The Destiny 2 community is great. All cool people who enjoy playing Destiny 2. But it’s also exactly the place where the most complaints about the game arise. Even when it comes to improvements. MeinMMO spoke with Bungie and wondered: Why is that the case, how can it be improved, and how does the developer handle it?
It is known that gamers sometimes have quite drastic opinions – sometimes justified, sometimes not – and this is no different in Destiny 2. The community is in agreement in some cases when it comes to problems in the game.
But then there are those curious situations when players are simply never satisfied.
- Regular updates bring improvements but are hated.
- If there are no regular updates, that is also criticized.
- Challenges are too easy. If they become more challenging, then it’s again too hard.
- Leveling is too tedious and takes time. If Bungie supports players with 1,520 loot, that is the next point of criticism.
You always need something to complain about: Can you even satisfy Destiny 2 players? Or does the community just always need something to complain about to be happy?
In principle, I am very much in favor of addressing problems. Destiny 2 is a big game, and its players are clever in figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Players who are only cheerful, easygoing, and compliant are a bad sign to me.
How loud and annoying the community can be is evident to anyone who browses the forums at Bungie, Twitter, or Reddit. Toxic comments, insults, hatred towards changes, and blatant accusations are frequently encountered there.
This kind of feedback from “negative gamers” personally robs me of the joy of playing. Especially since it is pointless when forum posts only report about a “trash witch” in the activity “source”. Often, I have looked online for information about my own problems in the game or searched in the Bungie forums for others who might already have a solution. However, what I have found far too often there was simply the impulse to close my browser and shake my head over so much hatred.
Even if there are problems, one should remain polite: Of course, the weapon drops in the source weren’t optimal, the weapon crafting is too restrictive, and the exotic glaives are not as good as players expected after the first presentation.
But does that automatically justify being rude? Personally, I don’t think so. Not even when the displeasure about a problem is really great. Why? Because it helps no one.
This is Bungie’s response: We asked Blake Battle, Project Lead at Bungie, in an interview: “How reactive can you be as a developer to complaints, and how difficult is it to address everything the community throws at you?”
Well, it’s impossible. It’s very hard, but we are definitely trying to respond. And I think you saw that last week.
We know that many of us enjoy the game since its release, even outside of work, and pay attention and listen to things. […] I think there will always be a player who just wants items to be really hard to get and have their loot be unique. And then there will be players who are unhappy when the best exotics aren’t in their inbox after logging in.
We are always trying to create the best experience for everyone.
Blake Battle, Project Lead at Bungie
Destiny 2 is not perfect: I wouldn’t expect 100% perfection from a live-service game. Destiny 2 definitely has annoying bugs and issues that often frustrate players. What game doesn’t?
That it can be done differently is demonstrated by the Destiny 2 player and Reddit user bjyu9824. He simply asks to fix the bug quickly so he can master his exotic weapon “Osteo Striga” and Bungie has responded to help him and all other players with the same problem.
We will fix this in tomorrow’s hotfix, so there shouldn’t be a problem next week. We will also add a one-time purchase of 2 Ascendant alloys for the price of one, which you can pick up whenever you want.
“Hippy” aka Liana Ruppert, Community Manager at Bungie (via reddit)
Maybe it’s true that you get more attention when you communicate a problem calmly and constructively without being rude. And generally keeping to the common rules of respectful interaction.
At least that would be the right way for me to deal with a problem. Instead, you experience that even a 15-minute downtime twice a week is enough to upset players and insult developers.
One must keep in mind that you only see a small segment of a complete community. The majority do not speak up, making the problem and hatred in forums even more dominant. Many refrain from commenting because they don’t want to put themselves through that, and I can understand that.
It’s not all negative: Bugs and issues are always annoying, no question about it. But isn’t it even more annoying when a developer doesn’t respond to criticism of the game at all? I had the impression that Bungie’s support has improved in recent seasons.
They have always been open to honest and constructive criticism from their community, and after the launch of Witch Queen, they asked whether players had questions or problems.
Apparently, I am not the only one who has noticed this.
Annoying when players are simply never satisfied
I now believe that, although Bungie is one of the most responsive and proactive developers, it hardly makes a difference that bugs are now fixed more quickly, especially when it comes to resolving player issues. Even improvement requests that have already been implemented do not help improve the gaming experience for the “perpetual complainers”.
- The seasonal artifact can be fully unlocked and reset at low cost.
- The mods for armor can now also be used for free.
- Through third parties, the option has been released for players to save loadouts.
- Armor with high stats is available again in Season 16 through the season pass.
- Bungie provided compensation for the purchase bug regarding Ascendant alloys.
- Annoying blue engrams have a lower drop rate when players have exceeded the soft cap of 1500.
A change may not always come immediately, and certainly, there are still other problems that remain. These include the issues in PvP and Gambit, the lagging menu load times in the tower, or that the Loreley Splendor Helm of the Titan consumes ability energy upon death. But these are bugs and problems that Bungie is already aware of and have thus been marked for processing.
A downtime also has its advantages: Personally, that’s enough for me, and I gladly accept 15 minutes on Tuesdays and a few hours of downtime on Thursdays if it means I have a few fewer problems afterward.
Admittedly, sometimes it doesn’t always run smoothly. Especially when fixing an issue causes new problems, like with the recent name change that was reopened. But since I don’t know the technical details, I won’t judge the reasons here.
Every developer has a team consisting of people like you and me. Things are organized, delegated, and sometimes something goes wrong. However, it must be apparent to me as a player that efforts are being made to improve as a developer.
Sure, I would also like to have 1,000 vault spaces and think that weapon crafting has further exacerbated this issue, as I cannot and don’t want to dismantle resonant weapons. But solutions must come from Bungie, in whatever form.
However, if players ultimately receive a Destiny 2 where casual gamers as well as elite players get their money’s worth, I am willing to accompany that process of finding solutions. Long-time players know that Bungie sometimes has good ideas that just need a little refinement.
That is also why I will never belong to the negative gamers, but believe that together we can achieve much more without a small bug, a missing item, or a longer downtime ruining the fun of playing.
What do you think? Are you among those players who immediately go after the developer when something goes wrong? Or do you strive to communicate problems quickly and normally, so that others can express themselves and focus on constructive criticism or error correction?
Do toxic comments in the community perhaps deter you from being active? Or do 15 minutes of downtime instantly drive you to the brink of madness? Let us know.
