The Destiny 2 community is currently very dissatisfied with the state of the loot shooter and the communication from Bungie. Now the game director has personally responded to the allegations. He acknowledged serious mistakes, announced improvements, but also tempered expectations for the showcase of “The Final Shape”.
This is the criticism Destiny 2 has to deal with: Since the launch of Lightfall, things have not been going well for Bungie’s loot shooter.
Many Guardians and content creators are increasingly unhappy with the current state and overall direction of the game. And after Bungie’s game director Joe Blackburn released a disappointing “State of the Game” update about the state of the game in early August, the mood got even worse.
A major accusation: Bungie has lost its passion for Destiny 2, focuses only on its new IPs, and lets the franchise run on the backburner, ignoring the wishes of the Guardians, while still asking them to pay.
- Especially the increasing presence of microtransactions and the focus on the Eververse, the in-game shop of Destiny 2, is heavily criticized.
- Dissatisfaction also exists over the way the recurring seasons in the game are designed and how boring and unattractive the content currently is.
- For more than 950 days, PvP has not been loved, and Bungie, a studio owned by Sony with hundreds of employees, does not have the resources to deliver more than one new PvP map per calendar year.
A part of the community already doubts the future of the game and wonders if Bungie is even capable of getting the Destiny franchise back on the right track.
In a vlog video on Twitter, the game director of Destiny 2 has now personally responded to the criticism and acknowledged that the “State of the Game” article “did not meet standards.”
“It’s nobody’s fault but mine.”
This is what the game director had to say: In the midst of the intense criticism of Destiny 2, Bungie has decided that game director Joe Blackburn will personally address the players in a vlog.
A few weeks ago, we released communication about the state of the game that did not meet our standards, which you all expect from such announcements. It did not provide the overarching vision that we usually deliver. […] That is solely on me, it is nobody’s fault but my own. Therefore, I wanted to speak directly with you and give you an update on how we assess the state of the game we published, and what we think about Destiny overall.
said the game director of Destiny 2, Joe Blackburn
They directly address the accusations and the recent decisions, which underline the seriousness of the situation. The statement addresses the following points:
- The players’ expectations for the showcase on August 22 for “The Final Shape”.
- The state of PvP and a new team focus on solutions to the problems.
- The criticism regarding more new paid armor ornaments for Eververse, but hardly any free armor sets for playlists.
- Bungie’s current communication strategy, which became more anonymous and thus less personal after negative interactions with the community team.
We will address all points below and tell you what Bungie has announced about them. You can watch the full video on Twitter.
1. Don’t expect too much from the “The Final Shape” showcase
Bungie tempers high expectations: Recently, many players have tied their future in Destiny 2 to the announcements of the showcase for “The Final Shape”. They see the showcase as a moment that decides whether Bungie can regain their trust or not.
However, Joe Blackburn tempered this expectation.
Honestly, this presentation is not a reaction to the “State of the Game” article. It is not a reaction to many of the sentiments online, and it is definitely not a reaction to this video. It was recorded some time ago as a focused reveal. […] The “Final Shape” focuses on light. It focuses on the enemies we have built and the allies […]. It’s not about a bunch of crazy new systems or themes entering Destiny. Instead, we want to create an experience that is super easy for anyone who has ever played Destiny to fall in love with the content being offered.
adjusted Joe Blackburn the focus of the showcase for the upcoming DLC
This will be presented in the showcase: The showcase for “The Final Shape” will focus heavily on the story of the light and darkness saga, on the setting.
In addition, Bungie will probably address how the live service of Destiny 2 will change after the last DLC “The Final Shape”. One should enjoy it, but also be aware that it will likely not provide answers to your criticism or phenomenal innovations.
2. More improvements for PvP
This is what Bungie is doing for PvP starting now: The game director admitted that Bungie’s approach to PvP “does not produce the crucible that our players expect from us.”
It’s clear that the slow trickle of PvP maps isn’t having the desired effect. And although new PvP maps are introduced into the ecosystem from time to time, the fact that we only release one new map a year forces us to create a map that must cover everything, meaning it can’t really excel at anything.
confirmed Joe Blackburn the players’ criticism
However, they want to change this poor PvP philosophy next year.
- Instead of gradually introducing new maps over the course of the year, Bungie is focusing on creating a map pack that will be freely accessible to all players.
- In addition, a “PvP Strike Team” is being assembled that will focus solely on improvements for the crucible.
- It will consist of PvP developers and decide what changes should be made and the team will inform the community about Bungie’s ideas for PvP as soon as they are approved by the executives and gather feedback.
The establishment of this team seems to be a direct response to the community’s theory that Destiny 2 has not had a dedicated PvP team for some time and that PvP developers of Destiny 2 have switched to the new IP “Marathon”.
Blackburn emphasizes: All of this is a departure from the previous strategy and it will take some time before Bungie can present the details of what will come next year.
3. An armor set to earn
Originally, Bungie released ritual armors with each expansion. However, this was missing for the current DLC “Lightfall”.
Players criticized this and pointed out that it is contradictory to create paid armor ornaments for Eververse but neglect sets for playlists.
We failed to communicate where our resources were going when we reprioritized. We knew we couldn’t create an armor set for the ritual playlists every year. And we thought, okay, that’s fine, we have plenty that fulfills this core fantasy of the guardians (cowboy armors, underwater armors, and raid armors), but we should have communicated that to you.
explained the game director
To make up for this undisclosed change, he therefore announced that an armor set originally planned for the Eververse store will instead be released as a free ritual armor set towards the end of the next season.
4. More communication from Bungie’s team
This is how Bungie wants to communicate in the future: Another point of criticism was Bungie’s new communication strategy. This became more anonymous and thus less personal when hate and threats against Bungie employees from players ran rampant.
I don’t want anyone who signs up with Bungie to talk about the game with all of you to worry about their personal safety.
stated Joe Blackburn
The current communication situation at Bungie illustrates how important effective communication is between a developer and its community. They expect not only high-quality content but also transparent interaction.
- Bungie will therefore strengthen interactions with players with the start of the new season 22.
- However, interactions will continue to be handled through Bungie’s anonymized “brand accounts”.
So, it is still a cautious step back to better communication. Joe Blackburn, however, will personally take the first step towards the community.
In addition, the head of Destiny 2 mentions: “When season 22 starts, I will be playing a lot in the game. So we want to commit to streaming a few times in the next and the following season, showing how I play the game. You can come and talk to me, and it won’t be packed with revelations, but it’s a great opportunity to just stop by with Joe.”
This is what the Destiny community says about the statement
The reactions of the Destiny community to this statement were quite positive. They particularly welcomed the personal explanations on equal footing with the players.
- Kildozer666 thinks: “Please make this kind of honest and direct communication standard practice at Bungie instead of only resorting to it in emergencies. Don’t wait until the community is completely gone and the whole game is burning before Bungie starts putting out fires and communicating. […]”
- The ambitious PvP player and content creator Frostbolt comments: “Nice to hear there will be a more focused approach for PvP. Some things are still unclear, but it was refreshing to hear.”
- TheDestinyShow podcast wrote: “We appreciate your honesty, Joe. This was a much-needed update, and we appreciate the clearer perspective as well as your quick response to listen to the Guardians’ feedback and focus on what the players wanted. We hope to receive more direct communication from you in the future.”
- The player Muffinbandit writes: “This is what we wished for. I love the ‘Face-to-Face’ communication. It feels real.”
Others in the Destiny community remained cautious to dismissive, emphasizing that while the statement answers some questions, it is also “just another trick” from Bungie.
- Mr. Ben writes: “People fell for this? Again?!? Come on, guys. This is just a trick to get you to pre-order Final Shape. […] This is damage control before the showcase next week, and you can be sure that pre-orders will go online on the same day.”
- ibetonme wants to believe it only when the announcements are available: “This is a start in the right direction and I welcome the efforts. However, I want to see these changes before I get back into the Destiny 2 hype.”
We want to know your opinion on this topic. What do you think of the announcements? Feel free to leave your thoughts in our comments and discuss it with other Guardians.
A small extra was dropped by the game director as well: In the Final Shape, there will be a revision of Xur and his Strange Coins as well as the HUD.
For everyone who wants a preview of the upcoming week and the new season 22 in Destiny 2 – please click here:
