“We want Destiny to be a game that fits into your life, providing you with reasons to log in and play with your friends, clans, and families. We want Destiny to be a world you want to be a part of.”
These are some of the opening words from Bungie, developers of Destiny 2, in their latest blog post that details the specifics about new updates coming to the game in December.
These focus on improving the in-game economy and player progression—but also sets some screen-space aside for a discussion about recent community feedback.
“With Destiny 2’s console and PC launches behind us, we want to take some time to talk with you about Destiny 2 – specifically where it’s at today, and where it’s going. Our team has been reading feedback and working on updates to improve the game. We’ve also been reading some tough criticism about our lack of communication, and we agree we need to be more open,” says Luke Smith and Chris Barrett, Destiny 2 lead developers.
“Going forward, Destiny 2’s post-launch game systems, features, and updates are being designed specifically to focus on and support players who want Destiny to be their hobby – the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made.”
This new focus is almost certainly in reaction to shifts in the industry (particularly in regard to the outcry to EA’s Battlefront II), but also due to problems on Bungie’s front door: the XP system controversy.
Is anything being done about XP?
Bungie recently disabled certain aspects of Destiny 2‘s progression system in reaction to community outcry about certain activities not delivering the results they expected. However, things went from bad to worse, as in apparently trying to rebalance the game, Bungie also significantly increased the baseline amount of time required to level up at all, regardless of the activity. Fans were outraged, and some commentators even went as far as saying the grind was designed to encourage XP-boost microtransaction purchases.
As a result, Bungie set aside a whole section in the December update to confront these concerns, saying:
“We already see that the newly adjusted 160K XP per level value means that leveling is too slow for some activities, and we have begun the process of collecting data and recalibrating XP earn rates to improve them as quickly as possible.”
Whether or not these promises for change will be enough to placate jaded fans will be something that only time can tell.
The new updates will be delivered either on 5 December, or the week after on 12 December, depending on the improvement in question. You can find more details on the gameplay changes and further specifics here.
What changes are you looking forward to in the new-and-improved Destiny 2? Let me know in the comments below!
Rad or Shite Gaming 