Okay, as this is a feedback forum, I thought I’d share my thoughts and (hopefully) constructive criticism. So don’t take it as a whiny or negative post. First of all, I was introduced to Destiny in January 2021, and I immediately fell in love with the game - the depth of lore, the visuals, music etc, everything. One thing, however, that I mostly avoid is Crucible. I’m a casual player, not really into PvP, and not really good at it, I acknowledge that. And I’m sure it has been all said a million times, but as in recent TWABs Bungie mentioned they want to encourage more new players to participate in the Trials of Osiris and Crucible, I can tell you exactly why most new (and especially casual) players would rather avoid it like a plague (based on my own and my friends’ experience, as well as numerous posts on reddit and the web). Being bad at PvP at first is normal, one could improve over time, by being bad at first and trying again and again until they become better. But that implies some kind of progression, gradual improvement. I’m willing to learn and improve, but with Crucible at the moment you’re being thrown into a bowl of chaos, where most players seem to be hardcore PvP players, and you’re there just hopelessly trying to survive. Funny thing is, the most usual answer to this is that you should “get gud”, as it’s your own fault you’re bad. And while I partially agree, the game doesn’t offer any way for a newbie to learn, except while being steamrolled by veteran players with expert handling skills of Felwinter Lies, The Last Words and such. Hardly a fun experience. Yet even a tough competition is supposed to be somewhat fun, exciting, no? I’ve also heard that it used to be SBMM and they changed it to CBMM, due to hardcore players protesting the SBMM, which in all honesty: - as a system is completely dumb (you wouldn’t place kindergarteners to play football agains professional footballers and expect them to just learn and enjoy the game, while pros kick the shit out of them). - and as “veteran players”, it’s pathetic because obviously the only reason they want CBMM is because it gives them ability to farm weaker players for better K/D ratio - playing against similarly skilled players is, after all, more difficult. [b]EDIT:[/b] I've been informed that that's not the only reason, connection was also an issue etc., so I get it. And that’s the culprit of the problem - people wonder why casual players are not participating in Crucible - well, why would they? It’s barely enjoyable in these circumstances. Most who try it out, get absolutely destroyed again and again, so they end up finishing the necessary steps for whatever quests they have (or abandon them) and get back to PvE, as it’s far more rewarding and much more balanced. Or imagine dropping the player into a dungeon level the very first thing after they’ve created the character. Pretty much the same experience. Now I honestly don’t know how Bungie could address it, if they would. I remember back in high school I was playing some similarly fast-paced shooter games, which had skill/level based lobbies - there were both “free-for-all” and level restricted ones - and that worked perfectly, as when you just start out you were playing with total newbies, and as you progressed you would only be allowed to lobbies that were more or less similar level with your skill. And that was fun! It was balanced and it made sense. Sure, some games still were tough, especially in higher level lobbies, but not even close to the hopelessness of some of the current Crucible matches. But I doubt they’ll completely change the system just to accommodate new players. And also, I’m sure there are many solely PvP-focused players who are completely fine with the way things are now. And as I’m usually playing PvE I might not even be the player group to listen to when it comes to PvP, but I’m just saying that me, a PvE player, would gladly participate more in PvP, if it had some kind of fair matchmaking system that would make the game enjoyable for everybody, not just the high-skill players. Newbies vs newbies, skilled vs skilled - it’s not rocket science. My ¢0.02. Thanks for reading. P.S. By the way - I heard they made some adjustments to Iron Banner matchmaking this week, and I have to say it felt much better than normal crucible matches, much more balanced. So whatever they did there - I think is a good direction.