Destiny 2’s Latest Event Should Have Been a Hit, But Instead it Brings New Frustrations

Community forums, subreddits, and social media have been filled with criticism of Destiny 2’s new event, with players voicing frustrations with regard to how it works. Even players who have been regularly grinding Destiny 2 and are at the current hard cap of power level 550 have found that they can’t hit the top 1%. So, what was initially supposed to be a fun way for players to scoop up god rolls, earn a cool helmet, and prepare for the launch of the Renegades expansion has instead become yet another pain point for a game that has had too many of them lately.

How Call to Arms Works in Destiny 2

The idea behind Call of Arms involves placement in five different activities: Heliostat, The Coil, Salt Mines, Proving Grounds, and Cutting Edge: Zone Control. As you do in any portal activity, you earn a score based on the difficulty of the activity, what modifiers are active, and your overall (or your team’s) performance. Your final score in that activity will place you in a percentile of the overall Destiny 2 population, and each percentile grouping will reward you a certain number of points. Those points allow you to pick up more gear from Devrim Kay’s daily shipment, and your rewards at the end of the event will also be determined by your overall points.

Where things get problematic is that the score, as mentioned, is influenced by the difficulty and modifiers of the activity, with higher difficulty giving you a higher score. As Destiny 2 exists now, only players who pass a certain threshold can toggle the highest difficulty, Ultimate, and therefore give themselves a shot at the best score. In essence, if you aren’t above a 500 power level, you have no chance of ranking in the highest percentile.

It didn’t take long for Destiny 2 players to realize this was the case and begin sharing their feedback. Yes, you can still participate in the event and earn those daily shipments, but it seemed like Call to Arms is a case of the “rich getting richer” rather than those who maybe are lagging behind having an opportunity to catch up.

The good news is that Bungie has already heard the criticisms about Call to Arms and is likely seeing if it can make changes. But there were players voicing concerns about the event being power level-based when it was first announced. If Call to Arms was meant to get lapsed Destiny 2 players back into the groove before Renegades launches, this is unfortunately having the opposite effect. It’s an example of how prohibitive this new approach to Destiny 2 can be, with the Portal system being the key way to grind power level and gear.

It’s not the main focus of criticism, but there is also the feeling of Call to Arms being pay-to-win because the paid rewards pass offers a 15% bonus to score. Granted, if you are not high enough power level to begin with, that 15% isn’t going to make a difference, but for those 550 power level players, it’s hard not to imagine the highest scores coming from those who purchased the rewards pass.

Call to Arms’ Activity Choice Highlights Destiny 2 Problems

There are other frustrations in Call to Arms as well, like the choice of Salt Mines as the Solo Ops activity. Just like the Destiny subreddit has a fair bit of players voicing their issues with the scoring placement system, there are just as many saying how much they dislike the setup of Salt Mines. Having to search out the Splinters feels like a chore, there are quite a few bosses in the mission, the enemies that spawn after destroying all Splinters take away too long to appear, and the shield drones are just plain annoying.

Limited revive tokens on The Coil is also another issue, with many players feeling like the margin for error is so slim in the activity that they would rather not participate. And Crucible, while easier to perform in regardless of power level, seems to have some weird scoring where even getting 2nd or 3rd place on a winning team doesn’t feel like enough to generate a decent placement.

Destiny 2 Needs a Win Heading into Renegades

Coming off of Festival of the Lost, which Bungie tried something new with but had some growing pains, Call to Arms feels like another event that doesn’t quite hit the mark. There is a great nugget of an idea within the event, but the execution is lacking once again. The fact that we are only roughly 24 hours removed from Call to Arms’ launch and Bungie is already saying they hear the criticisms is all you need to know at this point. Bungie is great about responding to player feedback and implementing changes even when it completely overhauls key parts of its game, but there comes a point where you have to wonder why the developers can’t anticipate this response.

And don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Destiny 2 players who are not going to see any issues with Call to Arms. They have been grinding Destiny 2 regularly since Edge of Fate and Ash and Iron. They are already at 550 power level and are merely looking to chase some weapons with strong perks. Those people deserve to have their dedication rewarded and should be in that top 1%.

On the flip side, it also shouldn’t feel impossible for any player to compete. If there is an honest desire to return to the game, being greeted by another activity that feels restrictive is another way to push them further from the game.

The Star Wars-inspired Renegades expansion is on the way, and there is no question that Destiny 2 needs the add-on to bring the community back into the fold in a big way. Player sentiment is low and to Bungie’s credit, the devs are working hard to improve the game. It’s just frustrating when something new and exciting misses the mark right out of the gate. Hopefully, whatever changes are planned make the event more engaging for every type of Destiny 2 player.

Released

August 28, 2017

ESRB

T For TEEN for Blood, Language, and Violence