Bungie Discusses ‘Destiny’ Raid Matchmaking, Is It Still A Possibility?

The topic of matchmaking for Destiny Raids has been a touchy one since Bungie first announced that there would be none. The studio has explained and defended the reasons behind the design decision. Now they are having discussions on possibly bringing matchmaking to Raids and other high-level activities.

Currently, matchmaking is limited to Strikes, Strike playlists, and Crucible multiplayer matches in Destiny. The higher-level activities like Raids, Daily Heroic Missions, Weekly Heroic Strikes, Nightfall Strikes, and Raids all require players either to round up friends online or go it alone.

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In Bungie’s Weekly Update, Community Manager David “DeeJ” Dague explained that they have heard the calls from Destiny players when it comes to matchmaking for other parts of the game. It’s probably the number one most asked question when it comes to gameplay, after all.

“You don’t need to sell us too hard on the value of Matchmaking at Bungie. It’s something we helped to pioneer. Yet, we understand its limitations. In the recipe of a Bungie game, Matchmaking has always contributed the ingredient of a team built to play one match of competitive multiplayer. As you’ve probably witnessed in recent weeks (or years), many of those fresh allies have failed to go the distance together.

“The Raid was designed for solid teams of killers who have made a commitment to solve a dense and explosive riddle. Most of the raiding parties who have emerged victorious from the Vault of Glass have sworn that one weak link would have doomed their chain. There have been other stories, of course. We’ve heard tell of Guardians who met each other just outside the door that leads into that vault. Strange tales have reached our ears – tales of total strangers who have banded together to see the Raid all the way through to a triumphant finale.

“Those stories surprise us, but the players of our games always have. The best I can do to answer your question is to let you know that you’ve been heard. We’re having conversations about how Matchmaking might support the more challenging activities in Destiny. It’s a start. Keep sounding off about it, and maybe someday some matchmade Fireteam mates will hear you, too.”

I can understand the logic behind no matchmaking in Destiny Raids. It’s an activity that was made to last hours and follows a single group of six players. Keeping a random group of six players together is asking a lot, especially considering how often I’ve seen players drop from match-made Strikes.

The same can’t be said for the Heroic Missions and Strikes plus Nightfall Strikes, however. These were designed to last around 30 minutes, no more than an hour. Not having matchmaking for these activities locks users out of a significant portion of the post-level 20 content in Destiny because they are not easy to solo. Even if the Vault of Glass and future Raids never receive matchmaking, the Heroic and Nightfall activities should.

What do you think? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image via Bungie]