Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you are probably aware of the wild success that Bungie’s Destiny has experienced since its release in September. However, the game’s launch window has not been without hurdles. There have been three separate places that have allowed players to exploit the game’s loot system, more than a few instances of server issues, and players are still able to glitch into areas that they shouldn’t be, despite similar problems existing in the alpha and beta tests for the game. It appears that Bungie may have another Destiny problem on their hands in the form of the Iron Banner PvP event.
Destiny is interesting in that it has a gear system very similar to popular MMO’s, but gear does not affect normal PvP gameplay. This was a design decision by Bungie; averaging every player’s gear and levels allows players in any stage of the game to enjoy battling with their peers. Iron Banner is a limited time event that is supposed to be different from normal PvP where level bonuses and gear are not adjusted at all. This is to facilitate a more competitive atmosphere in this multiplayer playlist; you should only go into Iron Banner expecting to perform well if you are at an appropriate level and have adequate gear. Despite this idea, some players have observed very little change from Destiny’s normal PvP. Check out this video from YouTuber “OohaPiecea Candy:”
The video shows the player, a fresh, level 4 Warlock, competing evenly against players that are level 25 and higher, with gear that is clearly supposed to be superior to his. It might be argued that this player is simply very good at Destiny, but anybody playing with the defense level of a level 4 character should not be able to survive this long in an open fight against players that have attack levels on the high end of the scale, let alone be able to dominate the game to the extent that the video shows.
This begs the question, what is the point of Iron Banner? If level 4 Guardians with starting gear can compete with level 30’s with high-tear weapons, what’s the point of telling players that their levels and gear matter in these matches? Right now, it seems that the only difference between the Iron Banner playlist and regular Crucible PvP is the type of reputation points received at the end of a match. Of course, there’s always the possibility that this was a mistake on Bungie’s side, an unforeseen glitch that applies the Crucible’s rules to the Iron Banner. If this is the case, it will hopefully be remedied by the next time the Iron Banner event rolls around.
Have you noticed a difference between the Iron Banner playlist and regular PvP? Or do you have the same feeling that this event is simply re-dressed Crucible gameplay? Let us know in the comments!