Destiny 2: Why Matchmaking Doesn’t Work for Raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls

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Destiny 2 has become a playground for players battling not only against alien foes and darkness itself but also against the sometimes significant divides in skill levels among its community. With the game’s raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls suffering from the infamous “carry culture,” a burgeoning conversation has erupted around why matchmaking for these end-game challenges remains absent. Many players debate the pros and cons of voluntary grouping versus automatic matchmaking and how the current player base might not be equipped enough to make teamwork efficient in high-stakes scenarios. The discussion highlights how the game’s design and community behavior influence the overall experience, painting a mixed picture of a game that continues to evolve but still grapples with player readiness to tackle its most challenging content.

Summary

  • There’s a significant skills gap in the Destiny 2 community, particularly evident in raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls.
  • The “carry culture” allows inexperienced players to bypass essential learning opportunities, leading to cheese strategies.
  • The debate continues around the potential implementation of matchmaking for raids, yet many argue it wouldn’t solve the underlying issues.
  • Many players believe that while some content is accessible, there’s a lack of intermediate content to help bridge the skill gap.

Understanding the Skill Gap

The skill gap in Destiny 2 appears to be an elephant in the room that players are both aware of and frustrated by. As the original poster, Juicen97, points out, many players struggle with the basic mechanics of end-game content due to insufficient self-teaching and guided playthroughs. One commenter, BeginningFew8188, suggests that the issues with player skill have become worse following the Final Shape drop, humorously invoking the idea that we’ve descended into a bitter reality, where only the most resolute Guardians can thrive. Others, like FishWife_71, highlight the scarcity of content aimed at players looking to improve their skills—a void that may partly explain why many fall back on cheese strategies rather than taking the time to learn the encounters. It’s akin to trying to learn how to swim but opting instead to just wade through the shallow end; you’re technically engaging with water, but you’re missing out on vital progression toward being a proficient swimmer.

The Cheese Culture: A Double-Edged Sword

Cheesing strategies, or finding the easiest, fastest way to defeat bosses, often makes the end-game experience accessible for some while simultaneously causing those who genuinely want to learn the mechanics to feel frustrated. General-Biscuits points out that the motivation behind cheesing raids like the Vault of Glass (VoG) is simply efficiency—nobody wants to spend hours overcoming a challenge when they can achieve the same rewards in half the time. This gets to the heart of a broader cultural issue in Destiny 2, where many players favor immediate gratification over the long-term benefits of genuinely engaging with the game’s content. Players such as MrHCher share tales of their own experiences carrying players through raids, underscoring how players looking for quick completion can sometimes miss crucial mechanics that contribute to future success in raids, leading to a cycle of ignorance that keeps perpetuating itself. It’s a classic case of “if you can’t win the race, cheat!”

The Case Against Matchmaking

While the idea of introducing matchmaking into raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls is appealing, many seasoned players are skeptical about whether this would actually enhance the gaming experience. KiNgPiN8T3 expresses disdain for the thought of raiding with randoms, suggesting that if he’s unable to complete a raid with players who are actively seeking out cooperative efforts, matchmade teams would likely lead to even worse experiences. After all, if “blueberries” (the affectionate term for players who often underperform due to lack of knowledge) aren’t adequately prepared to face challenging content, why would throwing them together in a matchmaking lobby suddenly make everything sunshine and rainbows? It’s like sending a kindergarten class on a field trip to a nuclear power plant—there’s not enough expertise in the room to handle that kind of power!

A Path Forward: Educational Content

One potential solution discussed among Redditors is the need for more educational content that can cater to players sorting through the choppy waters of becoming more adept Guardians. FishWife_71 emphasizes the lack of middle-ground content that helps players progress from basic mechanics to the intricate strategies needed for high-level raids. Just as every epic journey starts with training, players need access to lessons that cover the nuances between beginner and master strategies, rather than directly expecting players to achieve mastery through trial and error. This could mean developing content that focuses specifically on specific raid mechanics outside of the raids themselves, possibly in the form of practice zones or tutorial modes that allow players to hone their skills without the pressure of actual raids—imagine a guiding spirit telling you “just watch out for that one attack!” instead of leaving players out in the wild to face the unknown all alone.

Tying these threads together, we can see that the conversation around matchmaking, skill gaps, and carry culture in Destiny 2 is a complex tapestry of player experiences. On one hand, there’s a clear call for the community to prioritize learning the mechanics rather than skipping to the finish line, with more seasoned players highlighting the need for better content to teach the game’s intricacies. At the same time, the innate desire for expedience and efficiency fills the air, leading players to opt for the path of least resistance, even if achieves a hollow victory. What lies ahead for Destiny 2 is a convergence of suggestions and hopes, where with a little magic wand of developer attention, it could evolve into a haven for even the greenest of Guardians dreaming of epic raids—all without fear of facing a horde of blueberries exhausting their once-tight-knit group.

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2025-03-17 07:45