Destiny Gets Another Matchmaking Update
By Anthony Taormina 26 January 2016
Bungie releases another matchmaking update for Destiny, this one focused on further improving connections between players in the Iron Banner playlist.
Although Bungie just recently released a matchmaking update focused on Destiny’s PvP matchmaking system, reducing the focus on skill and putting it back on connection, they have decided that wasn’t good enough. Today, the developer released another matchmaking update, this time focused specifically on the Iron Banner weekly event.
According to Bungie, this second update should further reduce the lag player have been seeing in Destiny as of late. However, players might also see an increase in matchmaking time as a result, but only in the Iron Banner playlist.
While it’s unclear what prompted Bungie to release an additional update, it seems clear that the developer is taking player criticisms of PvP to heart. Since the major update back in December, players were seeing huge increases in laggy players, strange deaths, and all manner of abnormal occurrences, many of which were presumably a byproduct of skill-based matchmaking.
However, Bungie denied any skill-based matchmaking was added, stressing that nothing major had been changed with PvP. Turns out they were more or less lying about that and a new matchmaking system had been added.
But despite players feeling like something major was different with PvP, Bungie stuck to their guns and didn’t reverse the changes…until this week. Which begs the question as to why now and not sooner?
For as much as many like to call Destiny dead or dying, the truth is that the game only recently started to sour for the hardcore, of which there were/are a lot of players. Could they have made this decision knowing that The Division was on the way and trying to “steal” Destiny’s audience? Or was it simply a case of priorities, with Bungie’s focus squared on new content like the Crimson Days event and whatever other updates might be on the way?
We will likely never know for sure, but one thing is true: the Destiny community is growing restless. There was the hope that January would bring a new piece of content, but that is being saved for February. And what is coming, the aforementioned Crimson Days event, doesn’t have too many players excited.
Speaking of Crimson Days, Bungie will have more to say on the Valentine’s Day themed event during the Weekly Update, which is set to hit tomorrow, Friday the 29th. Normally, the Weekly Updates hit on Thursdays, but this matchmaking update took precedence.
Have you noticed any improvements in PvP matches since the matchmaking updates went live? Has Iron Banner been better or worse this time around?
Destiny: The Taken King is out now for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Source: Bungie
