the endless-grinding-console-shooter train at halo reach, when i realized i was only playing it anymore to see how many youtube video-worthy stupid kills i could get in a match(i think my record was something like 23 melee kills with a triple kill involved). That and i realized i only like playing games like this as either local co-op, or a sort of IRL twitch stream where your friends are sitting there yelling at you what to do and cheering and shit over beers and everyone takes turns.
...And i quit living with roommates, which sort of cancelled that one out too.
I look on at shit like this and laugh my ass off. It reminds me of the absolute worst of playing way too much console shooters combined with the worst of shitty F2P MMO games i pretty much ruined my life playing in my early-mid teens.
I also realized, on preview, that the macguffin item in Maple Story when it was in endless beta was called the Groonhill, and that several other games i've played have had some OP g-item. Heh.
posted by emptythought at 1:41 PM on August 15, 2015
Well, they succeeded on the MMO front if that's the case.
I got off the endless-grinding-console-shooter train at halo reach, when i realized i was only playing it anymore to see how many youtube video-worthy stupid kills i could get in a match(i think my record was something like 23 melee kills with a triple kill involved). That and i realized i only like playing games like this as either local co-op, or a sort of IRL twitch stream where your friends are sitting there yelling at you what to do and cheering and shit over beers and everyone takes turns.
...And i quit living with roommates, which sort of cancelled that one out too.
I look on at shit like this and laugh my ass off. It reminds me of the absolute worst of playing way too much console shooters combined with the worst of shitty F2P MMO games i pretty much ruined my life playing in my early-mid teens.
I also realized, on preview, that the macguffin item in Maple Story when it was in endless beta was called the Groonhill, and that several other games i've played have had some OP g-item. Heh.
posted by emptythought at 1:41 PM on August 15, 2015
My husband had just got one of these the day before too. He hadn't even used it yet. Now everyone's got one.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 8:49 AM on August 17, 2015
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 8:49 AM on August 17, 2015
« Older Singing Schubert While Having Brain Surgery, No... | The good advice Lockheed Martin just didn't take Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by effugas at 5:23 PM on August 14, 2015