Stay with me here... I'm going deep Year 1: the coop players dream Think about the concept of a Raid Sherpa... Advanced community members taking casual players through very difficult content(hardcore raiders take this for granted), teaching them, guiding them. Now put that together with the complete randomness and lack of raid matchmaking... This is how communities form that last, how clans are made, and how friendships can be forged between people who may never have met each other in real life, (sometimes across the globe). Through the glitches, terrible drop rates, and generally limited mechanics, the aforementioned social aspects of Destiny are wonderful, for those who choose to take part. Now, let's contrast that with a broken, laggy, aggressive, overly competitive, imbalanced crucible experience. It's two different worlds really, with a completely different mentality, when community is concerned. Fast Foreword to year 2: a different vision Many people in this community feel that the oppressive matchmaking for solo/small groups is punishing. This intentional punishment is designed to force players into a similar "clan based" experience in the crucible, as its coop/raid counterpart. This relates specifically to having to create a stacked team. Essentially players need to draw from a completely different pool of players than their normal raid groups and clans to be successful, subsequently forming new bonds. This theory is supported by several key factors that I will detail below: 1. The previously mentioned punishment that solo players of high skill endure via the new SBMM. 2. The changes to Trials of Osiris MM that prioritizes sweaty, punch card positions that ultimately favor seeking out Carries from highly skilled players(as opposed to year one, where you could form a team of friends and go flawless). Think of it as the creation of the "PVP Sherpa". 3. PVP quest lines that relate and yield specific gear beneficial to cooperative aspects of the game. 4. Iron Banner being used as a metric for player enjoyment related to success in forming teams for crucible gameplay as well as rewards relating to success in said game mode. The problem: In year one, Bungie, A company whose Pedegree produced revolutionary multiplayer for consoles, was observing abysmally low player counts in PVP(I believe that at one point, was only 2% of the population). While on paper, Im sure it sounded great to employ the same tactics used to keep players in the virtual hamster wheel of endless, repetitive content via promotion of social aspects(that earlier stated, proved to be very positive). Unfortunately, forcing two different types of players(which I will detail below), with two different types of mentality, into one arena has proved to be problematic for everyone. Many Destiny players fit into two distinct camps, with two distinct gameplay experiences that both grow, and augment attitude and style of play. However, there is a 3rd type of player that makes up the majority. 1. The coop player/raider: This type of player has been conditioned through gameplay to find cooperative solutions to problems in gameplay by working together with other teammates. Success can be found by efficient tactics and subsequent rewards are the result, as well as a buffer for future attempts/endeavors(in simple terms the player received awards that are designed to make the content easier on the next attempt). 2. The PVP enthusiast: This type of player has been conditioned through gameplay(in the majority crucible experience) to ruthlessly destroy his/her opponents by any means necessary. The PVP experience encompasses everything from baiting teammates, to exploiting broken, imbalanced weapons and tactics, to more extreme measures such as cheating(via manipulating ones connection; IE red bar gods). Success is found by eliminating ones opponent with little to no regard for their experience, yielding higher stats used in recruitment and acceptance in end game modes such as Trials. Weapons obtained(such as Doctrine of Passing), while limited in number, provide clear advantages for those who obtain them. 3. The majority of the Destiny community: The majority of the Destiny community takes part in both sides of this binary dichotomy. This type of player understands that both aspects of the game(PVP/PVE)are completely different and require a different mentality. Success in all modes is defined by the players ability to adapt to changing conditions, both internally and externally via changes in the "ever changing game meta". Expanding on the problem: two worlds collide(and the people caught in the middle). Events such as trials of Osiris and iron banner promote the idea that level advantages are enabled. On the other hand, It's no secret that higher light levels are gained by taking part in cooperative events such as Raids or prison/challenge of elders. This fact alone, automatically sets the two previously mentioned, binary sides of the Destiny community on collision course with the average Destiny player caught in the middle. This unfortunate collision has created several problems plaguing the Destiny community: 1. Balance changes designed to curb overuse of weapons that over perform in PVP that provided fun, non-game breaking gameplay in PVE. 2. Insane, artificial skill gap predicated on choice of mode and time spent(coop vs PVP). For a game with non competitive elements such a "free kill" supers and OHK specials, Destiny seems to have a higher skill gap than most other shooters. 3. Cross pollinated PVP/PVE rewards that favor or punish the same mentality born from gameplay experiences previously mentioned(see section heading "The Problem"). 4. The Sniper Meta. Hard core PVP players, who refuse to raid, needed something to close the gap on a dwindling PVP community due to lag and balance issues. Sniper Rifles, the legendary skilled based weapons in year two ignore light level restrictions. I believe the decision to leave snipers alone, when every other weapon's time to kill was increased, in the name of balance, was to give PVP players(especially streamers and pro players, the tools to dominate without raiding). 5. Oppressive matchmaking that is designed to shield new/casual players from the wrath of PVP pros. These problems create a complete mess for the average Destiny player. He/she suffers through Raids where players are five months in who play only PVP and have no idea beat the first boss(because the light level cap was lower for end game PVP), and is completely punished for trying to solo que in PVP, due to being put on a team full of people who are simply trying to complete quests(and have little to no interest in competitive play or don't have experience). The solution: how to make PVP enjoyable moving forward Often times the solution is vastly more simple than the problem itself. Despite the long-winded nature of the problem itself I will be brief and explaining how to create a better experience for the majority player. 1. A clear vision for both modes must be determined before the launch of Destiny 2. If the PVP game is going to be imbalanced due to sharing elements with PVE, then it should remain that way throughout its lifecycle. 2. In the event that competitive balance is desired in Destiny 2, both PVP AND PVE need to be completely separated. 3. Weapons in multiplayer should have a top end damage and range variable that fits within their intended role in combat. 3. Some form of casual, large-scale multiplayer mode, involving neutral enemies needs to be added to bridge the gap between hard-core, arena based multiplayer and cooperative gameplay(see TITANFALL). Perhaps some kind of world PVP could be implemented. 4. Multiplayer balance, concerning the role of each class and subclass should mirror how each class works in every mode. Example: the Titan class should function as its description reads in both PVP and cooperative events. 5. Trials of Osiris and any similar mode added in the future should never alienate The majority of the player population. Rampant cheating and pay to win carries are against BUNGIE'S OWN mandated terms of service. 6. Dedicated servers will prevent host advantage, cut down on latency issues, provide a more consistent experience and give back to a community who has supported you for years. 7. This issue may be solved by the previous solutions... However I feel I must state it. Completely cease the ridiculous seasonal meta changes that render certain weapons useless and other weapons dominant. This is a cheap tactic used to cover up for the fact that both, your vision was not clear, as well as the technical difficulties associated with creating a balanced game where all play styles and weapons are valued. If you read all of what I had to say, I sincerely appreciate it. I think there are a lot of people who can relate to what I have to say and know it to be true. Summary/TLDR: SBMM is punishing solo players as well as small groups. This I believe, is an effort to promote social bonds similar to Raid groups, meaning you need to reach out to better players and interact with the PVP community(think trials carries). The problem is, the two binary sides of the community, PVP and PVE players have been conditioned by vastly different gameplay experiences. The negative result of this merger has been: weapon changes in PVP that harm gameplay, SBMM That has created lag in effort to curb pub stomping, and cheating. Looking forward to Destiny two some solutions would be: dedicated servers, ranked playlists, clear vision for weapon balance, and an end to seasonal meta changes that ruin certain weapons while overpowering others. TLDR for my TLDR LOL!!!!! SBMM is forcing two binary sides of the community to interact, producing negative consequences?