Around Destiny 2 is in turmoil. Fans are dissatisfied. Many are turning their backs on the game. Bungie is trying to get the game back on track with extensive changes and constantly emphasizes that they listen to the wishes and concerns of the community. But is Bungie really listening?
On Friday, March 9, Bungie released the long-awaited details on the sandbox adjustments as part of the upcoming Update 1.1.4 for the troubled Destiny 2. And as feared, the forums and comment sections of many fan sites are ablaze; the community is once again in an uproar.
The reason for this is some announced changes that the sandbox update will bring. Many of them will certainly do good for the game. However, others seem to be developed without considering the desires of the fans.
Some adjustments were never requested. They seem pointless or even exacerbate existing problems instead of resolving them. There is the impression that some essential parts of player feedback go unheard. The community feels overlooked – even though Bungie does not tire of emphasizing how much they hear the community.
So the question arises: Is Bungie really listening to the community?
Bungie’s handling of feedback – the root of all evil
Although Bungie recently promised to expand communication and make it more transparent, Bungie’s behavior in dealing with fan criticism has not significantly changed since Destiny 1. Bungie tends to fall into this pattern when processing feedback:
- The community identifies a feature in need of improvement or parameters that could be better and provides constructive and thoughtful feedback: “Mode X is currently unattractive for reasons Y and Z. Bungie, here’s how you can solve the problem: Solution A, Solution B.”
- Bungie reviews the feedback, works on it themselves, and responds afterwards: “We hear you! Your opinion is very important to us! We see that you want Solution A or B. But you don’t really want that. What you REALLY want is Solution C. So, we present you Solution C!”
- The community looks at Solution C and says: “Okay, some aspects of Solution C are actually good, but Solution C does not ultimately solve problems Y and Z and may even introduce more new problems. Solution A or B would have eliminated all the problems.”
- In response, Bungie says: “We hear you. Your feedback is of great value to us. But first, play Solution C; it will be really great. You will see.”
This pattern was also evident in the implementation of significant parts of player feedback in the already released Update 1.1.3 and the upcoming Update 1.1.4 for Destiny 2.
The community had already clearly and constructively communicated several times to Bungie where the most significant weaknesses of Destiny 2 currently lie and how these can be specifically addressed. “Finally remove the timer in the Nightfall strike. Lower the time to kill in the Crucible. This is the reason for many inconsistencies in the problem-plagued PvP of Destiny 2” – this was the prevailing sentiment within the Guardian community.
In response, Bungie’s developers presented changes that caused head-shaking, frustration, and confusion among fans. For instance, while the timer was removed in the Nightfall strike, Bungie instead installed a new timer – this time only hidden. At the same time, they quickly removed all modifiers from the normal version of the Nightfalls – a change that nobody asked for and that shocked the community.
Also, some recently announced changes that will come to the game with the next update at the end of March 2018 caused general astonishment. While Bungie also recognized that the time to kill is too high as one of the biggest problems, instead of merely optimizing this one parameter, Bungie adjusted a multitude of other factors, which could now lead to new problem areas in PvP.
Meanwhile, the actual problem – the high time to kill – apparently remains unresolved. When asked why they didn’t just lower the time to kill, Bungie responded that players should first play the update; it will be a fantastic experience.
Here, once again, the typical Bungie pattern becomes clearly visible.
Does Bungie listen to its fans?
This systematic approach reveals some fundamental issues in Bungie’s feedback processing and simultaneously answers the initial question of whether Bungie truly listens to the community.
Bungie hears the discussions within the community and collects feedback for potential optimizations – that much is clear. However, the feedback that developers receive does not only consist of criticism from players. A massive amount of further data, which Bungie casually collects from players in-game, also flows into the optimization process of Destiny 2.
This data provides developers with important additional insights into various parameters and problem areas of the game. Thus, developers have a completely different view of issues in Destiny 2. Consequently, they also have a different approach to solving these problems during the optimization process.
The mistake Bungie makes here is that they only involve the community once in the optimization process. They listen to the players – but only once and only at the beginning.
After that, players are completely left out. During the actual optimization phase, they do not engage in a much-needed dialogue with them. They do not present any of the developed solution approaches or ask the Guardians for their opinions on which solution approach is better and whether anything could still be improved.
They do not seek further feedback from the Guardians. The player community receives the final result of the optimization work in the form of an update and has no way to influence it further. There remains only the once listening from Bungie – but that is simply not enough!
And that is precisely the main reason why many in the community feel that their feedback falls on deaf ears at Bungie.
Is Bungie solely to blame?
Although Bungie itself determines the structures and processes of its optimization procedures, the approach chosen by Bungie to only involve the community once is not only attributable to the studio itself and its “evil intentions” – especially since such an approach embodies the common standard in the industry.
Bungie’s approach is, to a certain extent, even understandable. Because Bungie has already experienced firsthand where the unrestricted implementation of feedback from the community without a clear direction can lead to, as evidenced by the nerf issue with the predecessor. Certain parts of the community also vigorously contributed to the current situation back during the days of Destiny 1.
How can such problems be avoided?
If Bungie sticks to its existing concept for feedback processing and game optimization, it is unlikely that the current situation will change. However, a course change is not in sight.
A prime example of how it can be done differently is provided by the developers of The Division.
They entered history with their famous statement “Our game is not fun“. After this admission, Massive Entertainment worked hand in hand with the community. They invited selected players to the studio and ensured that wishes and thoughtful concepts from the fan community flowed directly into the optimization process.
This substantially contributed to The Division ultimately being able to offer a conciliatory gaming experience and currently standing strong as a result.
What do you think about this issue? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.
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