Sliding Update Angers Destiny 2 players.

Bungie is sliding back into the doghouse in Destiny 2.

Last Thursday, Bungie made a big announcement regarding some of the upcoming changes to Destiny 2. And the fans are not happy. This isn’t about gear, guns or even micro transactions. It’s worse. It’s about sliding.

Sliding in Destiny is one of the best parts about movement in the game. During story gameplay it’s fun to dodge attacks and move swiftly between areas, but it’s in PVP that sliding really shines.

The ability to get low is essential to making yourself a harder target to hit or even to track. Sliding is maybe the most powerful when done with a short range weapon, like a shotgun, to pop up and blast another Guardian before they can even target you.

August 24th will see the 15th season of Destiny 2 and the slide is set to change. The most notable change for Guardians will be that while in a slide, the weapon will be less stable, the flinch will be more noticeable while taking any damage and short range weapons will bloom further, and decrease accuracy. While this could be a change to reduce just shotgun sliding, it’s actually a deeper issue that the players have a problem with. And that is skill.

Sliding and being able to surprise another Guardian with a quick shotgun blast, or even sliding into the midst of a team of Guardians is notably how most Destiny 2 players express their skills. Destiny 2 is one of the few games that skill has to be expressed in every encounter and high level players feel cheated out of their only reward for the hard work of getting good enough to show it off.

Bungie reducing movement and making the ability to aim and execute clip worthy moves feels like a change catering to casuals instead of it’s high level players. Prominent Destiny 2 player Wish has likened the change to the movement and aim specifically in the crucible as a swap from Destiny 2 to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Suggesting that Bungie is dumbing down the game to please lower skill players.

This conflict is seen throughout the gaming community: Skill vs. Accessibility. Should game developers make the game easier for everyone to play or reward those who take the time to hone their skills is a question that gets tossed around during every update in Destiny 2 and most other MMO style games.

Here’s what Aztecross, a Destiny 2 creator who focuses on the PVP of the Crucible had to say:

“Much of the frustration here seems to stem from more than just slide change, but a general philosophy change at Bungie that players see as going backwards. At the start of Destiny 2’s life, the game was far slower than it is today, prompting Bungie to launch an update called “Go Fast” about six months after the game’s launch.”

No Guardian wants the slow moving days to return and some view Bungie’s announcement as the first step back towards the disasterous launch.