Season 19 of Destiny 2 is looking like the much-needed shot in the arm PvP players have been clamoring for a very long time. Bungie has laid out plans for a massive Competitive playlist overhaul with Season 19, starting on December 6, with a complete change to the Glory system now called Competitive Division.
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Going along with the massive changes to competitive play, more casual playlists are also seeing some updates. Fireteam-based matchmaking will be introduced into both Crucible and Trials of Osiris modes alongside changes to skill-based matchmaking. The new adjustments to skill-based matchmaking are described as a way that “increases the Skill window our system looks for when matchmaking if you are in a low population Skill bracket or during a particularly low population time.” Bungie’s intention is to decrease wait times for matches and establish good connections during a match to prevent bad latency issues and to maintain a balance in player skill when matched up against each other, which is a good step towards a healthy PvP population.
The biggest surprise is the total overhaul of the Glory playlists, or Competitive Division, as it is now called starting with Season 19. Replacing the old system of Glory ranks that had a static cap and could be endlessly reset is a new ladder-based system with ranks similar to most other competitive PvP shooters on the market. This significantly tighter standard of determining player skill seems to establish a much more granular approach compared to before when lobbies at times had wildly varied players that would result in sometimes one-sided matches or streaks of losses unable to be recovered. While on paper this seems like an extremely positive change, the execution remains to be seen.
Reactions to posts made by Bungie community manager dmg04 hold a lot of positive outlook to the better reward tracks with new weapons and armor, but some players are remaining skeptical of the matchmaking changes. Major PvP streamers are presenting mixed reactions, but are happy with the ladder-based system in Competitive Division. More casual players still remain somewhat bitter at the inclusion of Skill-based matchmaking remaining in the 6v6 Control playlists, but Bungie seems set in its ways about this system being what it is.
This is a very good outlook for what Bungie could intend to do with Destiny 2 in the future with more rewards and content finally coming for a rather unloved part of the game for some time now. However, the execution of the plan is what needs to be a crucial moment for the community. Many have grown sour over Bungie’s treatment — or lack of treatment at all — of the PvP side of Destiny 2, but the opportunity to win back that player base is definitely looking like a baby step in the right direction.
