Bungie on Destiny’s Sleeper Simulant quest: ‘Challenge is balancing secrecy and transparency’

For the first time, Bungie has officially opened up about Destiny: The Taken King's quest line for the highly coveted Sleeper Simulant.

The quest line, which was unlocked earlier this week, had Guardians perform a series of tasks before finally obtaining the Exotic fusion rifle that sits in the heavy weapon slot. Of course, not everyone was eligible to participate in the event. To obtain the initial quest, you first had to have turned in four fusion relics, which drop at random, to the Gunsmith. He would then give you The First Firewall quest which was only available for a single day. And, of course, there were a few more steps that had to be completed.

The point in all of this, is that this type of quest line is how Bungie wants some of Destiny's Exotics to be found, essentially limiting the randomness of acquiring certain Exotics.

Using Destiny's Gjallarhorn from Year One as an example, Bungie explained in this week's blog post there was "no good answer" they could give players farming the highly coveted weapon. "These days, there are more reliable paths to enable a Guardian like you to acquire Exotic weapons and armor," Bungie said, clearly referring to the Sleeper Simulant quest line.

"Not all of those paths will be immediately apparent. Since we began fighting Oryx and his dark minions, new achievements and rewards have come to light. The Taken War. Black Spindle. The King’s Fall Raid. Iron Banner is up next. More surprises lurk in the weeks to come…"

While the Black Spindle mystery dominated Destiny last month, the Sleeper Simulant quest seems more representative of the approach Bungie wants with Year Two exotics. Of course, there's still plenty Bungie can learn from and improve upon with the approach.

"The response to Sleeper Simulant was humbling because we did not predict the community reaction," Design Lead Tyson Green said, acknowledging the mixed reactions from players. "The revelation of this new Quest was described as “awesome” by some. Others of you, who skipped meals and lost sleep on the hunt for the elusive Heavy Fusion Rifle, were not as pleased."

"When we try new things, players often teach us a lesson about how to do it better, and this one has us thinking hard about how Quests communicate their availability," he continued.

"Our challenge is balancing between the secrecy that makes these hunts exciting, and transparency that could spoil the fun for hunters. As long as the community is giving us feedback, we'll keep seeking the ideal balance."

The good news in all of this is that if you happened to miss out on the first round of the Sleeper Simulant, Bungie does promise The First Firewall quest will return "soon," adding "And that's so much more than I could have told you about the coveted Gjallarhorn."

What do you think of Bungie's approach to Exotics in Year Two of Destiny? Do you enjoy the mysterious quests, or do you prefer being at the mercy of the RNG?