As some of you may recall, back on Bungie Day the webteam released several new avatars and themes for use on Bungie.net. Among them we found five symbols that had been popping up on employee shirts which appeared to match the names that Bungie registered domains for and copyrighted way back when, symbols which we currently believe belong to five in-game factions: [quote][url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/skins/default/avatars/bungiedayav1.jpg]bungiedayav1 - Dead Orbit[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/skins/default/avatars/bungiedayav2.jpg]bungiedayav2 - Future War Cult[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/skins/default/avatars/bungiedayav3.jpg]bungiedayav3 - New Monarchy[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/skins/default/avatars/bungiedayav4.jpg]bungiedayav4 - Osiris[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/skins/default/avatars/bungiedayav5.jpg]bungiedayav5 - Seven Seraphs[/url][/quote]To go along with the avatars, [url=http://www.bungiestore.com/category/71896787521/1/Bungie-Collection.htm]Bungie released several shirts featuring these symbols in their store[/url], and their product infos strongly hinted towards a correlations between the symbols and the domain names that had been registered. However for some reason, only Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, and New Monarchy got a shirt. Osiris and the Seven Seraphs were left without one. If all five of these symbols represent playable factions, it sorta seems like an oversight to not create a shirt for all five. When asked about the missing shirts in the [url=http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=32144]25th mailsack[/url], DeeJ [url=http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab249/Hylebosaiden/Willtheshirtsbeaddedtothestore.png]completely avoided the question[/url]. So why was Osiris and Seven Seraphs left out? It was a question many asked, but was soon forgotten. But I became suspicious once again when I read the [url=http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=32148]26th Mailsack[/url] and found that after being asked, [url=http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab249/Hylebosaiden/WhatsyourfavoriteAvatar.png]"Which is your favorite Avatar that was added on Bungie Day?"[/url], the Bungie employees recommended Future War Cult, New Monarchy, Dead Orbit... but Osiris and the Seven Seraphs were nowhere to be found. Again, that seems odd to me. On one hand, it may very well be that the seven panelists might simply prefer those designs over Seven Seraphs and Osiris. But on the other hand, what if there was a different reason for their motivation? If these symbols do represent playable factions, then it would make sense for the employees to choose the faction they like most. So if nobody chose Osiris or the Seven Seraphs, does that mean that they aren't in the game anymore or they aren't what we think they are? I created a thread about this which garnered a little discussion, but quickly died and became forgotten. I myself had forgotten entirely about Seven Seraph's and Osiris' neglect until I read [url=http://www.bungie.net/News/Blog.aspx?mode=news#cid32220]last night's mailsack[/url]. After reading about the Pumpking Carving contest, I went to facebook for more details:[quote][url=http://www.facebook.com/Bungie]We have a new photo gallery live right here on Facebook. Would you like to win some rare Bungie swag? Carve a pumpkin based on any of the mysterious icons that are being baked into our work-in-progress. Step 1: Cut a hole in a [pumpkin]. [b][u]Step 2: Create a work of physical art based on our graphical art.[/u][/b] Step 3: Post to your Facebook page. Step 4: Take a screenshot. Step 5: Link to it in a comment to this update. Step 6: Check back here on Halloween to vote on finalists. Step 7: Dominate the World. [b][u]Here is subject matter for your inspiration.[/u][/b] https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151109351731149.444183.57193326148&type=1 Reap your reward. Grand Prize = Bungie hoodie 7 Finalists = Bungie t-shirt[/quote][/url]Having three uncarved pumpkins myself, I clicked on the [url=http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151109351731149.444183.57193326148&type=1]Subject Matter Gallery[/url] to see what I had to work with. ... Once again. Dead Orbit. New Monarchy. Future War Cult. But no Osiris, and no Seven Seraphs. Has Osiris and Dead Orbit become the Thom and Rosenda of Destiny? Or were we wrong to assume that all five of the symbols were playable factions? It just seems bizarre that they would introduce these five symbols and only actively promote three of them, and now I am certain that there has to be a reason behind this uneven support. I am incredibly curious to see if any Seven Seraphs or Osiris entries make it to the finals of the Pumpkin Carving Contest, I highly encourage someone to carve these designs into their pumpkins to see what happens. Your thoughts, community?