In Destiny 2 the Guardian Games 2021 are coming up. After a lot of complaints last year – especially from Hunters – Bungie presents answers to the biggest criticisms. The event should proceed fairly and excitingly, and this time the winner should not have to feel ashamed.
This is supposed to be different in 2021: On April 20, the Guardian Games 2021 will start. This is the final event of Season 13, which is currently in the middle of a content drought, so players should have reason to be happy. However, last year the event was plagued by accusations of cheating, boredom, and even the winners were dissatisfied.
Bungie wants to have an answer for all of this this time. MeinMMO explains what went wrong last year and what specifically should be different.
Why do players remember it so poorly? In theory, the idea that Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans wouldn’t just be beating up aliens together, but instead the classes would compete in a sporting contest was a welcome change. In practice, many were really annoyed by the competition based on the Olympic model.
- Titans were in 1st place since the second day of the event. The class then dominated at the top for almost 3 weeks and won unsurprisingly.
- Hunters and Warlocks were annoyed because no matter what they did, they (felt) had no influence on the competitions.
- Especially Hunters were furious, as the majority of Guardians play as Hunters. To balance this, Bungie applied complicated weighting procedures, making every Hunter medal worth less.
- This led to accusations of cheating and manipulation on Bungie’s part.
- Bungie intervened during the event due to the criticism and made their cards visible to refute the allegations.
- The players perceived this with gritted teeth, but the dull situation in the event did not change.
At the end of the event, the Titans, who were the winners, were also really angry. Their promised prize was supposed to bring them a full year of honor, but was rather a bad joke, with Titans still being teased about it today.
Hunters should have no reason to complain in 2021
Bungie knows exactly how Guardians remember the event. Therefore, the developer addresses the 3 criticisms in the weekly blog post (via Bungie.net) specifically.
So it should run fairer now: In the Guardian Games 2021, there will be no weighting for medals at the start. If you, as a Hunter, submit a medal, it is worth just as much as one from a Warlock or Titan. However, to ensure that Hunters do not overwhelm everything with their sheer numbers, a new system kicks in that always supports the weakest class.
- Whoever comes in third place on a day will receive 10% more points for each medal submitted for the rest of the event. This is stackable: each 3rd place on a day grants the class an additional 10%.
- If a class consistently has fewer medals, they will catch up sooner or later. This is known in games like Mario Kart as the rubber band effect.
- Bungie has tested this internally and believes that Hunters will likely win at the beginning due to their numerical superiority, but when the bonuses are distributed, the tide should quickly turn.
What about the excitement? Due to the more frequent changes on the leaderboard, Guardians should feel more motivated. To top it off, depending on how your class performed the day before, you will receive positive and negative modifiers in the event playlist. For the first-place class, it becomes a bit harder and the chances of catching up increase.
The winner of the Guardian Games should not be ashamed this time
What the prize for the winner will be, we do not know at this time. However, Bungie grandiosely announced: “On the last weekend of the event there will be a special closing ceremony in the Tower to celebrate the winning class! It will be live from May 7 to 11.”
They are taking more time to give the winner their well-deserved honor. Celebrations are supposed to last 4 days. Additionally, there will be a “special ceremony” at each event weekend where Guardians will be honored with different lighting effects according to the current standings.
What do you think about the competitions? Do you think it will proceed this time without accusations of cheating and remain exciting until the end of the Guardian Games? Or do you not care about the struggle of the Guardian classes and are only after the event exotic and the new masterpiece catalyst?
