Destiny 2’s new social space will be called The Farm, as revealed by Bungie’s Ryan Ebenger in an IGN exclusive video. Ebenger explained the goal was to create a more dynamic social area that promotes interaction with other players.
Narratively, The Farm is where the player and humanity land after being “kicked out of the city by the Cabal”. Civilians, vendors, and Guardians share the space as refugees.
The space will change dynamicaly throughout your time with Destiny 2. NPCs will come and go and new vendors will appear as the population grows.
The Postmaster was shown, returning as the interface to recover weapons and loot dropped in the field.
Tyra Karn returns as the Cryptarch Archivist, decrypting the Engrams you bring back to her.
Ebenger mentioned many events and activities you will be available to participate in, more unlocking over time, although none were shown in the video.
In the distance, The Shard will always be visible. According to a Bungie.net forum, “the Shard provides the means for Guardians to reclaim their power in D2″. Also, it’s a beautiful piece of non-interactive background to look at.
Closer up, ships will come and go just like the Tower in Destiny 1.
Ebenger toured a a hangar where ships and weapons are created, as the humans attempt to recover from their defeat at the hands of the Cabal.
A rack of robots being manufactured was seen but Ebenger would only say it had to do with the Shaxx, and would be part of a mission.
It wouldn’t be a farm without livestock, and the video showed a chicken running around. Ebenger said something about adopting and naming the chicken, but his deadpan delivery made it impossible to tell if that was a feature or a joke statement.
To make downtime for sociable, a large soccer ball and small soccer field are available for ‘fully-scored’ soccer games. We saw a ball cross the goal line and set off a light and sound marker signifying the goal. Soccer is one of the ways Bungie wants to encourage player interactivity during down-time on The Farm.
There will be 25 other players with you at once on The Farm, which should make it quite easy to find at least a few players up for a friendly match.
Ebenger mentioned that along with interactivity, Bungie wanted players to have more ways to draw attention to themselves, although he didn’t have any specifics.
There you have it. Let us know what you thought. I think soccer is the best addition as a new way to interact with fellow Destiny players. Jumping and dancing wasn’t enough.
