Destiny 2 XP system tweaked after accusations that it was rigged

By Brittany Roston/Nov. 27, 2017 5:16 pm EST

Bungie is changing the experience points system used by Destiny 2 following a controversy claiming that the system is rigged. The controversy revolves around claims that as players spent longer amounts of time playing during a recent event, the amount of experience points they earned gradually decreased. In addition, a lengthy analysis posted on Reddit seemingly confirmed speculation that the amount of XP needed to level up had increased, fueling player ire.

The complaints are a bit complicated if you're not familiar with the game, but can be essentially summed up thusly: some players noticed that after playing for a prolonged period of time during a recent event, their experience points progress would slow down considerably. This prodded online reports from players who thought something was up, and Bungie has since posted a statement.

In its statement, Bungie said that player XP "will scale down when playing activities that can be quickly, repeatedly chained, like grinding public events." The company acknowledged that users aren't happy about this, and it says it doesn't like "the results." In contrast, XP was set to scale up in fixed or lengthier activities like the Leviathan Raid. This system has been disabled posthaste following the controversy.

In its statement, Bungie explained:

As a result, players will see XP earn rates change for all activities across the board, but with all values being displayed consistently in the user interface. Over the course of the next week, we will be watching and reviewing XP game data to ensure that these changes meet our expectations, as well as yours. Any additional updates to this system will be communicated to you via our official channels.

That statement was made on November 24. Following that, Bungie published a tweet on November 26 saying that the Destiny 2 API hasn't yet been adjusted to reflect the game change, while also stating that it takes 160,000 XP to level up. That is double the previous 80k requirement.

SOURCE: Bungie