Last night, on September 13, a hotfix was released for the online shooter Destiny 2, Update 6.2.0.3. However, one significant change was omitted by Bungie in the patch notes: Those who leave PvP matches in the standard mode “Control” early will now face consequences. There is an angry message from Shaxx and a risk of a game ban.
What was this hotfix about?
- The patch notes for Destiny 2 were rather small last night, as is typical for a hotfix: A few bugs were fixed.
- The hotfix was 201.8 MB on PC.
- It really wasn’t a big deal – MeinMMO’s Destiny 2 expert, Britta, mentioned it only in passing in the article about the Weekly Reset.
Those were the days:
Shaxx scolds players who leave control matches unlawfully
What are people upset about? With the hotfix a quietly announced change went live that Bungie had omitted from the patch notes. Those who were active in PvP since last night and had a rough time noticed this change:
- If players go afk in the PvP mode “Control” or leave a match early, they receive a message from Lord Shaxx: He is not angry, but very, very disappointed.
- Shaxx admonishes the players that they ended a “competitive match” before it was finished. This would negatively affect other players. Anyone who doesn’t want to get on Shaxx’s bad side and the Crucible’s should please finish their matches.
- Is that all? Not quite. As the site Kotaku reports, repeated violations of this rule result in a forced timeout of nearly 30 minutes.
The message is not new; it’s the same notification players receive when they leave a competitive playlist. You can also tell that Shaxx refers to a “Control” match as a “competitive game.” But it’s actually not.
Players fear Bungie is secretly turning casual mode into Ranked Mode
What exactly is bothering the players? The mode in question is the “Control” mode: It’s essentially the “daily PvP” that you play on the side.
It’s not a real “competitive mode” where something is at stake, like the Trials of Osiris. Therefore, some players feel that it could be a bit more relaxed in this mode:
- Users say: “I tried it myself, and unfortunately, it’s true. You receive a ‘competitive quitter’ penalty for the Control playlist. I dislike quitting as much as anyone else, but this is not a solution. We are currently witnessing how the casual playlist is turning into a Ranked Mode.”
- A second user says: “Control is not competitive! This is probably the worst change to PvP in Destiny 2 in a long time.”
Destiny 2 now bans due to internet problems
Players explain that there are reasonable grounds to leave a normal Control match early:
- Internet problems – On reddit, for instance, one user writes that they were banned because they encountered the “Weasel” error twice, one of the known errors. As a result, they received a ban.
- You might need to help a child quickly
- Or you might have simply achieved the goal you were aiming for in the match
Until now, control has simply been the PvP that you play on the side, and where there’s nothing at stake – hence it’s strange that Bungie is implementing these new penalties here.
Update September 14, 8:55 PM: Bungie announced that they will temporarily disable the quitter penalty in the Crucible and Gambit because they expect increased connection issues.
However, the penalty is set to be active again starting September 17 at 7 PM.
By the way, Bungie also somehow omitted another change in the patch notes:
Destiny 2 nerfs the strongest healing Exo of the Titan – no longer unassailable
