Blaming Crucible losses on lag? Destiny matchmaking tweaks aim to fix that

By Kris Wouk January 27, 2016

destiny 2 overhaul pc bungie warlock melee — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For some players who have been playing Destiny for long enough to have maxed out their characters, the only thing keeping them returning to the game is Crucible matches, but problems with lag can be enough to send even the most die-hard players to another game. Obviously, developer Bungie wants to avoid this at all costs.

When the latest expansion to the game, The Taken King, was launched last year, it brought with it a new system to evaluate player skill, Bungie community manager DeeJ wrote in a blog post earlier this week. Since then, the company has been tweaking matchmaking to focus on both skill and connectivity, in order to ensure challenging matches that are relatively lag-free.

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“In light of recent feedback from the community, it’s very clear that we have more work to do,” Deej wrote. “As that work progresses, I’d also like to pledge that you’ll be more included in that process.”

Yesterday, the limited-time Iron Banner Crucible mode returned to Destiny, complete with the new Rift game type added in The Taken King. Starting today at 10 am PT, Bungie will be deploying new matchmaking settings, which will be exclusive to Iron Banner to start.

The new matchmaking settings will focus even more on good connections, hopefully ensuring that players “don’t have to spend an eternity in orbit while the matchmaking engine works behind the scenes.” Bungie will be monitoring the situation closely, and is asking players to share their feedback.

With the recent report that the sequel to Destiny is farther off than initially thought, Bungie has its work cut out for it if it wants players to stick around. While the company has been adding smaller updates like the recent Sparrow Racing League, more is needed to keep players returning.

Bungie seems to hope that involving players in decisions more will make them more likely to stick around. “This is the continuation of a conversation in which you influence the development of Destiny,” DeeJ wrote.

If you’re looking to try out the new matchmaking, The Iron Banner runs until February 2.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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Bloomberg suggests that these layoffs, like others at Sony this year, are tied to internal game delays. While Destiny 2: The Final Shape is publicly slated to come out in February 2024, Bungie reportedly told staff that it's now going to come out in June 2024. Meanwhile, we learned that Bungie's revival of Marathon was apparently targeting a 2024 launch -- although no release window was given officially -- but will now come out sometime in 2025. These delays make the PlayStation 5's 2024 game lineup look pretty sparse right now outside of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it suggests that Destiny 2's next season will be one of its longest.
As of now, Sony and Bungie have not publicly commented on the layoffs or delays, but we will update this post when they do say more about it.

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Seasoned Destiny 2 players know they can count on the elusive merchant Xur to make an appearance with special exotic items every Friday, but what's not so clear is where you'll be able to find him. Below, you'll find a map with a marker that indicates where Xur is, as well as a list of his wares.

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If you're new to Destiny 2 and need a bit more information about how this works, you should know that Xur is a special vendor who sells exotic weapons and armor. Each week, he comes to the solar system with a slate of goods, including an exotic weapon and one piece of exotic armor for each character class. As of The Witch Queen, he now stocks legendary armor and weapons and sells additional exotic weapons with random rolls every week.
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The trouble with Xur is finding him. We always know when Xur will show up -- at the 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET reset each Friday. The question is where Xur will be. Previously in Destiny 2, Xur’s location was marked on the map. He’s now unmarked and harder to find each weekend. Here’s where to go to track down Xur, the Agent of the Nine, as well as everything you need to know about what he’s offering this week.