Over the years Bungie has hammered home one line to Destiny 2 players over and over again, “We’re listening” but the latest quest for Wicked Implement shows that was simply a platitude.

The quest for this Exotic weapon started weeks ago with players tasked with catching Exotic fish as part of the Season of the Deep’s seasonal activity rotation. Ultimately these fish unlocked pieces of a broken blade that could be deposited in the seasonal Deep Dive activity which culminated in a new version of the activity becoming available.

Rewind Rounds

Deep Dives are one of two new activities introduced this season and each week since the season launched they have become longer and more complex. In addition, this activity features mechanics which activate Pressure Trials that improve the loot players can earn but add an additional layer of difficulty that requires coordination in the form of voice communication.

To sum up then Deep Dive takes three forms:

• Regular Deep Dive,
• Deep Dive with Pressure Trials Activated,
• Deep Dive with Wicked Implement Quest.

Then on Tuesday 11th July, it was revealed that the way to acquire the catalyst for this weapon was to complete a Deep Dive at Tier 7 which means doing the aforementioned Pressure Trial.

Deep Dive is a matchmade activity so this means players are matched up with others and as any Destiny player can attest to, in-game voice chat is a minefield many would rather avoid.

What this has led to is a confusing mess as players try to read the minds of others in order to determine what the other two’s intentions are for that particular Deep Dive. Worse still, Deep Dives are a rare activity where “Join in Progress” is disabled so if you happen to be running, say, the version for the Exotic and your fellow players disconnect – a common occurrence these days – they are unable to join back. 

The root of this problem is that Destiny 2 doesn’t have any sort of Looking for Group (LFG) systems in its game, with players directed to external websites and Discord servers instead. These systems are said to be coming but in Season of the Deep, their absence is ringing loudly in the ears of players.

Deep Dive’s many different versions would be perfectly suited for a LFG system inside of Destiny 2 but alas, that system is only coming in Season 23 or the season before Lightfall launches.

It’s just such a silly move on Bungie’s part and we simply can’t understand why this sort of activity wasn’t held back until that system was in place.

But it gets worse. In the midst of ongoing technical issues on Bungie’s side, Ghosts of the Deep, the latest Dungeon for Destiny 2 features an achievement that acquires a completion of the Dungeon without a single death or leaving the activity. Should a player be attempting this while Bungie’s Claims system freaks out, that’s it for that run and if we were at the final boss only to be disconnected, we’d start looking at other games.

Sanctuary

Destiny 2, however, has always had these problems for years so why are players only now growing weary of giving Bungie a mile when it really only deserves an inch?

Bungie’s game is, when you remove the fancy dressing, a game of “make number go up”. Whether that number is damage, character level, Guardian Rank, Raid completions, whatever it is, when the number goes up, we get a hit of dopamine.

Since June however, Activision Blizzard’s Diablo IV has taken the attention of many Destiny 2 players. While mid-season player count for Destiny 2 is bad because, well, there isn’t much to do, the drop off around the launch of Diablo IV is noteworthy.

Compared to June 2022, player count on Steam was 12.48 percent lower in June 2023. This is one platform but this drop in players comes amidst widespread criticism of Bungie and its slow pace when it comes to “listening to players”.

Diablo IV scratches that Destiny 2 itch with its own take on “make number go up”. It boasts seasonal updates, engaging systems and best of all, a coherent introduction for players to the world and characters.

The game is also more stable than Destiny 2 is at the moment and doesn’t nearly demand as much grouping up as Destiny does.

The Destiny Killer

In the end though Destiny does have a hardcore fan base and as one of those players, I am going to see this story out until The Final Shape.

I’d compare it to Game of Thrones’ final season, you watched it because you’d invested so much time in the show already and to duck out now would be silly. Destiny 2 is the same in that regard in that once The Final Shape wraps up, many players are simply going to move on and maybe Bungie is hoping they’ll move on to Marathon.

We are well aware of the fact that once the Lightfall Showcase happens in August, hype will be high but we’re going to try to remember the feeling we had when I branched off to complete the quest for Wicked Implement, and my teammates pulled out their Ghost to head to orbit.

Diablo IV it is then.