In the MMO shooter Destiny, official eSports rules have been established by ESL, making ESL the first major eSports league to do so.
The eSports scene is growing increasingly larger – including here in Germany. A significant contributor to this is the Electronic Sports League (ESL), a globally significant platform for professional gaming that is likely well-known to many gamers in this country.
While games like League of Legends, Starcraft II, DOTA 2, or Counterstrike have long established themselves in the eSports scene, new games are making tentative attempts in this area. The foundation has now been laid to introduce the MMO shooter Destiny into professional gaming. ESL has established official eSports rules.
Official tournaments need official rules
A loot game like Destiny struggles to gain a foothold in eSports: There is an enormous variety of armor pieces and weapons with special abilities, along with various subclasses, which undermine one important aspect of eSports: fairness and equal chances for all tournament participants.
Therefore, clear rules are necessary to exclude unfair disadvantages. The “sweats” community, the “sweats”, have already established their own rules to host proper tournaments. ESL has now oriented itself to these rules: The official ESL rule set for Destiny comes from the fans. Thanks are given to FarCognitions and his team.
Exotic armor pieces are not allowed
The rule set contains some surprises – especially for those new to eSports: In ESL tournaments, different multiplayer modes are played in rotation, and not in Destiny’s typical three or six-member teams. Instead, 4v4 is to be established, which is the standard in most eSports shooters.
For Destiny tournaments, a separate point system for armor is used, with a maximum value of seven points per player. Exotic armor is completely excluded. Also, all “Iron Lord” artifacts (except for Jolder) and heavy ammunition are forbidden. Furthermore, each subclass may only occur once per team.
Most exotic weapons, however, are allowed, except for:
- Falkenmond
- No Land Beyond
- Universal Remote
- Icebreaker
- Complaint
- Queenbreaker Bow
Additionally, some perks are forbidden, such as Roulette. The complete rule set can be found on the ESL website.
By the way: With “Rise of Iron,” the developers introduced private matches in the autumn of 2016, a feature the community had been requesting since the launch of Destiny (autumn 2014). It was only with this step that the door to tournaments was opened. Information about private matches can be found here.
