In Destiny 2 players are constantly looking for new content and surprises. However, they are often disappointed. A meme image that players are currently sharing is said to be the real reason for the lost passion from Bungie.
Which sentence is it about? At the center of the recent discussions about Bungie’s possible fear of too much content is a striking image that shows a sentence:
- The image shows the words “Beware of Overdelivery, You’re creating patterns!” which translates to “Beware of Overdelivery, you’re creating patterns!”.
The sentence means: If you do more than what is expected of you, you set a new standard:
- So if you put in extra hours to bring 2 new Strikes in a DLC
- But only manage one new Strike in the next DLC
- Then players will be disappointed because they expected 2 new Strikes. The special, “the overdelivery,” became the new standard.
Where does the image come from? The image was part of a presentation from 2022, in which Chief Development Officer Justin Truman gave a closer look at how Bungie has reworked and implemented almost every aspect of its live service approach.
However, specifically this one “warning” about “overdelivery” was not well received by players, especially after the disappointing State-of-the-Game report last week.
The image has therefore been shared widely in the online community and criticized as a possible reason why certain aspects of Destiny 2 no longer receive the expected attention in 2023.
The Game Director said they could not develop new PvP maps. There simply weren’t enough resources.
Even the resignation of the Game Director from Bungie is now being demanded.
“Sounds like an admission of lost passion”
This is the players’ criticism: After the disappointing “State of the Game” from Bungie, the player dayjobdan once again pointed out with the meme image that Bungie simply does not use its resources and energy to create something impressive. For this, he received a lot of support.
It is difficult to tell a team that has extra resources and energy and wants to do something impressive – something that would make the game absolutely great and fantastic – to say: ‘We shouldn’t release that because it would be an overdelivery that would lead us to failure in future development phases.
tweeted the Guardian dayjobdan
The player Pinetell also believes that instead of trying to shine with even bigger and more creative content, Bungie apparently just wants to make the game boring.
This is the problem with the criticism: It is important to emphasize that the meme image, which is now being blamed for the lack of content, was taken out of context.
Originally, the statement was used to clarify that Bungie no longer promotes excessive overtime, also known as “Crunch”. And yet, this clear rejection of unhealthy working conditions has repeatedly led to biting comments calling the studio “lazy” for years.
Bungie cannot maintain the standard of the first years of Destiny 2 without Activision
This is what Bungie sees behind the sentence: At the beginning of Destiny 2, in the years 2017 to 2019, Bungie set a much higher pace.
However, this pace could not be maintained. It was not because Bungie became inactive or “lazy,” but because circumstances changed, as Paul Tassi from Forbes explains.
He showed an extensive list of content that was implemented for Destiny 2 from 2017 to 2019, which makes clear why the pace could not be maintained:
- In Year 1 Bungie delivered: The campaign of the “Red War,” the “Leviathan” raid, the campaign for “Curse of Osiris,” the location Mercury, the “World Eater” raid, the “Warmind” campaign, the location Mars, and the “Last Wish” raid.
- In Year 2 Bungie delivered: The campaign “Forsaken,” the “The Last Wish” raid, the “Shattered Throne” dungeon, the locations Tangled Shore and Dreaming City, the campaign for the “Black Armory,” the “Scourge of the Past” raid, the Season of Opulence, and the “Crown of Sorrow” raid.
- At the beginning of Year 3 came: The campaign for “Shadowkeep,” the location Moon, the “Garden of Salvation” raid, and the dungeon “The Pit of Heresy.”.
This content volume of the first 2 years could only be achieved by Bungie with support from two fully-fledged studios from Activision.
Players feel the lessons from the past in 2023
This changed in 2019: However, this dynamics of four new raids within a year could no longer be maintained as Bungie acted from 2019 onwards without the help of Activision Blizzard and their support studios, which consequently led to a decline in content.
In the meantime, Bungie has somewhat increased the PvE content volume again. However, this has also been reflected in costs, for example for the dungeons, .
This is how the current content volume of Destiny 2 looks like:
- Per DLC, Bungie currently delivers one new raid as well as an old legacy raid along with the DLC and season campaign. In addition, there are two new dungeons each time.
According to Paul Tassi, it is still difficult to meet the high “expectations” that were raised in the first two years among the Guardians.
Thus, the task of finding a balance between quality and quantity is a constant challenge. Tassi compares this to people in regular jobs. They also have to ensure that their tasks are realistically distributed. And here Bungie as a developer faces the responsibility of delivering a level of content that is sustainable while also meeting player expectations.
He therefore believes: There is certainly a lot to criticize about Destiny 2, but this sentence cannot be used for that.
Some players still demand an urgent reassessment of Bungie’s strategy to improve the gaming experience in the long term, and are even calling for Joe Blackburn’s resignation.
Just like the Guardian Arahdial via Twitter:
Blackburn should go back to quality control. [Destiny 2] urgently needs support and he is leading the game directly into [ruin]. If he really loved the game, he would resign. It is time to let someone with a passionate voice take the lead, who will stand up against management and for the game.
demanded the Guardian Arahdial via Twitter
What does Bungie say about it? There is no direct statement from the developer regarding the accusations. However, Bungie’s Game Director Joe Blackburn spoke almost prophetically in June about the factors and constraints that influence the development processes of Bungie.
“[…] The internal processes for the development [of live-service games]” are much more difficult than I could ever have imagined. I believe there is a desire on both sides to be more transparent, but … […] It is often just a mix of a huge player base wanting different things, and even when one finds the new way, it is much slower than anyone wishes until it goes live.
Bungie’s Joe Blackburn explained in a Twitter discussion
He also explains in his post that it often takes Bungie a lot of time and effort to explain the complex interrelations behind decisions to a senior developer who already has years of experience in the industry.
In addition, there are many factors and constraints that affect the development process. This can lead to decisions being canceled and not always being easily understandable for players at first glance.
The sentence on the image highlights the fine line between meeting player expectations and avoiding inflated ones.
What does the future look like? In Season 22, Bungie will likely maintain the content model. However, narratively, new areas will be explored that they claim to have “never explored before.” Additionally, the season progression will change, including a completely new mechanic. More about this will be revealed in the big showcase on August 22.
What do you think about the sentence on the image? Do you find it accurate? Or do you think Bungie also needs a new direction and much more and better content? Then feel free to comment on how you feel about it.
Even the loss of players does not seem to be a problem for Destiny 2 at the moment: Destiny 2: Analysis shows why a loss of 64% of players is not that bad for Bungie
