There’s turmoil in the PvP of Destiny 2. The Crucible is heated, as many feel that Bungie is doing too little for its PvP players. Recently, more and more players have been complaining about the constantly unbalanced matchmaking in PvP. However, when Bungie directly addresses the issue, the community responds with toxic comments. MeinMMO brings you up to date.
What exactly have players complained about? Those who play PvP in Destiny 2 have several modes to choose from, such as Control (6vs6), Survival (3vs3), or the PvP event Iron Banner (6vs6) currently taking place this week.
- Many players have gone to the Iron Banner this week and then criticized the matchmaking system of Destiny 2 again.
- It apparently tends to form teams with very good and less skilled players far too often.
- This leads to unbalanced matches that are either over very quickly or drag on like chewing gum.
Some players, including Antonius-GameSager via Twitter, have again suggested that they feel the skill-based matchmaking is still active and faulty.
This is what Bungie says: Bungie’s community manager Dylan “dmg04” Gafner responded to the player’s post with a clear clarification.
The current matchmaking system of Destiny 2 does not combine teams based on the skills of each individual player to create a match. In fact, skill-based matchmaking was turned off a while ago and, due to feedback from top-level players at that time, is still inactive for most Crucible playlists. This has been reviewed periodically by Bungie.
The PvP community reacts extremely toxic: Consequently, a fundamental discussion about matchmaking in general erupted both on Twitter and Reddit.
The related Reddit article regarding Bungie’s community manager’s statement had to be locked due to an overwhelming amount of “extremely toxic comments”, resulting in a large portion of the comments and responses there being no longer visible.
The PvP players are clearly “not amused” and are increasingly letting their frustration run free. It seems that nothing can appease them anymore. Not even Bungie’s announcement that they will pass on the feedback for the development team to examine future improvement possibilities for the players.
For too long now, there has been turmoil in PvP at all corners, so that a spark is enough. Some players, like dakry on reddit, have just one wish:
Yes, that is […] more of an evasion. SBMM and the issue with the current lobby balancing are not the same. I wish they would just randomize the lobbies and not try to balance them based on their perceived assessment of player skills.
dakry via reddit
The mood is based on a mixture of frustration and general dissatisfaction with PvP. However, the problems with matchmaking are currently the most prominent.
- Skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) often means that good players are punished for playing well and that some less skilled players have no reason to strive or improve in a match. Conversely, the latter enjoy significantly easier lobbies with skill-based matchmaking, even if the game search itself sometimes takes longer.
- If connection-based matchmaking (CBMM) is used instead, players too often end up in matches where they have no chance at all, which significantly diminishes their gaming experience.
For example, when the win-based matchmaking was temporarily activated in the “Trials of Osiris,” a two-class society immediately emerged. At that time, primarily hardcore PvP players and streamers complained because their matches became ridiculously hard when they only faced their peers, while regular players were actually happy.
This influential protest nonetheless led to Bungie deactivating the system again.
The matchmaking is a repeating topic: Players blame the skill-based matchmaking when, in fact, as Bungie has now confirmed, it is not active at all.
But perhaps that is the right solution? At least Bungie’s latest statement could indicate that the developer is considering reactivating skill-based matchmaking in the Crucible.
Skill-based matchmaking is now the lesser evil
Balanced matchmaking is truly a science in itself. Destiny 2 is no exception and thus the topic is discussed heatedly. Especially when the assembly for players often feels too unbalanced and exhausting.
- Without skill-based matchmaking, it is virtually impossible to prevent the current system from assembling lobbies and matches as before.
- With skill-based matchmaking, assigning equal skill levels for players could become possible again, making games generally more balanced. It would have its disadvantages but would likely be the lesser evil.
The Destiny 2 player Chizerz on reddit agrees with this:
Because their idea of balancing [currently] consists of putting a good player in a team of potatoes and expecting that good player to carry the potatoes through the entire game against a team of average players. No, we currently have that; SBMM would try to avoid this.
Chizerz via reddit
Most players agree: Certainly, Destiny 2 is not a game focused on competition. Nevertheless, many players confirm that a PvP match is most fun when the teams are evenly matched.
The player Lorion97 therefore finds that Bungie needs to find a matchmaking system that “divides the different skill brackets and simply matches, instead of trying to find mythical unicorns to make accurate 50-50 splits… Therefore, dividing the player base into thirds or quarters should not be an impossible task.”
What would your solution look like? Would you welcome the reactivation of skill-based matchmaking? Or do you think the problem lies elsewhere? We want to know your opinion on matchmaking, so feel free to leave us a comment.
