Destiny 2 has provided current insights into the ongoing restructuring of PvP. Among other things, it was revealed why your PvP matches in the first hours of Season 18 felt so good to play. However, there is also a concerning trend that Bungie will soon address. MeinMMO explains what to expect in PvP and how SBMM matchmaking is being received.
This is what Bungie communicated to the players: In the latest blog post from Bungie, known as “This Week at Bungie”, the developer mainly discussed Bungie’s insights into the state of PvP in Season 18.
- Alan Blaine, Bungie’s Principal Designer, mentioned the particularly concerning trend in PvP, which will be prevented in the future with a so-called “Quit Protection”.
- He also shared the overall status of the introduction of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). A system that Bungie wants to test in Season 18 for the “Control” mode.
Those who leave will be punished in the future
What is the “Quit Protection” in PvP all about? In the first week of Season 18, Destiny 2 players played 140,000 more hours of “Control” than in the first week of Season 17. This increased the total number of players who enjoyed playing control by about 11%. Clearly, many wanted to try out the new matchmaking for its effectiveness.
At the same time, however, the percentage of players who leave a Crucible match early has also risen. In the last week alone, from 8% to 12%.
The reasons for this are not entirely clear yet.
- Bungie suggests it could be a natural reaction from players to the new system.
- However, players might also leave their PvP matches more often because they are dissatisfied with the map, getting picked off too often, or facing teams they cannot compete against.
- Avoiding an impending loss could also be a factor.
- Or because players are simply fed up with cheaters in the Crucible.
Despite the stated reasons, this behavior is something Bungie views critically. Especially since matchmaking intentionally groups players in this configuration. This is intended to ensure that 12 similarly skilled players have a balanced match. If one leaves, the balance is gone.
This means no escaping cheaters and teams anymore: Since you’d rather leave than finish the PvP match, Bungie will add the so-called “Quit Protection” or “Quitter Protection” in an upcoming patch. So soon you will no longer have a choice and will have to deal with the cheaters in the match until the end. This is also a problem that Destiny 2 is plagued with.
What are the consequences for leaving? What consequences you will have to face is not yet known. Bungie wants to go into more detail about this at a later time. However, we will keep you updated.
It could be conceivable, for example, that Bungie will impose a ban on you for leaving a match early. This could be 15 minutes for the first offense, 30 minutes for the second, or 60 minutes for the third – culminating in a complete playlist matchmaking timeout.
Even if this is just an assumption of ours, it would mean that unintentional leaving of PvP Control matches – for instance, due to an internet outage – would not be too serious for players. However, players who intentionally and repeatedly quit would need to consider it carefully.
It can be concluded that Bungie’s “Quit Protection” is a bold move. Time will have to show whether this truly manages to solve the problem of notorious “Quitters” and, above all, how the developer intends to keep them in the match, even when cheaters are dominating everything.
How the new SBMM matchmaking performs overall
However, before the new “Quit System” comes, the actual skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) must first prove itself to players. And the SBMM launch was as bumpy as that of Season 18.
Bungie admits to errors at the start of SBMM: At the introduction of the new matchmaking system, not everything went smoothly. SBMM matchmaking was supposed to be integrated into the “Control” mode right after August 23. However, that did not go as planned.
Instead, players quickly realized that suddenly their skills did not matter for matchmaking anymore. Neither did the platform. Instead, the “Control” mode used simple standard matchmaking – essentially Bungie’s fallback solution for emergencies.
- Bungie’s standard matchmaking selects players based on their connection latency in the first 15 seconds.
- After that, all players are indiscriminately mixed together. Basically, the system just takes the first 11 Guardians it finds, ignoring both connection and platform as well as skills.
The mode could not be played for long. By the evening, Bungie noticed the error and corrected it. Nevertheless, some players felt surprisingly comfortable with this matchmaking. Only after that could players try out the new SBMM matchmaking.
The first week with SBMM matchmaking was solid
For years, Bungie has been trying to keep PvP friendly and competitive. However, players do not seem to feel truly comfortable in any system.
On reddit, player Titan Master Face writes about it:
- One wishes for a competitive game mode but complains when it is competitive.
- On the other hand, one also wants a casual game mode but complains when it is too easy.
However, since the introduction of SBMM matchmaking in “Control”, players have at least reported more positive impressions overall.
- Players are now reportedly finding people with similar combat efficiency much more often in matches, which offers more class diversity.
- And they are less often stomped by so-called “try-hard” PvP players, making the games overall more exciting and also more relaxed.
With a few optimizations, for example regarding player connections, it could therefore become a solid option.
Bungie is already planning to address the number of poor connections during PvP matches and investigate this issue more closely. If successful, this could also be the path to more casual players in the Crucible.
If you enjoy playing with numbers, we recommend reading the full Bungie report in the “This Week at Bungie” blog.
What were your impressions of the new SBMM matchmaking? Are you coping with it, or does it not fit you yet? Feel free to tell us in the comments which lobbies you have encountered and how the matches felt for you.
Whether other things in the stale playlists will soon be revised, you can read about here:
