In early June, angry players of the “Titan” class in Destiny 2 confronted developer Kevin Yanes because he didn’t bring any good news regarding an exotic item. Now the Community Manager of Bungie makes it clear: This is not acceptable. This type of harassment makes communication increasingly difficult.
This caused anger: The Sandbox Lead of Destiny 2, Kevin Yanes, is someone who is close to the players and enjoys talking to them. In early June, he answered a fan question on his personal Twitter account that emerged after an official blog post by Bungie:
- On June 2, 2022, Yanes posted on Twitter that the popular Titan armor “Twilight Garrison” (Dämmerbruch-Garnison) would never come to Destiny 2.
- The exotic armor was available in Destiny 1.
- The special feature of the armor was “Tactical Air Support”: Titans could dodge in the air when using the armor.
In a tweet, Yanes explained that this feature of the armor, the “Air Dodge,” should remain exclusive to Warlocks in Destiny 2. The ability to dodge in the air now belongs to the identity of the Warlocks.
Titans will never regain this ability in Destiny 2.
Yanes expressed: He is sorry. But he has to take this band-aid off now, meaning taking hope away from the Titans.
Titans berate developers until he withdraws from public view
This is how fans reacted: According to reports from “Ginx“, “numerous fans of Destiny 2” began to harass and insult the developer.
In the official subreddit of Destiny 2, the discussion also arose: Here, the developer received many hateful messages, and the moderators had to close the thread.
Titans apparently believed that Yanes hated them and granted them no mobility whatsoever. They felt that the “Air Dodge” was their entitlement and not that of the dorky Warlock.
Many of the attacks have since been deleted. However, there are even reports of death threats.
Yanes subsequently removed his tweet and has also withdrawn from Twitter since then. He apparently felt deliberately misunderstood and turned into a punching bag for Titans to vent their disappointment.
In such PR videos, Bungie usually presents their thoughts:
Community Manager calls on players to stand up against harassment
This is now Bungie’s message: Nearly two months after the incident, Bungie’s Community Manager, dmg04, has spoken out: He says it should be possible for developers to openly discuss their work without being harassed.
The Community Manager urges players to take action against such harassment and stand against such behavior.
He states that such harassment makes it harder for everyone to communicate with the community. This affects not only Bungie but also other studios.
This is what it’s about: It’s a difficult topic. Fans like to look for a scapegoat for decisions they disagree with.
When a developer exposes himself and shows himself to be the one explaining and representing such decisions, he often faces the wrath of the fans.
Therefore, developers tend to avoid the stress and refrain from engaging with the fans. When the few people who openly communicate with fans are then attacked like Yanes, it ultimately leads to fans not receiving “honest answers” anymore, but only watered-down PR information.
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