【Love Conquest】

Destinyis officially over,Love Conquest friends.

Bungie at last unveiled its final Destinylive event -- dubbed "Age of Triumph" -- in a live stream on Wednesday. The big takeaway? All the raids are getting leveled up, complete with new, similarly leveled up loot.

SEE ALSO: Looks like the best 'Destiny' raid is making a comeback soon

That's exciting! Get excited! Fans have been begging Bungie to level up the old raids -- Destiny's ultimate cooperative activity, pitting six players against the game's toughest puzzles and bosses -- for more than two years, and it's finally happening.

At any other moment in the game's colorful history, this would have been a landmark moment. But I have to say: after spending 1,126 hours inside Destiny's universe, Bungie's plans don't feel to me like the "victory lap" they're meant to be.

Age of Triumph is -- the way it's been introduced, at least -- a sprawling, new Record Book. The 13-page in-game tome challenges you to unlock achievements pulled from nearly every facet of the Destinyexperience: the story, the exploration, the PvP in Crucible, the cooperative raids and strikes, even the individual Guardian classes.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Some of those records will be unlocked on day one by virtue of the fact that you've been playing Destinyfor however long. Many others will need to be chased anew -- whether it's grinding out strikes and Crucible matches or taking on the newly tweaked raids.

Your reward for filling in the record book and leveling up as you go: emblems. And eventually -- if you level up all the way -- a personalized IRL T-shirt that you still have to buy from Bungie's online store.

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Here's the problem: for three years, Destinyhas been a game about acquiring things. It's a loot-driven RPG. You play it to earn better loot that you then use to earn even better loot, on and on until you reach the top of the power ladder.

That changed on March 3 when Bungie announced that only your character's appearance would carry over to the next, as-yet-unannounced Destinygame. None of the gear you put in so many hours to obtain, none of the emotes or other cosmetic baubles you spent actual money on. It's all going bye bye.

That's how most games work, but let's be clear: Destinyisn't most games. It was framed from the very beginning -- before it even came out -- as a 10-year journey with whatever character(s) you created.

That promise created expectations. While you may technically bring your DestinyGuardian into the next game, everything that makes said character unique is disappearing. Even if ditching all the weapons and armor is a good idea (it is!) losing the emotes, the emblems, the shaders -- all of that -- does even more to strip away your Guardian's identity.

Now, every Guardian has an expiration date. Yes, Bungie will support Destinyafter its successor comes out. But fans will have moved on. And so, the digital baubles we earn for participating in Age of Triumph's grinds have short-term value.

At this point in Destiny's life, the loot grind -- the epic quest for more things -- doesn't cut it anymore. But the game is alsospecial because it's a place where friendships are forged. As the loot grind loses its luster, the social makeup of Destinycoupled with its supremely sticky shooter gameplay is what makes it fun to come back to.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Already, my private Facebook group of Destinypals is tittering with excitement about getting the proverbial band back together. None of us expect to re-embrace the daily grind, but we're all jazzed to hang out again in this familiar space where so many memories were made.

In the end, that may well be the "victory lap" Bungie is going for. But Wednesday's stream didn't make that clear. Destinyis not the sort of experience that can be summed up in 13 pages of new things to unlock. Not anymore.

Maybe the new helping of weekly activities -- which Bungie is set to reveal on March 15 -- will make Age of Triumph feel like more of a goodbye. If this final live event is going to be the send-off that Destiny deserves, it'll have to find new ways to carry all of us fans back to the many happy memories we've made in the game.

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