Destiny opposed to reignite player engagement

Destiny’s freshest update vows not to shield the action from the players by adding a whole multitude of features to a game that is eager for it. DeeJ once said it is a fact that everything in this latest content drop will be overt and upfront, no hidden missions or quests that can only be accessed by the hardest of the hardcore will be enshadowed.

In truth, there were discussions regarding the Taken Void Sword, a weapon fresh to the game with this update. DeeJ cleverly dodges the inquiry of how you get it, but our best theory is that it is a premium for beating the new Strike; for smashing Taken big-bad Malok, who has plans for the empty throne left by Oryx. However, he openly acknowledges that Destiny needs more ideas, more incentives for players to stay, and more ways for people to reach that ever-growing Light Level cap.

There is slight tension about the fact that Destiny is going through a relative dry spell. While it is still well populated, some players have strayed away to other distractions (such as The Division, which also gets a significant update today) in a continuous search for new elements. Minor events like Crimson Days solely are not enough to satisfy the community’s hunger for fresh ways to carve up the universe. However, the April update is going some way to rectifying that. It is far from a comprehensive resolution, but it will unquestionably give players plenty to nibble on, and will likely entice many lapsed Guardians back to the fight.

And while the latest material will always present a quick fix for the faithful, April’s update is doing something which is far more important. It is levelling the playing field. Destiny now does a better job of rewarding different types of players, and some players will be able to reach 335 Light without having to build up into Fireteams while this update is feeding more for solo players. They are providing gamers with diverse types of ventures that they can undertake to reach their full potential.

While prevailing end-game missions make of Crucible an extremely replayable game, it is unavailable to a decent mass of Destiny’s player-base since it relies on group coordination, and if even a small percentage of Guardians have emigrated to other games, this if even momentarily, this becomes much troublesome to achieve.

And for some, this only indicates that hitting Light Level 320 is improbable. Labor all you desire, but the drops will be too low-level to push you past early 300s. That has now shifted, if you go into everything like Challenge of Elders and if you achieve these quests, Destiny is doing a much better role of providing you with a guaranteed virtue. If you go and complete these activities, you are guaranteed certain types of rewards. However, if you go into Challenge of Elders and reach the mandatory high score with your Fireteam, then you check in with Variks, he is going to give you a piece of armour or a weapon that will drop up to 335 Light. So there is still an improvement, still a climb up to the mountain to reach 335, but Destiny is scarcely more predictable about the way it rewards your participation and your bravery in these activities.

Level 42 Challenge of Elders is still issued for pre-arranged Fireteams where there is no matchmaking, but the Level 41 PoE will match you up with other Guardians and help you climb to 320 Light. Court of Oryx will drop gear up to 335, and the standard of kit across Heroic Strikes and Nightfalls has been supported in this update too. Bungie wants you to improve, and while it still declines to give the most challenging end-game content to solo players, it is certainly pushing them closer to the crucial levels.

It is assuredly an emergency lever that Bungie can pull if things like the April update do not reignite player engagement as they should. It will be intriguing to see if all the new bits actually satisfy players long-term, or whether we will gorge this one as greedily as we did with The Taken King. It is excellent that Bungie is potentially enhancing the game to make all types of players feel powerful, to make everyone feel like they can hit that slippery Light Level cap. When we were all weary of Zen Meteor and the new Blighted Chalice Strike, this democratisation of the game’s juiciest content will be the real legacy of this update.