With the Crucible Labs, Bungie announced a new feature for Destiny 2 that will soon give fans access to experimental PvP content. There, they can provide valuable feedback on future content and thus influence the design decisions for the Crucible.
In a short developer blog, Bungie announced this week as part of the summer roadmap update a new and unexpected feature – the Crucible Labs.
What are the Crucible Labs? According to the description, the Crucible Labs seem to be a kind of PTR environment for Destiny 2. Such test environments, which are mostly decoupled from the live game, are often used by developers to optimize the balance of certain game elements with the help of players and then integrate them into the live game.
No further details about the Crucible Labs have been revealed yet. However, this new in-game feature is said to give Guardians, according to Bungie’s words, a glimpse behind the scenes and provide them with a louder voice in the creative process.
Because in these labs, Guardians gain access to experimental PvP content and can contribute their feedback to future developer decisions. The community will thus soon be able to actively help shape the future of Destiny 2.
Are the PvP Labs coming to all platforms? There were no further details on this, but if the feature were PC-exclusive, Bungie would likely have communicated that clearly shortly before release. Moreover, a large part of the player base comes from consoles.
This important group cannot be excluded and thus further upset the fans, which Bungie can no longer afford. Therefore, it is not unlikely that the labs will actually be available for all three platforms.
However, if the feature does indeed come to consoles, it will be interesting to see how issues such as balancing different platforms (PC and consoles) or the certification process on consoles will be managed.
Further information was promised before the launch of the feature on May 29.
How could the fans be involved? Players will likely mostly test the balance of new armor pieces and weapons. The design of new PvP maps could also be considered. Later, testing completely new modes or formats, such as for the upcoming autumn expansion, and beyond, is conceivable.
What does the community think? Initial reactions suggest that the overwhelming majority of fans have received this announcement very positively.
Many are excited about it and see it as an important step in the right direction that will hopefully lead to a better overall result.
However, some ask why Bungie did not implement such a feature earlier. It is well known by now that optimizing the Destiny series is no easy task, as evidenced by countless examples.
Yet, the majority of the community agrees: Such a feature can only benefit the game in the long run.
What do you think of the Crucible Labs? Do you believe that this can help avoid major design flaws by Bungie in the future?
