Destiny 2's newest community activity is dead in the water
It looks like players might finally be fed up with the gameplay loop in Destiny 2.
If Bungie were a boxer or MMA fighter and I was their coach, I’d throw in the towel to stop them from taking any further damage. It’s getting downright ugly, Guardians.
With yesterday’s weekly reset in Destiny 2, Bungie introduced a quest called The Lie which will eventually lead Guardians to Felwinter’s Lie, a Legendary Shotgun that looks promising. The quest begins with a community-based objective; complete 9,000,000 Seraph Towers as a community, splitting them evenly between the EDZ, Moon, and Io. That’s 3,000,000 completions per destination. There’s just one issue; the activity missed the mark and players aren’t falling for the dangling carrot this time.
According to a Reddit post by IATMB, 24 hours after the quest went live Guardians were barely scratching the surface of this quest step.
- EDZ: 154,133
- Moon: 22,026
- Io: 13,078
Of the 9,000,000 completions required, Guardians had cleared only 189,237 Seraph Towers, or 2.1 percent progress overall. That puts this quest step’s completion at just over 47 days, assuming there is no decline in clears, which there almost certainly will be. That means this step won’t be completed until after Season 10: Season of the Worthy completes.
Why is this happening? Well, for starters I think there’s an incredible amount of fatigue in the community when it comes to repetitive gameplay and grinding. We’re talking about Guardians completing the same activity repeatedly for hours on end. This activity doesn’t have particularly good rewards and, worst of all, it relies on patrol-based matchmaking, something the community rightfully despises. If you’re not aware, this type of matchmaking relies on you entering the zone where the activity is found, then maybe being matched with other players. Sometimes, though, you are alone, or there are simply too few players to complete the activity. This activity is intended for seven to nine players, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen nine players in the same patrol zone dating back to the original Destiny.
To make matters even worse for Bungie, there’s a post on the subreddit talking about how Bungie will release the weapon regardless of success or failure. Dredgen1994 believes that Bungie just assumes the community will get this done. They also remind players that the developers put time and resources into making this event and creating this weapon, and they are selling an ornament for it in Eververse next week that will cost Silver, a currency you must pay real money to acquire. Players are calling Bungie's bluff here, and it puts the developer in a tough spot. If players fail to complete the quest, does Bungie toss the weapon in the trash and say goodbye to revenue through sales of the ornament? Or, do they release it anyway and teach players that if they stomp their feet and scream loud enough they'll get their way? If you're a parent, you know that Bungie can't afford the latter, but maybe they can find some middle ground. Shelve the weapon and ornament for now, and maybe bring it back out when the community has cooled off a bit.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. My prediction is Bungie drastically reduces the required runs of the Seraph Towers, but that’s yet another band aid on a bullet hole. It won’t make the community like the gameplay loop, so no matter what Bungie does with this quest, I think this might be the one where players just walk away from it in what would be their most defiant community protest yet.
Here’s to hoping we get Destiny 2 to a good place with a happy community and happy developer. How do we make that happen?
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replyBill Lavoy posted a new article, Destiny 2's newest community activity is dead in the water
