In Destiny 2, the Guided Games are showing early success. However, before they go live for the Raid next week, they will need to face some criticism.
The “Guided Games” in Destiny 2 are a “Bungie-style matchmaking” process that operates similarly to dating apps. Players are not randomly paired with other Guardians; they can choose who they want to play with.
The Guided Games are only used for difficult endgame activities, such as the Nightfall strike or the Raid. Since there has not been a “normal” matchmaking option for these group activities in the past, many solo players have never been able to participate in them.
Guided Games now connect solo players with clans that offer themselves as guides, so that Guardians can tackle the challenges together.
Guided Games for the Raid Starting Soon
A beta phase for Guided Games is currently underway. They are only active for the Nightfall strike and only for selected players.
This will change on September 26. Then, the Guided Games are expected to go live for all players and will be available not only for the Nightfall strike but also for the Leviathan Raid.
For the Raid, at least three players must belong to the same clan to act as guides. You can read all information about Guided Games for clans and seekers here.
90% of All Guided Games End Successfully
Senior Designer Steve Dolan now discusses Guided Games, answers a few questions, and announces early successes:
- So far, over 100,000 solo players have been guided through the Nightfall. Over 90% of these runs have been successfully completed. Although this activity is tough, Guardians fight through it together. “You are a fantastic community,” Dolan says, and he loves to hear stories about players finding a new clan through Guided Games.
- When addressing the issue that many solo players play without a headset, Dolan responds: Even if solo players can’t say anything themselves, it is already a great advantage if they can listen in on the chat. So, if you are in a party on PS4 or Xbox, invite the seeker into the party or enter the in-game chat.
- Even though it is not displayed in the game: If you complete the Nightfall in a Guided Game, it counts as a weekly milestone.
- If a seeker reaches a front position in the queue and finds a clan, they can accept or decline that clan. If they decline, they do not return to the end of the queue but retain a front position. They will soon be assigned to a new clan.
- The Guardian Oath Score indicates how much a Clan adheres to the Guardian Oath. This means: A better score is achieved by successfully completing or amicably ending Guided Game activities. You only receive a score after successfully completing at least 4 Guided Games.
However, Guided Games also bring frustration and criticism:
- Many are complaining in the forums that you get penalized if an error code occurs and kicks you out of a Guided Game. If you leave a Guided Game without the consent of the other players, you receive a penalty and cannot participate in Guided Games for a period of time. The game should be able to discern whether players leave voluntarily or if server errors are causing them to be kicked. This has been extremely frustrating in recent days. A complaint about this received almost 6000 upvotes on reddit.
- Additionally, solo seekers complain about long wait times. A few minutes is fine, but sometimes wait times are indicated as nearly 30 minutes. That is something one would rather avoid.
Bungie stated months ago that they expect more Guardians to be in clans over time, and thus the number of seekers will gradually decrease. This will shorten wait times. Currently, there are significantly more seekers than clan guides.
Will you participate in the Raid Guided Games next week?
To make sure you don’t embarrass yourselves as guides, you can refer to our Raid Guide.
