Currently, player numbers for Destiny 2 have reached the lowest point in 3 years. The game seems to be in crisis. Many Guardians are more burnt out on Bungie’s loot shooter than ever before. Content creator KackisHD believes he knows the reasons and says what Bungie needs to do now to ensure that the fun doesn’t get lost.
Who is KackisHD? The Canadian YouTuber KackisHD has long been a staple in the Destiny community. He started making videos in 2012 about first-person shooters like Modern Warfare 2. But then he found his dream game – Destiny.
So, KackisHD made it his mission to report on game updates in real-time and provide tips and tricks for other players. His success can be seen from his YouTube channel, which now has 1.12 million subscribers.
As a Destiny 1 veteran and current Destiny 2 player, he is connected to Bungie’s loot shooter not only through his role as a content creator. Like many other Guardians, he personally cares about the fate of Destiny. And not just because it’s his job. This was the reason why he addressed the current situation of declining player numbers and the general burnout of players with constructive criticism in one of his recent videos.
In doing so, he points out 5 reasons why Destiny 2 is currently struggling. He also states what Bungie needs to do to ensure that players can feel comfortable in the loot shooter again.
KackisHD emphasizes – It’s not the competition: As gaming sites report, the player count on Steam fell to an average of 60,854 players in the first week of November. At the lowest point, there were only about 29,000 players online.
Reasons often cited for declining player numbers include the release of Modern Warfare 2, arguably the largest Call of Duty release of all time, as well as OverWatch 2 and God of War. However, KackisHD does not believe that this is really the only factor.
He says that Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 is such a success because it is the sequel to the first massive success from 2019, which was released on October 25. However, when you take the time to look at the player population in Destiny 2 around that time, it becomes clear that, at that time, for example, on October 28, 2019, 195,000 players were playing Destiny 2.
Bungie’s loot shooter can therefore compete with Call of Duty because there is not a 100% overlap.
While both are first-person shooters, KackisHD believes that definitely other reasons lie behind the low player numbers of Destiny 2.
1. Ability updates at the expense of new content
One of the reasons for the current player frustration for KackisHD is the lack of individual content in Destiny 2.
The past seasons in Destiny 2 have indeed been scarce with the famous Bungie magic of secrets and new missions. KackisHD believes that Bungie’s overhaul of the outdated ability classes to the fresher version 3.0 simply took much time and especially effort.
Normally, players are offered more when they purchase a season in Destiny 2.
- In addition to seasonal content, Guardians can often explore exotic weapon quests, such as the recent “Signs” mission or the Exo-quest for Distant Howl.
- Both were not only costly missions but were always new areas that Bungie created and were included in the season pass.
KackisHD therefore believes that the new and extremely important ability updates 3.0 have simply taken up space for other fresh content.
The fact that your Guardian can throw storm grenades and Solar Snipers means that there were likely also fewer seasonal contents to explore in the game. Much less than had been the case before in terms of exclusive content.
2. Activities that need to be repeated too often
The current seasonal model in Destiny 2 is the next problem that is making players tired.
KackisHD does not like the idea that Bungie brings only a small snippet of story into the game each week during a season. In his opinion, this keeps players engaged as they come online each week. However, it also makes the individual weeks feel very boring.
- Players are asked to play the same activities every week. In Season 18, these are the 6-player activity “Ketch Crash” and the story-relevant “Expedition”.
- Once completed, a small nugget of story information is revealed.
- Moreover, you already know what to expect:
- Play activity A.
- Listen to one or two new voice lines.
- Play activity B.
- Listen to one or two new voice lines and place XYZ.
Although there are also some NPC texts and lore entries, very few players check them out. Most are skipped, so that even the few good jokes with frayed shoelaces barely reach these players.
3. The hunt for top weapons is done faster
Regarding the content issues, KackisHD addresses the crafted weapons. He is not ready to say that weapon crafting has been detrimental to Destiny 2. It has always been frustrating that even the most dedicated players in Destiny 2 could not get the weapons or rolls they wanted. Weapon crafting has changed that.
However, what bothers him is the way players can obtain these weapons. Previously, all seasonal weapons from the past seasons were craftable. This means that once a player has collected all the blueprints to craft a weapon, they are done.
- Previously, Guardians were much more engaged with weapons because they were trying to get the perfect Godroll. And even if it was just four perfect perks, they were still happy with it.
- Since weapon crafting exists, you just fly to the forge in the Mars enclave and assemble your desired weapon. This is hardly more exciting than darning socks.
Even the ritual weapons from the playlists are not worth the effort for him currently to grind to max rank in Vanguard, Crucible, or Gambit. A decision by Bungie that KackisHD cannot understand.
4. The lack of attention to PvP
KackisHD is generally someone who primarily plays PvE in Destiny 2. But he has not overlooked the suffering of his PvP brothers and the lack of innovations in the Crucible.
Players had to do without a map in PvP for 900 days, and the modes are extremely slim. There is also no proper ranking system with respect to rewards, as KackisHD states.
He therefore finds it shocking how little attention Bungie currently gives to PvP.
- The regular players in the Crucible are among the most engaged.
- They keep the player population in Destiny 2 high during times when nothing is happening in PvE.
- The Trials were once a prestigious activity that captivated thousands of players every weekend.
He therefore advocates for a new ranking system that is only available as a reward through PvP. This would give players a reason to return to the most engaged part of the community.
5. Preventable bugs
Finally, KackisHD also addresses the quality assurance in Destiny 2, in which Bungie needs to invest more again, in his opinion.
- The last patches have broken more than they fixed.
- The Halloween event brought back old bugs that had already been fixed.
- And in the latest Dungeon “Duality”, the bells had a sound for much too long, which prevented players from normally playing the new activity from the start.
Especially with free events, KackisHD knows many players who have just come back to try out the new Festival of the Lost. But when the event quest did not progress, it immediately killed their motivation to play the game.
It certainly takes a while to implement changes, run tests, and bring them into the game. But it shouldn’t take too long. The nerf of Lorentz Driver and Arbalest, for example, took half a year. Too long, as many players felt.
KackisHD emphasizes that quick fixes and corrections are crucial for Destiny 2. Even if it is complicated, as Bungie always emphasizes.
At the end of the day, it does not matter to the average player that it is a complicated game. As soon as Guardians notice that their quest or an activity is not working, their interest in the game is gone. Things that could certainly be quickly fixed with a bit more care at Bungie.
Is this the beginning of the end for Destiny 2?
Not really. The content problems could potentially resolve themselves in the upcoming Season 19, which starts on December 6. So far, only the end of the Light and Darkness saga in Destiny 2 is truly sealed.
- Season 19, for example, will not bring another ability class into the game that has been revised by Bungie. KackisHD therefore assumes that because of this, Bungie may have invested development time again into a new exotic quest.
- Additionally, players can expect a brand new dungeon starting December 9 at 6:00 PM. Even if this needs to be purchased separately, if one does not already own all additional content, it is still popular content among Guardians.
Moreover, he also encourages Bungie to invest more in its seasonal content in Destiny 2. After all, several changes in the game are a direct result of community feedback, as KackisHD emphasizes.
- This includes that you no longer have to pay Glimmer for equipping or switching mods.
- For weapon crafting, now only Resonance elements are needed instead of many materials, and Bungie later also improved other aspects.
Many players wish for Destiny 2 to succeed: Of course, one can always take a break from Destiny 2, which many players do. But this frequent argument given to a frustrated Destiny player is often met with even more frustration.
Essentially, many players, like KackisHD, want Destiny 2 to work because they care about the game. That’s why frustrated Guardians can never completely disregard what is currently happening with Destiny 2. They have experienced so much in the game, appreciated excellent gunplay, and made friends that they can’t bear to see its potential fade away. It remains to be hoped that Bungie will listen to its community again, despite all the criticism and problems.
After all, Destiny 2 continues to be the perfect combination of a game where you can create builds and find interesting interactions with gear. It also has the creativity and replayability of a loot shooter, with some of the smoothest shooter mechanics of all time, as KackisHD once articulated in an interview with tubefilter.com.
What do you think of his arguments? Can you relate to his objections or do you perhaps have additional points that should be added to his list? We look forward to your comments and discussions on the topic.
