Destiny 2 developer Bungie admits they “missed the mark” on new Lightfall features

Destiny 2’s developer Bungie admitted in a recent blog post that they believe they “missed the mark” on certain player systems introduced with the launch of Lightfall.

Lightfall marked a historic update in the franchise of Destiny 2, bringing about revamps to several older outdated systems alongside the main campaign content. Systems such as armor and modifications have seen several quality-of-life improvements in recent times, bringing them more in line with the current state of Destiny 2, but that’s not all.

Lightfall also saw the introduction of many newer systems, some aimed at showcasing player progression and player engagement. Guardian Ranks were released at the start of Lightfall’s launch, for instance, revamping the previous level system to showcase a Guardian’s progression in a more defined manner.

Players are given objectives to complete that can slowly increase their Guardian rank, giving them incentives to pursue, as well as a direction for newer fans to look toward. Unfortunately, this system proved to be quite a challenge for Bungie, as some of the requirements for progressing to higher tiers were deemed too grindy or difficult to complete. As such the community birthed the “forever six” meme, demonstrating how players were stuck at the rank for a decent chunk of time.

Bungie admits to ‘missing the mark’ on Guardian Rank progression

After reviewing the data post-Lightfall launch, Bungie has now admitted that they “missed the mark” on their goals for the system, and are looking to improve it moving forward.

Bungie has stated that they’re looking to redefine the goals for seasonal resets, claiming they don’t want players to redo the basics after their ranks are reset each season. Therefore, they’re looking to build in some shortcuts to speed players up and get them completing the new seasonal requirements sooner.

Alongside this, Bungie wants Guardian Ranks to be a cue for players to understand what they have completed, (ie a raid etc). In order to do so, at the start of a Season player’s rank will reflect the highest rank they earned last season, and will then be replaced once the player hits higher than their previous rank.

These changes come in combination with the reduction of requirements for increasing Guardian Ranks in general, resulting in an easier, less grindy experience for those looking to rank up in the higher tiers.

New Commendation type being added in Season of the Deep

Commendations are also being looked at by Bungie after the frustrations players have had with the system. This system allowed players to commend one another at the end of an activity, but due to commendations being tied to Guardian Rank progression, players found the system more frustrating than fun.

Bungie has lowered the required commendations for ranking up in player’s Guardian Ranks and will also be adding in a new Commendation type called “Best Dressed” come Season 21.

Commendation counts will be reset each season in order to reflect the newer content, however, a player’s commendation score and breakdown will be tracked, with players only losing out on a percentage.