Last week, the Guardian Rank system from Destiny 2 was a big topic in the community. For many, it’s just another meaningless number above their heads, which additionally creates a class system that fundamentally has no validity. However, the system has a good soul – you just don’t see it.
Why is the Guardian Rank system so controversial? After the first login in Destiny 2 Lightfall, the number 6 for the status “Veteran” was prominently displayed above the heads of many Guardians. This is the new Guardian Rank for seasoned players. New players, on the other hand, start at Guardian Rank 1, clearly indicating that they are just beginning their Destiny experience.
The fact that you get more loadout slots for higher ranks has interested very few players. Because the system already feels like one of the most hated and controversial features of the new DLC Lightfall.
A closer look at the Guardian Rank system:
With Lightfall, Bungie introduced a new system that allows players to show how experienced they are in the loot shooter. The Guardian Ranks, as the system is called, offer a lot of new tasks for them to complete.
Unlike other ranks, such as those from the Vanguard, the Crucible, or the Infamy rank in Gambit, players don’t automatically level up.
There are a total of 11 ranks that you can climb on the way to being a “Model Guardian”. Each rank contains several goals in the form of challenges, and all must be completed before you can rank up. Ranks 1-6 are relatively easy to achieve as they are primarily meant to offer new players a kind of tutorial on how Destiny works. Only starting from Rank 8 does it get progressively harder.
However, if you want the ultimate prestige of being considered a “Model Guardian” in Destiny 2, you have to master some tough challenges in the game and also own all DLCs.
What readers are saying at MeinMMO: We have already gathered opinions from the German Destiny community on this.
- Our reader KingGamer86 writes: “There are enough players who know their stuff but don’t have the opportunity to play everything or simply do not want to. The system rather excludes Guardians than helps them.”
- The player Fly finds: “What I find terrible about the system is that I already see the first [players] looking for people for activity XY that are at least Rank 7 [or higher].”
- WooDaHoo commented: “The rating system is absurd in its current form and offers no realistic feedback. The fact that it allows for the system to be exploited and to die your way up in the fireteam speaks for itself.”
- And Dorian says: “For me, there’s no added value when I hold the highest rank somewhere, which in this case also states that I can’t think of a better use of my time than grinding to present said titles, what do they bring me?”
A class society that hardly anyone wants
“We don’t talk to 1s”: The Guardian Rank system is currently inevitably forming a class society in Destiny 2. In the past, players looked for experienced Guardians in LFG. Today, the 11s no longer talk to the 3s, because they are unlikely to know their stuff, based on the number above their heads. You are subtly categorized based on the number and then put into boxes.
However, even as an 11, one is controversial, as some players in Destiny 2 have already cheated their way up to higher ranks. Here, you trust no one because it might be that they have blown themselves up for hours to achieve Rank 10 or 11.
Lastly, the number 1-11 and the name “Guardian Rank System” have sparked a need for validation that is more show-off than a meaningful system.
Our readers have accurately recognized the problems of the system. In my opinion, however, one important thing is often overlooked, which is worth mentioning. The system is fundamentally not a bad idea, as it has a good soul with a lot of potential despite all criticism.
The Guardian Rank System is actually a Guardian Journey
For me, it is primarily the categorizing number above the Guardians’ heads that has almost completely destroyed the reputation of this rank system within the first three weeks. Thinking in classes and experience levels has never worked anywhere, and definitely not in Destiny 2.
Accolades should be decoupled from ranks: I can still talk about the gratitude system linked to the Guardian Rank system. The commendation cards that can be distributed at the end of an activity are not a bad thing.
However, I believe that a thank you or a compliment should in no way be tied to challenges or Guardian Ranks. It should simply be an available option to say thank you to someone who has saved me from the invader in Gambit or helped me with fantastic calls through a raid.
Bungie should really improve this and decouple the two systems. Also, because I hardly have time to provide feedback. If one doesn’t remember the player’s name or appearance and immediately clicks a thank you, they might already be gone forever.
As a result, I am forced to once again choose the player with the flashiest outfit in the activity because accolades are tied to points, bounties, and triumphs. It’s like wildly shaking hands in a mostly gray mass of players, and if one has a red jacket, they just win the first prize.
This feels neither valuable for me nor does it do justice to any genuine praise towards other players.
However, the Guardian Rank system has a good soul that hardly anyone sees because a show-off number in Destiny 2 currently obscures its true value.
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