After revealing in their latest Weekly Update that they launched a new Crucible skill system to better evaluate Guardians as combatants over the last few months, and receiving negative feedback as a result, Bungie announced today that new matchmaking will arrive for Destiny on Wednesday, January 27 at 10am PT/1pm ET.
First of, Iron Banner Rift starts today at 10am PT/1pm ET with the old matchmaking. Then, on Wednesday at 10am PT, Bungie will put more emphasis on connection quality in an effort to reduce lag with New Matchmaking in Iron Banner. “There will still be some consideration given to matching you with worthy adversaries,” they added, “but that’s a thing we’ve done since Destiny first shipped.”
Bungie is leaving a 24-hour gap between Iron Banner’s old matchmaking and New Matchmaking to compare the data. If you play Iron Banner today, they want your feedback on the experience.
“As always, we’ll be monitoring the state of the Crucible for stability and improvement,” Bungie said. “If all goes well, we intend to deploy the new matchmaking settings to more Crucible playlists over time. And, in keeping with this trend, we’ll be sure to let you know.
“This is the continuation of a conversation in which you influence the development of Destiny.”
Here’s what they had to say about their reasoning for the initial changes when The Taken King launched:
Our designers and engineers are always exploring measures that can be taken to improve the Player-versus-Player combat experience for everyone. Their goal has always been to cultivate an arena in which every Guardian can find quality matches against worthy opponents with good connections. It’s also good if you don’t have to spend an eternity in orbit while the matchmaking engine works behind the scenes.
When we shipped Destiny: The Taken King, we delivered a new system to better enable us to evaluate Guardians as combatants. In the months that followed, we’ve been making adjustments to find the right balance between skill and connectivity. In light of recent feedback from the community, it’s very clear that we have more work to do. As that work progresses, I’d also like to pledge that you’ll be more included in that process.
Will you be playing Iron Banner this week?
[Source: Bungie]
