Destiny 2
I don’t quite know why, but when Bungie does something very good when it comes to responding to player requests in Destiny 2, they often don’t broadcast it well enough, but here we are again.
A new patch yesterday fixed some bugs like PS5 audio issues, nerfed some guns, and introduced a new problem with the Encore mission where it once again needs to be disabled. However, it also added something cool, and it helps with what I have said repeatedly is one of the bigger problems with the new Portal system.
While I did not see it announced anywhere, and DMG confirmed that it was indeed a new addition as of this week, a selection of individual Fireteam Ops missions now have inborn matchmaking, rather than having it off and mandatorily herding players into Fireteam Finder every single time they wanted to play one.
These new matchmaking options come with set modifiers you cannot change, which is necessary to make matchmaking work at all. When I was under 220 power, those selected were automatically getting me to an A-rank. Over 220, now it’s B, but 90% of the way to A (it should still be possible to get A).
Destiny 2
The catch here is that it’s only the top row of Fireteam Ops missions. The others below it, which is currently 12 other missions, do not have matchmaking. Why? The top row are the featured ones where you can focus specific slots, so the assumption there is that more people will be playing those. Having matchmaking for 15 different individual missions, especially with player population precipitously declining, feels like a recipe for long waits and frustration. So you’ll have to use Fireteam Finder only on those.
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This move also helps Fireteam Finder itself, because the more “casual” players who don’t want to deal with FF and modifier picking are herded into matchmaking, where people who have more focused plans and perhaps are being a bit more purposeful about it are more likely to find like-minded people in FF to link up with. So, win-win for both types of players.
Solo Ops doesn’t need matchmaking, obviously. I can understand why Pinnacle Ops doesn’t have matchmaking. So, this addition to Fireteam Ops feels “good enough” in many regards, even if I’d maybe bump up the matchmaking breadth to at least half the featured missions with more specific gear offered.
Don’t get me wrong this is not a seal of approval for Destiny 2’s new Portal or the power grind that’s currently in place (woof), but if you are interacting with the system, this is certainly good news and I just wanted to make you aware of its existence, given that for whatever reason, this did not launch with the expansion nor is it really being broadcast by Bungie.
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