“Anything a Guardian Does Is Canonical”: Player Understanding of Canon in Destiny
summary
Mixed-methods study of Destiny 2 uses an online survey (N=118) and interviews (N=15) plus a 38-event sorting to show what players call canon and why. Authorship matters—61% authored events rate as canonical—and one-shot story moments (cutscenes, campaign beats) rank high, while repeatable or PvP content splits opinion; player-facing explanations (in-fiction reasons for repeatability) predict higher canonicity. Players treat canon as non-default until authorial evidence appears and articulate nuanced, spectrum-based arguments rather than binary judgments.
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