With a little over a week left to go before Destiny: The Taken King pits Guardians against the eponymous villain also known as Oryx, fans of Bungie's action-RPG are getting prepared for tons of changes the studio is implementing for the add-on and for Year 2 in general. A couple of days ago, the sci-fi MMO's producer Mark Noseworthy revealed that Banshee-44 is getting an improvement, as the Gunsmith update will allow players to start earning a reputation with the arms dealer by field testing weapons. Of course, that's not the only thing being refined.
A recent post on Bungie's website explains that the Crucible falls under Update 2.0's changes as well. According to senior designer, Andrew Weldon, the popular multiplayer mode will now have a “Mercy Rule” added to matches. The developer likens Destiny's new feature to the regulation found in traditional sports, wherein one team's score is so high that their competition has no chance of mounting a comeback, so the game is called off.
Regarding the mechanics of the Mercy Rule, Weldon says:
"When the Mercy Rule hits, Shaxx will call out the end of the match. We immediately disable join in progress to prevent any additional players from joining the game (if anyone has dropped already) and reset the game clock to :10 seconds. After those 10 seconds, the match will end normally. All players will receive their end of match rewards and return to matchmaking."
The Mercy Rule goes live for all team playlists except Elimination and Trials of Osiris on September 8. As Bungie has promised in the past, Weldon goes on to assert that the studio will pay close attention to fans' opinions on the aspect's incorporation and how it might get re-tooled if needed.
"The 2.0 Mercy Rule check is a very simple query that is good at identifying games that get out of hand early, but not necessarily games that pull away late. You may in some cases still find yourself in games where you feel like it should have triggered. We will, as always, continue monitoring our UR data as well as player feedback to determine how we can continue to improve it and make it more accurate in the future."
Bungie is hoping to enhance players' experiences when it comes to bringing the Mercy Rule into the mix, as the developers wish to "improve the quality of life for players caught on the receiving end of a massive blowout." Although the fresh change seems like it's only being done for the sake of Guardians on the losing end of a match, the company has made sure to put a more positive spin on the situation for winning squads. As seen above, fans able to utterly dominate their opponents and elicit the new rule will receive a gold tier medal entitled "No Mercy".
With so much fine-tuning being introduced to Destiny, developers are undoubtedly trying to meet fans' expectations for Year 2 while also helping the new DLC live up to its $40 price value. The Mercy Rule is an interesting addition, as it should provoke a sense of determination among team members to avoid having the match called early on account of their lack of cooperation. But naturally, as with any change, only time will tell how well it works overall.
What do you think about Bungie's Mercy Rule for Destiny's Crucible? Do you believe that it will help the multiplayer mode become more fast and fluid, or will the feature hinder it by possibly discouraging players to put forth an effort as their fire-teams fall further behind?
Destiny: The Taken King is set for release on September 15, 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.