After a tracking site pointed out massive irregularities in the Trials of Osiris, Destiny 2 has suspended the trials until further notice. What exactly is going on?
This article from March 1 was updated on March 6.
Here is what Bungie announced: Shortly after Bungie discussed in the last developer blog about how they want to improve the Trials and PvP in the future, there was a less pleasant announcement shortly after.
On February 28, the Twitter account Bungie Help announced that the current Trials of Osiris will be disabled for the remainder of their regular duration (until the weekly reset on March 2).
In the “This Week at Bungie” blog on March 4, the studio announced that the trials will remain disabled for the time being.
Trials Disabled – What is the Reason?
What does Bungie say about the reasons? The developers have not stated the reasons for the suspension – not even in the TWaB. They only mention “unexpected issues”
The only thing the studio added: Immediately after the suspension of the trials on February 28, they had at least reactivated the Lighthouse (just this) so that those who already had a Flawless card could still redeem their loot. Trials tokens could also still be used with Saint-14 before the reset.
This could be the reason for the suspension: Although Bungie officially says nothing about the reasons, many players and fans believe they are quite evident.
The well-known tracking site Trials Report found that nearly 50% of all Trials players on PC had achieved a flawless run over the past weekend. This seemed a bit too much to the site, so they dug a little deeper. They found that 48% of them had done it with a proud 0 kills. 69% had 5 kills or less. This is simply not feasible when playing honestly.
For many, it was immediately clear: this is massive win-trading.
What is win-trading? Without going into too much detail (especially regarding matchmaking): win-trading is a method where match wins are exchanged between teams through agreement or random selection. Losses are often registered on secondary accounts to then earn wins on the main account and thereby obtain the coveted loot and Flawless rewards.
In doing so, players coordinate in larger networks and use specific emblems (like the one from Häkke currently) to signal what they are after.
The YouTuber Lucky 10P goes into more detail about the phenomenon and its mechanics in this video:
What does this mean specifically? Essentially, it means that about 50% of Trials players on PC cheated over the past weekend to obtain the coveted Flawless loot. It’s not just a few players – it’s a massive problem.
This, along with the overall cheating situation on PC, raises significant concerns for many in light of the upcoming crossplay and makes it harder for honest players to go flawless. Due to the high number of cheaters, the proportion of “normal” Guardians is correspondingly lower. Players encounter (based on personal experience) stronger teams more frequently – often against the same opponents multiple times.
It will be interesting to see how and, above all, how quickly Bungie will address this problem.
This is what Bungie plans: Some measures were already presented in the blog – including the following:
- The “Three-Peeking” problem is to be fixed in Season 15. In the Trials and competitive modes, players will no longer be able to use emotes to switch to the more clear third-person perspective. Weapons such as swords, which are held in third-person, can then only be used with power ammo.
- In addition, a security team twice the size will be employed to ensure more fairness in PvP. This team will deal with cheaters and other fraudsters. Furthermore, legal action will now be taken rigorously against cheaters. A DDoS protection will be implemented on consoles during the ongoing Season 13.
The larger security team seems to be sorely needed. Whether that alone will be sufficient remains to be seen.
What do you think about the current situation in the Trials or generally in the PvP of Destiny 2? Do you still enjoy the Crucible or have you long since turned your back on Guardian duels? Where do you see the biggest problems and issues? Let us and other readers of MeinMMO know in the comments.
