Destiny 2 News Roundup – Trials Matchmaking, Prime Rewards, plus incoming hotfix
Bungie was back this week with their usual This Week At Bungie update. This week we got a debrief on the Trials Matchmaking experiment, plus their plans to revert back to the flawless pool, plus news about Prime Rewards, a new community manager plus prep for an upcoming hotfix coming next week.
Let’s dive into the update from Bungie.
IRON BANNER ARMOR
While we may be sad that Festival of the Lost has concluded, Lord Saladin is having a bit of fun. Iron Banner is back, and a little brighter than what you may remember. A pesky little bug prevented the Iron Forerunner sets from lighting with a brilliant flame during our first Iron Banner event of the season. Now, as many players have discovered, these armor sets burn brightly during Iron Banner weeks.
Whether you equip this armor or use Synthweave to apply the look, pieces with the Iron Banner sigil now light in a brilliant flame when Iron Banner is active. Mix and match your favorite shaders and Exotics to make some sweet looks.
Complete matches, turn in tokens, and complete your weekly bounties for chances at high-stat rolls on these armor pieces.
While Trials is on a short hiatus for Iron Banner week, we do have some details from the team on matchmaking. We are also announcing two weeks of Bungie Bounties, inviting you to share your stories for the Heroes Welcome campaign, refreshing our Prime Rewards offerings, and more!
TESTING THE WATERS
Last weekend, we tried out some changes to matchmaking in Trials of Osiris. We shifted to a system that put some focus on overall wins, pushing players into different buckets depending on how much they had played (and won) on a given weekend. While we are incredibly happy with the amount of data we were able to collect, this matchmaking system did not meet the goals that we had established last Thursday. As we continue to hone in on what settings we would like for Trials overall, we appreciate all who have been hopping in for a few cards and sounding off with feedback. Pairing data with player feedback and experiences is key to continued success!
Today, the team will be going through our findings and speaking to some upcoming changes when Trials returns on November 12.
Team:
Hey everyone! Thanks for participating in our latest experiment in Trials matchmaking. Sometimes you learn more when things don’t go well than you do when everything is perfect. Last week, we talked about balancing match outcomes (blowouts vs close matches) with matchmaking times.
Compared to three weeks ago:
Average matchmaking time was up by about 10 seconds, but if you were on the bleeding edge of win counts, your matchmaking times could easily be anywhere from 2 minutes to over 5.
Overall games played was down about 33%.
Blowout rate went up slightly to 28%.
Solo play went up a bit, and fireteam play – either exclusively or part time, went down by about a third. Low to average skilled players played about the same (or a bit more), whereas high skill players played significantly less, with the highest skilled cohort playing two hours less on average than in previous weeks – a number that has otherwise been very consistent in most revamp weeks (as well as most weeks in the previous Seasons).
While there are some positives, most of the data is either negative or neutral. Combined with the feedback on social media channels, this has fueled our decision to move back to purely card-based matchmaking with a Flawless pool for the foreseeable future.
Tune in next week for a Trials Labs pre-brief and details on some other plans we have for the mode between now and The Witch Queen!
HEROES WELCOME
Earlier this week, we put out a question to you on social media. What are the most heroic Destiny 2 moments you’ve experienced? Do you have any fond memories of times where you or a fireteam member saved the day moments before wiping in a Nightfall? How about something Crucible related, like a massive killstreak that saved your team from a loss? Gambit is up for grabs too, whether it be a teammate melting a boss or taking out an invader.
Whatever your story may be, all heroes are welcome. Shoot us a tweet tagged with #D2Herostories. We’d love to use them to inspire new players as they join Destiny 2 for the first time.
If you have videos, screenshots, or art, be sure to include them!
A PRIME CUP OF TEA
Here in the Seattle area, things are getting cold. Even as I sit here writing up the TWAB, I have bundled myself in multiple layers, a blanket, and a robe for extra warmth. You know what would be nice right now… a warm cup of maple tea. Don’t we have an emote in the game that is called “Cup of Tea” or something like that? I bet some Guardians would love to get warmed up in-game with one of those…
…And with that, I segue into our refreshed Prime Gaming rewards which includes the aforementioned emote!
Cup of Tea – Exotic Emote
The Grateful Crane – Exotic Sparrow
Intrepid Shell – Exotic Ghost Shell
Technical Meltdown – Legendary Ship
If you are interested in owning the above-listed items, make sure to sign up for Prime Rewards. Stop by our Prime Gaming Guide for steps on how to sign up. Player Support has got your back.
+1, AGAIN!
It is not every day that we get to introduce a new member of the Community Team to our fans, but it seems that we are on a two-TWAB streak! Last week, Hippy joined our ranks to help bolster our efforts in serving a worldwide community. Today, we are introducing you to Sam, also known as QueenBartley in many social spaces! And although her home state is cold and dark, her heart is warm as ever. She will be tackling feedback, writing bugs and blogs, and doing all the things you would expect from our Community Team.
Here is a little bit about herself, straight from her own keyboard:
Sam: Hi Guardians! My name is Sam and I am so excited to be the next Guardian joining the Bungie Community Team! Bungie captured my gaming heart back in 2001 with Halo and has helped introduce me to so many incredible humans, including my best friends and my husband. My job here is to share your thoughts, dreams, and ideas with the team while tirelessly searching for a way to convince the dev team to use some space magic and put my full auto Hawksaw from Destiny 1 in my vault.
I am so stoked to be here and alongside all of you, whether it be in the Tower having a dance party or in a fireteam where you’re reviving me for the 30th time in The Corrupted. And as a Warlock main (NOT sorry! 😉), I have a feeling Liana and I will be giggling into the darkness together every time we have to do a jumping puzzle. I cannot wait to chat with you all more!
While it may be a bit before she writes her first TWAB, she already has some advantages with how much time she spends in Destiny and among the community. If you see her in a patrol, do not hesitate to emote and give her a warm welcome.
It bears repeating, Cozmo and I will not be going anywhere any time soon. We are excited to double our team in size to tackle the everyday challenges of community management with a player base as large as Destiny’s.
HOTFIXIN’
These past few Seasons have felt great between the awesome content that the team has been shipping and the frequency of patches and hotfixes we’ve been able to deliver. No matter how good someone might be when crafting new experiences, a few bugs will always slip through. We have another hotfix prepped to ship next week, and our Player Support Team has details on the timeline.
HOTFIX 3.3.1.3
On Tuesday, November 9, Destiny 2 is scheduled to undergo maintenance in preparation for Destiny 2 Hotfix 3.3.1.3. Below is a timeline of events. Please note that times may be subject to change during this maintenance period:
5 AM Pacific (1300 UTC): Maintenance will begin.
5:45 AM Pacific (1345 UTC): Players will be removed from activities. Destiny 2 will be brought offline.
9 AM Pacific (1700 UTC): Hotfix 3.3.1.3 will be available across all platforms and regions. Players will be able to log back into Destiny 2.
10 AM Pacific (1800 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.
For more information, please visit our Destiny Server and Update Status page.
UPCOMING EXTENDED DOWNTIME
In addition to Hotfix 3.3.1.3 taking extended downtime, we will also be taking extended downtime on November 16 and November 30.
Let me know what you think of the latest news in the comments.