Bungie has revealed that upcoming MMO shooter Destiny will not have online matchmaking. As you can imagine, fans did not take to this revelation well, but they are standing firm on this decision.
To be specific, we are talking about Raids, which were described as ‘extremely crafted’, and as ‘gut-checks.’ The decision to not let players use online matchmaking was design related; the game will require close communication and cooperation due to their high difficulty, and sheer length. You will get comfortable playing them, and you will come back to them, apparently to do things you never had to in a shooter before.
Luke Smith, who was lead designer for these Raids, put up further defenses for their decision. He acknowledges the limitations this decision places on players. What he does is describe how the difficulty of this mode has been designed and how he expects it will play out in real life.
Ultimately, he describes the Vault of Glass, and presumably other parts of the Raid mode, as a team building exercise. Presumably, the mode will be fun and addictive to the extent that players will actively seek it out and come back to it.
Luke also added that they will be storing insertion points each week (note: he did not promise indefinitely), so that your assembled team will play one encounter, end, and come back to where they left off next week.
I don’t feel an explanation as to why fans are upset by this decision is even necessary. It will now be worth observing if this issue will snowball in the coming months, or if fans will let it slide once they see the game mode in action.
Destiny is set for release on September 9th for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
