14 DAY TRIAL // Bungie, the developer of the recent Destiny first-person online shooter, promises that the next edition of its Iron Banner event will cater more to the hardcore players, as in the current installment, many high-level players felt they were still susceptible to low-level users.
Destiny delivered a sprawling online world last month, and while many fans were disappointed with the experience, quite a few remained online and kept on chugging away at its missions and encounters, hoping to find better and better loot.
Iron Banner was supposed to offer a top-notch competitive experience
One key component of the game is the Crucible competitive mode, where players can go head to head against other human enemies and prove their skills. In order to keep things balanced, the studio uses a level advantage system that's normally disabled for matches, so that low-level players could stand a chance against more experienced ones.
For the recent Iron Banner event, a special Crucible playlist with the level advantage turned on was made available and Bungie hyped it up as the spot where high-level players could shine. The result, however, was that experienced users were still susceptible to attacks from lower-levels ones, and as always, they started complaining.
Bungie admits it wanted Iron Banner to be accessible by many
In the latest weekly update on its blog, Bungie confirms, through the voice of Senior Designer Derek Carroll, that the intention was to make Iron Banner appealing to hardcore players but still accessible to those on the lower end of the level scale.
"If you were expecting to vaporize a crowd of noobs with a single burst from your SUROS Regime, I can see how you’d be disappointed. Imagine going into the Iron Banner as a mid-20s player totally unable to participate in the fun. We didn’t want players to have to complete the Vault of Glass in order to compete," Carroll explains.
According to the designer, skill mattered more than power in the current edition of the event, as while attack and defense ratings were still important, the experience gained by fighting matches was sometimes the deciding factor.
Future Iron Banner events will be tougher
While Bungie still believes in accessibility, it's heard the pleas from high-level players and will act accordingly in future installments of the Iron Banner.
"The way we pitched Iron Banner did make it sound like a 'no-holds-barred' playlist. In reality, we delivered what we felt would be a competitive experience for everyone, not just players at the level cap. The reaction from players seems to be: 'No, we want it to be bad for lower-level players. That’s the point!' We’re listening to that feedback, but this first Iron Banner is fairly conservative."
As of yet, however, Bungie hasn't confirmed when the next Iron Banner is going to be held in Destiny. The current one is still live until October 14.