‘Destiny’ Raids Defended By Bungie, Designer Discusses How You Can Quit And Return

Bungie stirred some controversy last week when it revealed that Raids in Destiny will require players to gather a group of friends to take on. There will be no match-making with random people. Lead Designer Luke Smith defended the decision in a recent NeoGAF post and also explained how you can quit the Raid and return in the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 shooter.

Smith first explained his understanding of the complaints for how Destiny‘s Raids are put together.

“I understand everyone’s frustration about the decision to not have matchmaking in a post-matchmaking world. I also understand the limitations that this places on the activity’s adoption at scale.

“That barrier to entry — the requirement that you get a group of people together and venture into something that is going to challenge your ability to work together (first) and your thumbs (second) — is a barrier I was willing to erect to preserve the activity goals.”

He then discussed what he expects to happen once Destiny is released to all platforms on September 9 and how long it will take experienced groups to complete a Raid.

“Bleeding edge hardcore groups will invest some significant amount of time in figuring out the encounters and making their way through the Vault.

“I fully expect groups to beat Normal mode in the first week its available.

“This is intentional, I’d like any group that is motivated and willing to cooperate to make their way through the Raid on Normal. I’ve talked some about thumbskill challenge vs. investment challenge vs. cooperation challenge in some interviews, and the Normal Raid difficulty prioritizes cooperation challenge and investment challenge.

“I expect Hard mode to take longer.

“Once your group learns the encounters, you will be able to get through the Raid significantly faster than 3 hours.

“However, the first time through, learning everything and arranging your group will take some hard-to-predict amount of time until some clan releases their strategies on YouTube.”

Then there’s this comment, which seemingly throws the entire commitment to not use online matchmaking in Destiny under the bus.

“The Vault of Glass is in many ways an activity that will build groups from the disparate people who come together to try and make their way through it. It’s very much a team-building exercise.”

Isn’t building groups from disparate people in a team-building exercise a description of online matchmaking as well? I can only assume he’s discussing the building of clans and groups on Bungie, Reddit and other gaming-centric websites.

Smith also revealed how players won’t have to commit to completing a Raid in a single session in a separate NeoGAF post.

“We store insertion points for you each week.

“You can resume where you and your group left off. That way, you can play an encounter or two, call it a night, get back together and pick up later in the week.

“‘Destiny’ players will want to complete that Raid by the end of the week though. Luke explained Bungie will reset all progress and loot eligibility at the end of the week since encounters within Raids only reward players once a week.”

What do you think of how Raids are constructed in Destiny? Do you think Bungie is missing the boat when it comes to online matchmaking, or is setting up groups of friends the best way?

[Images via Bungie]