In Destiny 2 something is finally happening in PvP, as the new TWaB informs the Guardians about how the future of the Crucible will look like in Season 18. Finally, the Skill-Based Matchmaking, known as SBMM, is making a comeback, but not everywhere.
What are the complaints in PvP? In Destiny 2, there is no more skill matchmaking. Not for every mode, to be precise. The competitive playlists enjoy this feature, but many pro PvP players complained about the constant SBMM. They do not want to be matched with their equals all the time and finally want to play rounds where they can win without much effort.
This fulfilled Bungie’s wish and sparked a whole avalanche of discussions and discontent in the community. The matchmaking supported weaker players and provided them with a fair match, but after its removal, the following matches became increasingly unbalanced.
Since then, PvP resembles a chaotic mess, where one has to hope to get a good round without being crushed or winning by a landslide.
As Bungie has now announced in the “This Week at Bungie” blog, they want to finally change this state. Season 18 is set to bring back matchmaking, but only in one mode at first.
The SBMM is coming back, but only in one mode – Control
What will change for PvP in Season 18? In the new TWaB of Destiny 2, a modified form of SBMM is mentioned. This matchmaking will find its place in Season 18 in the Control mode, at least for now.
The algorithm will be changed and adjusted weekly to create the perfect system that aims to ensure solid fairness. Bungie has recorded and analyzed the current state of the Crucible.
These analyses revealed that matches were often concluded early because opposing teams had no chance to cope with the imbalance.
Bungie wants to prevent this; they aim to ensure that most of the PvP rounds are won either by points or time limits. The SBMM system is expected to assist them with this issue. The goal is to provide all players, including New Light players, with matches where they can remain competitive.
Will there be further changes? Unfortunately not. Neither changes for other Crucible modes nor Glory or Trials playlists are planned. For now, Bungie is focusing on developing a balanced matchmaking system. Only the Control mode will be used as a testing ground.
It is conceivable that Bungie, once they have developed a suitable algorithm that works well, will also apply it to all other existing PvP modes.
The development team is also aware of the issues with 6-man teams in the Crucible and how they dominate many matches due to imbalance. Bungie wants to observe this more closely and possibly introduce a special fireteam matchmaking in Season 19. Further details will follow in the near future.
What do you think of the upcoming changes for PvP in Destiny 2? Do you think this is a step in the right direction, or does it not matter to you and would you rather have new maps?
