The Dawning event in Destiny 2, which was recently revealed by Bungie, is now day-to-day and brings along new weapons. The studio’s official tweet mentioned ‘Ice-themed Holofoil weapons’ and asked what rolls players were after, which effectively got the players excited. But if one reads through the replies, he will find that the atmosphere is less celebratory and more like the community has held a venting session, which has reached the intensity of a Solar grenade. New loot that has been long awaited is here but already the player discontent is streaming and the spirit of the season has gone.
What about the new guns? The Dawning event, which is the winter holiday of Destiny 2, and has brought along a limited-edition set of Holofoil guns. These guns are said to have a distinctively dazzling ice-like appearance that not only would be very captivating to the players but also would make the guns almost irresistible. Bungie’s tweet was very plain: “What are the rolls you are going after?” That was a very common question for the developers to engage the community. But the response was nothing less than amazing. It opened up a massive critique flow that clearly shows the different segments of the Destiny 2 player base are feeling quite different at this point in time.
The most bitter criticism of the post is a horrible picture. Player ReignSenpai abruptly made his comment, “None of them, I will dismantle them instantly.” goku1144 another one ruthlessy called the Dawning guns ‘crap.’ doominigd324 just said, ‘It looks dull.’ That must be really tough! It is really hard to get community members to show enthusiasm about such a Christmas present! But it is obvious that before the community’s superficial criticism of the guns there was already a big problem, in fact, even deeper and more systemic issues that gamers have been complaining about for months—possibly even years.
Where to start? The list is quite long. Player OGVoorhees embarked on a negative review of visual clutter, even specifying a recent dungeon: ‘This dungeon has more visual effects than anything I’ve ever seen. It is way too cluttered… can we please have a setting or something to reduce the amount of screen shake and blurriness?’ It is a valid point—when your screen is full of particle effects, it really hard to tell what is actually trying to kill you….
Then you got the PvP crowd, and they are not happy at all. AdenBrownAF thanked Bungie ‘truly for ruining trials,’ and the reason he gave was cheaters and people throwing matches. Soonergolfer08 was even more direct: ‘Fix your PvP drops! Holy fk they suck.’ The competitive scene seems to be a painful spot, with players feeling neglected and frustrated both in terms of the experience and rewards.
But hold on, it gets even more existential. Several replies imply that the game has lost its core identity. Raijinmeister contended that Bungie made ‘weapon-based builds irrelevant with all the bullet sponges and all the crazy add density. It’s a shooter, where shooting can get you killed in a snap. Your dev team needs to be fired. ASAP.’ That’s a very harsh accusation against the current sandbox balance. Meanwhile, EphemerisLux was mourning the time sacrifice: ‘the grind is too time consuming though, if i want a looter shooter with fun gunplay i’ll play more borderlands.’
And then there are the veterans, those players with thousands of hours behind them who feel neglected. One very emotional response from CAHartley64 told of an 11-year journey with Destiny, resulting in over 12,000 hours spent and 212 friends made through the game. ‘And yet… all but one friend are gone… So I find it hard to get on and play anymore. I feel almost like I don’t care. AND I BLAME YOU, BUNGIE. YOU HAVE SCREWED UP THE GAME AND NOW, PLAYERS ARE NOT JUST LEAVING, THEY ARE GONE, FOR GOOD.’ That’s not simply rage; that’s mourning. It’s the sound of a loyal player reaching their breaking point after years of commitment.
In the midst of the disorder, some reasonable requests also emerged. phrog_lmao posted a meme once again demanding for more Vault Space, a perennial issue for collectors. Yo__Boyfriend_ asked for other armor like the ‘wild hunt vestment.’ And hilariously dartanionsx entirely ignored the weapons, shouting, ‘Drop the shader!’ At least somebody’s paying attention to clothing, which is the real endgame.
Naturally, not every reply was disapproving. There were a few players like deviatesourcer who actually showed their excitement (‘I need this baaaad’). User xTemperedOnex even shared a Reddit link with a ‘good idea,’ indicating some are still very much into giving constructive feedback. The game is also available on PlayStation and Xbox.
