But I think we need to emphasize again: We understand that you want more exciting loot in Destiny 2. We know that you want to feel that thrill with the cryptarch again because anything can happen.
All these are things we are working on. Not necessarily and specifically on random rolls. But on the evolution of Destiny 2, so it can become the game and hobby that it deserves to be.
Plans for Cooperation with the Community
Question: Do you as developers have any plans on how to address community feedback more directly? Whether through responses to feedback or through developer posts that explain your decisions and reasoning in detail? It would certainly be exciting for the community to gain a deeper insight.
Answer: That is definitely something we want to do more – whether we are giving statements from people like Josh or Kevin more attention in the blog or putting them directly in front of the audience. Developers will now appear more often in This Week at Bungie, they will be invited to things like this (stream), they are present on Twitter.
We have heard the feedback that the community wants to be more involved – or at least have a dialogue. Currently, we are looking for further opportunities here – with streams and even in-game. We know that there is a strong desire to test our builds in advance, and that is actually something we are increasingly considering.
New Elements, Classes, Sub-classes and Weapon Types
Question: Are there any plans to introduce new elements, classes, sub-classes, or weapon types in Destiny 2 in the near future?
Answer: That is a long list. For some of it, yes, for others, no. We are continuously striving to develop the game further. But we cannot talk about that – not at the moment. Because Josh’s team is currently working very hard on things the community has never experienced before.
And the most important question at the end. DeeJ asked Josh Hamrick: “Are you stupid?” – He replied: “No, not stupid. Just misunderstood.”
Did this Q&A session answer some burning questions? Or was there nothing revealing for you?
You might also be interested in:
May 8th will be important for Destiny 2 – What can Guardians expect?
Recently, Bungie announced a bounty in Destiny 2 again. Players had the chance to face off against some Bungie employees in the Crucible. This mini-event was accompanied by a live stream, where some developers answered questions from the community. There were some tough questions, and the hardest was directed at Josh Hamrick: “Are you stupid?”
On the evening of April 4th, it was time again – the Bungie Bounty, a mini PvP event, returned. A team of employees from Bungie once again entered the Crucible to compete against players. Those who could win against the studio’s in-house team had the chance to earn a special emblem as a reward.
But the real highlight of the evening was a little Q&A session that took place during the accompanying live stream for the Bungie Bounty. Community Manager DeeJ, Sandbox Design Lead Josh Hamrick, and Kevin Yanes from the Crucible developer team answered several questions about the current state and future of Destiny 2.
We summarize the key questions and answers for you.
Time to Kill
Question: There is a pretty widespread opinion that the time to kill should be lowered. Do you have any plans regarding this for the future? The current sandbox update is called Go-Fast Update. Will the next one be named Kill-Fast Update?
Answer: We understand that you want the TTK to be shorter. What I can definitely tell you is that we will significantly strengthen all Exotics for Season 3. They are supposed to be exotic again. A lot is coming together. We are constantly discussing and trying to find ways to make this happen. I think you will be satisfied with the direction we are heading.
Question: The update 1.1.4 was mainly about the speed of Guardians and the power of weapons. Hero moments were also supposed to return. In Season 3, exotic weapons will be strengthened in their lethality. That should…
Answer: Exactly, you will see that the average time to kill will be significantly faster. I don’t want to spoil anything, as our guys will talk about it in the coming weeks. But many incredible things are coming your way, just like in last week’s Storm and Stress video. There will be many more of such things – pretty cool, pretty fast.
DeeJ: And we will be showing some more Exotics. Cozmo will take care of them to showcase. The TTK is definitely something we are working on at Bungie.
Wings of Vigilance
Question: Will the Wings of Vigilance continue to dominate the Crucible, or will we see some fine-tuning in the near future? Will you nerf the weapon?
Answer: No, not at the moment. That is not the plan. Our plan is to bring all other Exotics in Season 3 to roughly the level of the Wings. After that, we will go into fine-tuning and arrange things so that all weapons play well. I don’t think a nerf of the Wings’ TTK would be a right step if we are generally aiming for a shorter time to kill.
Stream for Season 3 and DLC II
Question: When will there be a stream for Season 3 and DLC II?
Answer: The Go-Fast Update was not a cure-all for Destiny 2, and we want to continue developing and changing the game. Later this month, there will be a stream where we will address some things that are coming your way in Season 3. There will be new developer comments in the blog every week about what new features the game will receive.
Weapon System and Weapon Slots
Question: I really wish that the weapon system of Destiny 2 would return to the good old model of primary weapon, special weapon, and heavy weapon. It was so much better. Is my wish not justified?
Answer: Yes, I think that is a justified wish. However, I also think that we ultimately want to create something much better. But, no matter how you look at it – we are actively working on weapon slot changes at the moment.
I can’t say more about it right now, as it relates to many other things. But I would be happy to talk about it in the summer. We will definitely have a detailed discussion about what we have planned for that.
DeeJ: We owe the community an update on the roadmap, we need to mark some more points on the horizon. I will do that next week. We will talk about when the changes to the weapon slots are planned. But it sounds like you would give players more control over their builds.
Answer: Yes, 100 percent.
DeeJ: This is a conversation we will have this summer. The weapon slots in Destiny 2 are definitely something we are working on right now.
Random Rolls, Perks, Mods, Weapons and Armors with More Depth
Josh: I am not an investment designer, but I can assure you – the entire studio is focused on finding answers to these questions. We know that people want to dive deep again, they want to kill a boss and get something spectacular for it.
They want something worth playing for, something that can keep them up all night. That is something Destiny is known for, and we definitely know that it is currently lacking. So we are looking for ways to bring that feeling back.
DeeJ: When you talk about wanting to excite people again, it’s about…. When you play Destiny for a long time, when it becomes a hobby, when you play week after week, day after day, you get the coveted loot drops. And then you don’t want it to be the same thing you have seen x times before.
People want variety. People want the feeling back that anything can happen when a shiny engram jumps out from the defeated boss or any other conquered enemy.
And while you (Josh) are not in a position to say “Random Rolls are coming back” and attach a release date to all of it, these are all things that everyone in the studio knows about. We are aware of the feedback regarding this, we’ve heard it and we apologize for not being able to share more details today.
But I think we need to emphasize again: We understand that you want more exciting loot in Destiny 2. We know that you want to feel that thrill with the cryptarch again because anything can happen.
All these are things we are working on. Not necessarily and specifically on random rolls. But on the evolution of Destiny 2, so it can become the game and hobby that it deserves to be.
Plans for Cooperation with the Community
Question: Do you as developers have any plans on how to address community feedback more directly? Whether through responses to feedback or through developer posts that explain your decisions and reasoning in detail? It would certainly be exciting for the community to gain a deeper insight.
Answer: That is definitely something we want to do more – whether we are giving statements from people like Josh or Kevin more attention in the blog or putting them directly in front of the audience. Developers will now appear more often in This Week at Bungie, they will be invited to things like this (stream), they are present on Twitter.
We have heard the feedback that the community wants to be more involved – or at least have a dialogue. Currently, we are looking for further opportunities here – with streams and even in-game. We know that there is a strong desire to test our builds in advance, and that is actually something we are increasingly considering.
New Elements, Classes, Sub-classes and Weapon Types
Question: Are there any plans to introduce new elements, classes, sub-classes, or weapon types in Destiny 2 in the near future?
Answer: That is a long list. For some of it, yes, for others, no. We are continuously striving to develop the game further. But we cannot talk about that – not at the moment. Because Josh’s team is currently working very hard on things the community has never experienced before.
And the most important question at the end. DeeJ asked Josh Hamrick: “Are you stupid?” – He replied: “No, not stupid. Just misunderstood.”
Did this Q&A session answer some burning questions? Or was there nothing revealing for you?
You might also be interested in:
May 8th will be important for Destiny 2 – What can Guardians expect?
