From their 2021 blog. “LOBBY BALANCING ACT In June of 2020, we made some changes to remove skill based matchmaking from all playlists except Survival. Since the change, we’ve been monitoring player feedback, watching data, and getting some hands on in the Crucible to see how games felt with connection based matchmaking prioritized. A common feedback item has concerned lobby balancing, and how we distribute players among fireteams within a Crucible match. Starting today, we'll be testing out some changes to how players are split between teams once a match has been formed in Iron Banner and Iron Banner: Freelance playlists. These changes are expected to be deployed around 10:00 AM Pacific, so by the time you’re reading this TWAB, they may already be in place. To give a simple explanation of the change, our current algorithm tries to make the average skill level even between the teams, which can lead to lopsided teams depending on the skill range of everyone put in the match. With the changes being deployed today, we’re updating our Crucible lobby balancer to balance teams with a modified algorithm which can be compared to “School Yard Pick” or “Snake Draft”. This will attempt to place the best player on team one, second best player on team two, third best player on team two, fourth best player on team one, and so on. As a note, we are making no changes to matchmaking. This is specifically a change to how players are divided among teams once a match has been formed. We’ll be watching feedback over the weekend to see how players are feeling about this change in Iron Banner and we have plans to expand to more playlists once the changes are verified to have positive effects! ”

There was true balance in year one of D2 but the pvp community hated it. With the amount of one shot kill guns, abilities, wonky physics, etc this is never going to be competitive or balanced. The "pro players" don't want balance, they want to be able to have as much of an advantage as possible over every other variable. Hence why hand cannons and shotguns are favored as they are the easiest to use and abuse. Destiny is PvE first and PvP as a side project. Always has been and always will be.

For a while, SBMM brought some balance and more fun to the average players who could finally face opponents with similar skills, instead of being endlessly and systematically destroyed every match. But of course, we all know what happened. So we are back to the usual sh*t show. I have no confidence to see things change in the near future. Therefore, if the matchmaking happens to be too bad for me to have fun, I'm gonna make my own matchmaking: I just leave and find a better lobby. I play to have fun and I refuse to stay in a match only for the amusement of those who need to boost their ego by wrecking lower-level players in a videogame. By the way, those same ppl who think they are so much better than the rest of us. You being better is only relative to the lobby you happen to be matched with. You are not that good when you are matched against players who have a much higher skill level than yours. That is why most of you are whining so much against SBMM. Before you start lecturing me on how I should get good and other BS, consider this. If you are not willing to match against SAME-skilled opponents (SBMM), why should I be willing to match against opponents with a MUCH HIGHER skill level than mine (CBMM) all the time?

It hit recently, for me as well that balance cannot be achieved. All shooters suffer from shotguns and snipers overrunning everything from Battlefield - Destiny. Its always one of the biggest complaints as long as the games exist. Destiny is an MMO/Shooter. MMOs are fundamentally built on power fantasy. That's the point of build crafting, is to become powerful. Gear is given all kinds of crazy perks to boost players. Many weapons and armor are specifically designed to be overpowered, because, again, power fantasy. Its a playground to run wild on with developer creativity, and let the player run wild with what they can do.The only balance that needs to be struck is with computer programs. The only competition is things like who can grab missions first, or who can master dungeons or slay a boss faster or more efficiently. There's usually no direct competition unless its a random social interaction like duels or something that can be turned off to avoid griefing. Shooters REQUIRE balance, there is no power fantasy. They are games based on skill with weapons, and tactics, they are all heavily restricted to be on equal grounds, or as close to equal as possible anyway. Players are given no distinct advantages over each other, they all have the same simple loadouts to customize. How do you put these things together in PvP to make it work? You can't. In order to balance PvP the power fantasy has to be null and void. No weapons can have distinctly faster killing times or advantages over any other weapons, and build crafting cannot be a major factor of play. Essentially to balance it, all the reasons you got the gear for have to be put on the backburner. You could probably get away with some build crafting, but not enough to be worth it. Even Destiny, with less customization than most MMOs, still has alot, and just has too much to keep players on even grounds, especially given skill gaps between builders. Destiny weapons have all the power fantasy traits, and what keeps happening? They're constantly being nerfed and rendered more and more pointless, until crazy new perks come next season, that ultimately go through the same process. Then we factor in people. People abuse everything, so abuse on a heavily customized game like Destiny is going to be that much worse because of the wide gaps of power between the least intuitive builds, to the most intuitive builds. That creates alot of advantage and disadvantage, that regardless of match skill, is just too great to overcome unless everyone builds, basically with the same setup. It just can't be balanced unless its simplified to Call Of Duty level customization, and all these crazy weapon perks get tossed out the window, but that just makes the grind feel pointless right? Why put in the work to get screwed in PvP? Well, it either has to be that or the chaotic mess it already is. This game may just be too difficult a concept to find a middle ground that still benefits most. I would like to think there is a way to do it with everything, but I just don't see it. The problem may not be that Bungie is incompetent in what they do, rather they are proficiently creating things too detailed to succeed in the comparative simplicities of PvP to the infinite and crazy possibilities of PvE.

Why take it seriously? Lol

[quote]like literally ever, nerf shotguns? no problem we got fusions, fix flinch? no problem we have snipers ITS A NEVER ENDING EXHAUSTING CYCLE[/quote] It's a game about space magic.. it's not mebt to be balanced competitive pvp.. it was actually an after thought by Bungie.. it wasn't originally in d1.. it was out in so people can just mess around and enjoy time with friends.. but now it's turned into this sweat fest.. it's actually pretty funny watching people lose there minds over guns or game play.

No matter what there will always be a weapon type that is the META. Whether it be snipers, fusions, hand cannons, shotguns, etc. The best we all can hope for is as much balance as possible. Which frankly it is a decent state. Over the years my entire play style has become which I don't get sniped. Sliding alot, avoiding sniper lanes, etc etc. Fusions rifles? Surprise. Don't get close enough for them to be useful. Shotguns, same thing. I purposely keep a distance and use my primary cause I love my primary right now. As long as you are keeping a distance fothe enemy, you force them to use their primary too. And if someone is a good sniper just avoid sniper lanes and where you seen em sniping. Tadda.

False. When we had balance everyone myself included hated it because it was trash destiny wasn't built on balance but freedom and balance removes that entirely. Even when it was balanced in y1 people cried about the pros farming them just like they are now. The community doesn't want balance, it doesn't want power fantasy and it obviously doesn't want skill gaps. Community is incapable of a clear request due to the division which the streamers and complainers caused.