Fallout 76is plenty different fromDestiny 2, but they both share the status of being live-service games with ongoing support and active communities. With recent updates throughoutDestiny 2’s Lightfall era being fairly divisive in the community,Destiny 2might benefit from looking at howFallout 76integrates community feedback into its future updates.
It’s no secret thatFallout 76had a bumpy start when it launched in 2018, but anyone who immediately dismissed the game may be unaware of what it has turned into since then. One specific resource forFallout 76has been a vital tool for making the game as successful as it has become, and other games should consider how public test servers could be beneficial.
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Live Service Games Like Destiny 2 Should Learn from How Fallout 76 Utilizes a Public Test Server
Fallout 76’s Public Test Server has been generating a lot of praise in the game’s recent updates in early 2023, but it’s always been quite an underappreciated resource.Fallout 76’s PTS leading up to the Summer 2023 update has been gaining a lot of positive attention. While upcoming content is always a big attraction for participating in the PTS, plenty of quality-of-life and balancing updates are introduced here as well. For example, the current PTS appears to be resolvingthe Stamps controversy inFallout 76among other well-received changes. AfterDestiny 2’s Lightfall expansion launched to a rough start, Bungie should consider how a PTS could help future expansions and updates overall.
Destiny 2already has a version of playtest builds available for the player base, but these are exclusive to a small portion of the community. These private playtests ended up sparkingcontroversy inDestiny 2during the Lightfall era when one of the participants leaked some of the content against Bungie’s policy regarding the event. Regardless, Bungie should consider the benefits of opening upDestiny 2’s playtests to the public, especially when it comes to tuning and QOL updates. Leaks are a popular topic in theDestiny 2community, so having an open approach to upcoming content likeFallout 76might be a smart move forDestiny 2.
Leading up to a majority of the updates andexpansions forFallout 76, the PTS build for the game releases in multiple windows for players to experience most of the upcoming content and changes.Fallout 76’s PTS is only available for players on PC, but true to its name it is open to anyone on the platform who owns the game. Bethesda’s official Discord server hosts discussion forums about content in the PTS so that players can provide feedback to developers and fellow peers. Content creators and others in the community are also free to discuss the PTS changes on external platforms as well. Learning from this major difference between howFallout 76andDestiny 2’s community feedback factors into influencing change could be revolutionary for Bungie.
Destiny 2does have its own platforms for community feedback, but these are generally reserved for bug reports, community votes for upcoming cosmetics, and featured community media contests. The community forDestiny 2is very outgoing when it comes to brainstorming changes for the game, yet even the greatest of ideas get lost in the vast depths of social media.Destiny 2’s community contestsare a fun bonding experience, but don’t quite compare to hosting open feedback forums.
A big part of what makesFallout 76’s PTS such a big success is how players can snapshot their character and inventory from the live game over to the PTS. This provides players the resources to grasp how impactful the new updates will be for their individual characters and for the game as a whole.Destiny 2’s Season of the Deepwill be introducing a long list of changes to exotic weapons and Super abilities across all characters, so updates like these are the perfect argument for implementing a PTS forDestiny 2.
Destiny 2is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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