Fallout 76 is plenty different from Destiny 2, but they both share the status of being live-service games with ongoing support and active communities. With recent updates throughout Destiny 2’s Lightfall era being fairly divisive in the community, Destiny 2 might benefit from looking at how Fallout 76 integrates community feedback into its future updates.
It’s no secret that Fallout 76 had a bumpy start when it launched in 2018, but anyone who immediately dismissed the game may be unaware of what it has turned into since then. One specific resource for Fallout 76 has been a vital tool for making the game as successful as it has become, and other games should consider how public test servers could be beneficial.
Live Service Games Like Destiny 2 Should Learn from How Fallout 76 Utilizes a Public Test Server
Fallout 76’s Public Test Server has been generating a lot of praise in the game’s recent updates in early 2023, but it’s always been quite an underappreciated resource. Fallout 76’s PTS leading up to the Summer 2023 update has been gaining a lot of positive attention. While upcoming content is always a big attraction for participating in the PTS, plenty of quality-of-life and balancing updates are introduced here as well. For example, the current PTS appears to be resolving the Stamps controversy in Fallout 76 among other well-received changes. After Destiny 2's Lightfall expansion launched to a rough start, Bungie should consider how a PTS could help future expansions and updates overall.
Destiny 2 already has a version of playtest builds available for the player base, but these are exclusive to a small portion of the community. These private playtests ended up sparking controversy in Destiny 2 during the Lightfall era when one of the participants leaked some of the content against Bungie’s policy regarding the event. Regardless, Bungie should consider the benefits of opening up Destiny 2’s playtests to the public, especially when it comes to tuning and QOL updates. Leaks are a popular topic in the Destiny 2 community, so having an open approach to upcoming content like Fallout 76 might be a smart move for Destiny 2.
Leading up to a majority of the updates and expansions for Fallout 76, the PTS build for the game releases in multiple windows for players to experience most of the upcoming content and changes. Fallout 76’s PTS is only available for players on PC, but true to its name it is open to anyone on the platform who owns the game. Bethesda’s official Discord server hosts discussion forums about content in the PTS so that players can provide feedback to developers and fellow peers. Content creators and others in the community are also free to discuss the PTS changes on external platforms as well. Learning from this major difference between how Fallout 76 and Destiny 2’s community feedback factors into influencing change could be revolutionary for Bungie.
Destiny 2 does have its own platforms for community feedback, but these are generally reserved for bug reports, community votes for upcoming cosmetics, and featured community media contests. The community for Destiny 2 is very outgoing when it comes to brainstorming changes for the game, yet even the greatest of ideas get lost in the vast depths of social media. Destiny 2’s community contests are a fun bonding experience, but don't quite compare to hosting open feedback forums.
A big part of what makes Fallout 76’s PTS such a big success is how players can snapshot their character and inventory from the live game over to the PTS. This provides players the resources to grasp how impactful the new updates will be for their individual characters and for the game as a whole. Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep will be introducing a long list of changes to exotic weapons and Super abilities across all characters, so updates like these are the perfect argument for implementing a PTS for Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.