Despite cautiously optimistic sentiment within the community before the onset of the Scarlet Week, the creators of Destiny 2 are already facing new troubles. Bungie is “nerfing” access to its own forums, drawing the anger of many fans once again.
Not all Guardians have given up hope that Bungie will succeed in breaking the Nightmare Cycle in Destiny 2 and finally provide fans with a reconciling gaming experience.
For many, the upcoming Scarlet Week event marks another important step in the right direction. With this Valentine’s Day event, Destiny 2 is finally addressing criticism and doing many things differently and better.
However, newly ignited anger threatens to further damage Bungie’s already severely tarnished reputation.
Wave of Outrage in the Bungie Forum
Since the evening of February 7th, a rather unremarkable post by Community Manager dmg04 in the official Bungie forum has caused quite a stir.
The post was not dedicated to any upcoming update or groundbreaking changes in Destiny 2. Nevertheless, it received over 3,200 comments within just 24 hours – more than double the amount the previously released roadmap for spring received in an entire week.
The nature and content of the comments make it clear – the majority of forum users are very angry! Most statements express rage, mockery, sarcasm, and confusion towards Bungie. Many comments on Reddit and Twitter reflect the same sentiment.
But what exactly has upset the community so much?
Restrictions for Forum Users – The Root of the Problem
The cause of the boiling emotions are changes to the forum rules, which were announced in the post by dmg04 on February 7th and came into effect on February 8th. To be able to post and comment in the official Bungie forums, the following restrictions now apply:
- For the sections Destiny 2, Feedback, Gaming, and Off-Topic: users must have reached the Farm in Destiny 2
- For the sections Destiny, Clans, Recruitment, and Community: users must have a Destiny account
- For the section Help: there are still no requirements for users
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
With the introduction of the new restrictions, Bungie is indeed acting in a comprehensible and well-intentioned manner:
- The studio is trying with this type of “moderation” to regain control over the situation in its own forum. It aims to counter toxicity.
- Much-needed constructive feedback and valuable discussions should be separated from trolls, haters, and meaningless spam posts.
- To reach the Farm, owning Destiny 2 is not strictly necessary. This social space can also be visited in the trial version.
On the other hand, this crackdown has led to problems and unforeseen consequences that overshadow the positive aspects significantly.
Players criticize:
- According to forum rules, the “Gaming” section is about games that have nothing to do with Destiny. Ironically, a certain gaming progress in Destiny 2 is now required for participation.
- The popular Off-Topic forum section, where large communities have formed around various topics, now also requires a visit to the Farm in Destiny 2.
- Many Halo veterans and other long-time forum members are excluded if they do not care about Bungie’s latest title. Communities are being torn apart.
- Due to the imposed restrictions, some user groups appear irrelevant and even unwanted. This comes across as discriminatory and off-putting.
- The new restrictions resemble censorship. There is an impression that negative feedback should be kept quiet.
- A large part of the uncomfortable and unwanted comments come from players who have already reached the endgame in Destiny 2. However, they are not affected by the restrictions.
Sven thinks: Even though Bungie has certainly approached the toxic forums with good intentions, in the end, it is clear that the result is at best questionable and again tarnishes Bungie’s already severely damaged reputation.
The studio has even managed to upset many long-time fans outside of the Destiny community.
Although Bungie likely recognized quickly that it had gone too far: community manager DeeJ addressed the upset masses in a calming post (link to the Bungie forum) on February 8th. However, whether ongoing faux pas coupled with constant apologies and reassurances represent the right tools to regain the trust of fans remains questionable.
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