Our allies at Bungie Studios, the keepers of the code for online shooter Destiny, invited Stack-Up to bring some of our Air Assaults to another amazing event, the Destiny 2 global premier gameplay reveal event in Los Angeles!
Only gaming media and online influencers were offered invites to the premier, so Stack-Up was quite honored to be a part.
Our Air Assaults for this event were:
Ray Burge:
“Getting the opportunity to see D2’s game reveal, was a tremendous event. As a member of Stack-Up.org the commitment and love shown toward the veteran gaming community speaks volumes of what Bungie and Activision mean to gaming. Also, the Stack-Up Organization was equally amazing; allowing me to enjoy something like this first hand, being able to spend time with my raid friends in real time, for countless hours, not behind a console, and lastly the bond we will share when we return to gaming as usual.
We now have a name a face behind the voice. That’s the most important. Meeting the guys who introduced us to a game, that at times can consume you was an honor and a privilege.”
Thomas Whitman:
“Stack Up invited me to attend the Destiny 2 reveal, as a combat veteran dealing with PTSD, Depression and a TBI injury. Gaming is my main therapy not only with my current issues but has been so in my past. Stack Up provides veterans including myself with the chance to attend such events with the normality of brotherhood we received while serving our country.
Stack Up members understand what we have all gone through and can act as a group therapy in a sense, allowing us to not only work through our issues but also making new friends along the way.”
Dylan Connolly:
“Just wanted to thank you for inviting me to the reveal! Going into this, I had high hopes for D2 and they were met and exceeded my hopes.
Being able to hang with other Red Shirts was amazing. I loved that we had common ground already established, after killing Atheon and pals countless times, and a few wipes here and there.”
Eric Leone:
“When I first heard from Dave that he was putting together an Air Assault group for the Destiny 2 Gameplay Reveal I let him know how jealous I was. Never did I think that as a civilian I had a chance to be included yet to my surprise about a week later, I was asked if I could attend. The trip to LA for the reveal was special for me in so many ways. I had implanted myself in the Red Shirt Raiders Discord Server at its initial creation and when Destiny Game-night Lead Ray would put together a raid group I usually found myself joining the fireteam. Considering how much we both enjoyed Raids in Destiny it was only natural that when Age of Triumph launched we spent a lot more time raiding together.
Things really peaked the 2nd week when Vault of Glass became available again and we spent so much time playing together as well as just helping other members of our community that wanted to get some new loot that we each cleared VoG 7 times before the week was done. I believe it was roughly during this same week that Dylan also joined us on a nearly daily basis to get Raids or other activities done. On top of being one of the first people to play Destiny 2 outside of Bungie and their development partners, Stack Up gave us the ability to meet each other in person after months of playing games together.”
We got to the event early, claimed our badges, and worked our way into the converted aircraft hangar as quickly as we could. There, we were ushered into a theater area for a presentation prior to getting hands on. It was then we found out our red badges were none other than VIP badges and were escorted to the front row of the theater to watch the stage show.
Following the trailer reveal, which had the crowd nearly on its feet with all the new announcements for the new Destiny, everyone was let into the rest of the hangar where they could get hands-on with Destiny 2, both on Playstation 4 Pro as well as, for the first time, on PC. Our Destiny fanboys liked what they saw; they kept jumping back in line over and over again like they were waiting for a ride on an amusement park roller coaster; as soon as they’d finish playing, they’d immediately hop back in line for another go.
After everyone had their fill of 60-frames-a-second on PC of the new Destiny 2 gameplay, we headed back to the AirBnB, at which point the Air Assaults pulled up a Youtube video of the presentation (the one they had sat in the audience for) to go over the in-game trailer pausing on individual frames and dissecting the announcement or certain screenshots. You know, like a true fan does. The conversation went late into the night with them conjecturing about various guesses about the future of the Destiny franchise.
Let’s just say: we picked the right Air Assaults for this event.
Overall, an amazing whirlwind of a trip through LA, and we certainly appreciate Bungie for inviting us out to be part of their big day and still remembering to support veterans.