Since last weekend, Bungie forced the Trials of Osiris into the game’s world of Destiny 2, and the fans are… well, it is safe to say that they’re performing mixed reviews. In high-stakes PvP on the Javelin-4 map, social media has been filled with complaints of cheaters, badges that don’t really reward you, and matchmaking, which honestly seems to have been set up by a drunk chimp.
Suddenly it all clicked, there’s something terribly wrong here. SkaiSportss was cruising on a 13-win streak until he ran into “three teams of hackers in a row” that had stats that were impossible to beat, including 100% headshot accuracy. CasualXG4mer simply stated that the new anti-cheat “hasn’t worked,” as he witnessed the cheaters running amok. And JamesJ1492 picked up on the trend of “loading into matches, then having to give in to aimbot over and over.” So, not quite the competitive experience Bungie assured us, eh?
There is also the loot system. Last week, JoeTkBoy was flawless and his rewards were “tier 4 rewards (395 power)” which literally must have been vest-pocket lint for an endgame character. This week: “same story – 4 win streak today gets me 2 pieces of tier 4 armour and no weapons.” GazzaVapes1103 stated best upon arriving at the Lighthouse: “Got…one gun and 3 bits of armor.” For a game mode that requires being undefeated against the sweatiest bunch of players, the rewards feel like a slap on the face.
Power level issues were going to be assisted in player entry as well. AestheticFamine is stuck “under 200LL” while JJRedfern93 owns every expansion but the last and simply cannot play because his “nearly 400 power level” is just not enough. BIG Meanwhile Deniayl_ in his endless thirst for a balance change, keeps questioning why Bungie isn’t going to “nerf tempest strike, void hunters, hc shotgun, pulses” that rule the meta.
The whole matchmaking is dreadful for these guys. JoeTkBoy: “Awful”. reflex1967nl1 rage quit after “no bullit begin end of trails play never again”. And then there’s the Special Ammo meltdown- Morolegend2018 just tweeted, “Speciale Ammo gone ,, @DestinyTheGame reallyyyyy” as if someone kicked their puppy.
Bungie does have quite a tall order, indeed. Cheating is happily rampant, loot unsatisfactory, and balance problems are in the scarier-than-Tina modes, draining more players from the Trials than a Guardian can take a squad full of Revoker stasis-Hunters. The mode was supposed to be home to the absolute highest level competitive experience for Destiny, but at this moment, it is just painful.
Will Bungie fix this? Well, they’ve already got the anti-cheat technology and a whole slew of knobs for tuning it into their adjustments. But with the players this mad, the game’s shine is dwindling, and the clock is ticking on the make-believe of the Lighthouse. So, in the meantime, go grab a handy shotty, pray to the matchmaking gods, and maybe-good luck-will grant you something other than the 395 power helmet.
