In Destiny 2, a discussion splits the community because elite gamers and recreational gamers don’t get along

In the Destiny 2 community, there has been a tense discussion of principles for a few days. It was triggered by a pro-gamer when he expressed his opinion on the current sandbox and advocated a nerf to the divinity. However, his opinion was not positively received by everyone. MeinMMO tells you why elite gamers and recreational gamers don’t get along.

What is the player base like in Destiny 2? As in every game, there are also different groups of players in Destiny 2. But above all the gap between the demanding elite gamers and the leisure gamers is particularly large.

• The typical casual gamer enjoys playing Destiny 2, but doesn’t have much time for their game either. He knows what to do, but mostly has his favorite weapons and only a few armor builds on hand. A grandmaster raid or challenging missions are not his preferred content and rather the exception.
• On the other hand, there are the elite gamers in Destiny 2. They usually play the game very professionally, stream it and are very familiar with buffs, debuffs and game mechanics. You also own every weapon in “perfect”, whether from raids, built or in the master variant. To do this, they have a variety of builds at hand, which they adapt depending on the activity.

For years, both fronts have hardened, with widely differing views on how Destiny 2 works or should work between the two groups.

How strong you could see in the big discussion about divinity, the exotic from the raid “Garden of Redemption”. Here, elite gamer “Saltagreppo” shared his opinion on the weapon and its powerful impact on the game.

If you missed the article and discussion, you can check it out here:

Now you have to know that the Divinity in Destiny 2 is a special and also helpful support weapon. Many Wardens use this tracer gun to make it easier to get through endgame content like a raid. There are also many Destiny 2 players who often use the weapon to help other Guardians. Because it is perfectly sufficient if one member of the team uses it.

• Divinity makes aiming less important and lets players deal more critical damage. In addition, the laser beam weakens opponents and ensures that everyone on the team can do 30% more damage.

Sure, there aren’t many Guardians who own them. Noisy Warmind for example, it is only ~5% of the players.

But if someone has it and you find in the gameplay that there is not enough damage on a final boss, then the weapon is always a good option. Recreational players are therefore often grateful when someone on the team can provide this support.

So the proposal for a nerf by elite player Saltagreppo felt to many like he was trying to take away something really good in the game.

For example, Missed Opportunity judges on MeinMMO:

Because it’s too easy for a “pro” player, one weapon should be nerfed for everyone. […] If it’s with him [Göttlichkeit] becomes too unsportsmanlike, he should leave them out. What is it to him if other people want to make things easier for themselves? Where does it hurt him how others play their personal raid or dungeon?

commented the player Missed Opportunity

And King86Gamer sums up the feeling of most recreational gamers even more precisely.

[…] Sorry if I have to say it like that, but not every Guardian can complete a day-one raid in 5-6 hours. Many guardians need much longer and are dependent on various aids when it comes to damage. All of this stuff just ruins the game.

says King86Gamer on MeinMMO

A nerf forces everyone to adapt: These reactions were understandable. Mainly because Saltagreppo, as the voice of elite players, also mentioned the lack of options in day-one raids for the top teams.

Divinity’s abilities would eventually push other exotics out of the meta, affecting weapon balance. You have no choice but to use them.

Zero Tonin explains it like this:

You’re forced to play Divinity when it comes to competition, like [zum Beispiel] Day 1 Raids. That takes some skill out. The best racing driver in the world doesn’t knock the wheel off his car because the races are too easy for him.

writes Zero Tonin in the MeinMMO comments

Players are not always against change: Nerfs are mostly something that takes away something good or fun from players in Destiny 2. But the statements of the elite players that the “casuals” only want to keep everything that makes the game easier for them is also not true.

Yesterday’s nerf to the Lorelei helmet showed that. Of course it was fun to use the easy mode thanks to the overpowered solar exotic “Lorelei ceremonial helmet”. But when the nerf came, hardly any complaints were heard about it. Rather, the players were aware that Bungie had adjusted something here that was simply too strong and the nerf was long overdue.

This is how MRxDubhead writes in the comments on MeinMMO:

I’m glad he was nerfed. I’m also Titan Main myself and it doesn’t bother me. The only thing that bothered me is that we were suddenly 5 Titans out of 6 people in the raid, 4 of whom always played Loreley to activate the easy mode. If something like this already occurs, a nerf is more than justified.

Find MRxDubhead on MyMMO

So it’s not true that recreational or casual gamers always want the game to be as easy as possible. They, too, recognize when something in the game is too strong or too powerful.

The difference is simply that recreational players don’t have a big voice in the community since they aren’t very active in it either. Meanwhile, elite gamers and content creators are free to voice their thoughts publicly to Bungie and the masses of players at any time. This often leads to the conclusion that their opinion outweighs that of regular players.

A Bungie employee emphasized that this is not the case.

That’s what Bungie says about the current discussion

Has Bungie commented on the discussion? Indirect yes. Bungie’s social media manager, Griffin Bennett, believes that no Destiny 2 player should be publicly insulted for their opinions.

He tweeted on Sept. 10 on his account: “I’m really disappointed with a lot of the reactions to [Saltagreppos] Contribution. He shared a well-considered opinion, but was met with incredibly rude and occasionally venomous replies. Destiny thrives when players can share their respectful thoughts without fear of attack.”

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In addition, one can assume that Bungie does not only change a nerf on the opinion of a content creator. The developer had previously announced that it would test the divinity and will collect its own data on the use of the weapon and its effectiveness in the game.

We assume that Bungie is on top of the situation and understands just how valuable Divinity is to some players in Destiny 2. Elite gamers know exactly how to stack and stack their abilities, buffs, debuffs, and headshots. For all other players, boss phases cannot always be mastered on the first attempt, even with divinity.

The problem is less the nerf of a weapon and more the difference in the skills of these two groups of players. There are therefore many issues that ensure that this is definitely a complicated issue.

Despite the community’s criticism, Saltagreppo has remained matter-of-fact and is still willing to discuss divinity. The pro player just wanted to provide food for thought:

I have given feedback and I enjoy discussing the sandbox with people, many have very cool ideas. the [negativen Kommentare und Beleidungen] are unfortunately part of the process, but I’m still talking to them to better explain my point of view, maybe they’ll change their minds.

Saltagreppo posted his statement on hate via Twitter

He’s doing something that other content creators and elite players like Destiny veteran Datto have shied away from. They knew that publicly calling for nerfs could be a tough argument for them. Only when the discussion became a huge topic did Ehroar, Aztecross and Datto jump on the bandwagon.

Do you think it’s possible that the day will come when content creators and players will talk about constructive solutions for Destiny 2 together? Or do you think this is completely impossible? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.

A note for all PvP players. Bungie has already activated the announced quit protection. So you should be careful in the future if you plan to leave a match early: