While eSports used to be impossible for Destiny, big thanks to ESL as it officially opens Destiny (PS4) 4on4 Community Cup #1 Europe on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 at 15:00 CET. Days before the tournament kicks off, official rules for the shooter video game have already been unveiled. With the snowballing popularity of eSports in the gaming industry, ESL is the first gaming league to bring guardians in this competitive scene, although this isn't the first time for Bungie.
Destiny is one of the trickiest games out there to carry into the eSports scene primarily because of its very wide selection of gears, different subclasses and loot-drop system of getting weapons. In previous months, many gaming critics have even deemed this venture impossible for Bungie to pull off. However, ESL has made it possible. The only pet peeve that comes along with this endeavor are the innumerable bans and restrictions.
With ESL's official rules released for Destiny, they don't seem to go far away from those set by fan communities. Below is a quick rundown to Destiny's official ESL Play eSport rules.
Tournament Teams
The game type of each match is randomly selected so teams have to check their match page for the correct type of game. Three game types--Supremacy, Zone Control and Clash-rotate in the tournament in a single elimination bracket. The league gets rid of Destiny's traditional three-member fireteam and implements ESL's usual four-member team. This structure is loosely derived from Rise of Iron's private matches.
Maps are generated via map veto system and the highest seeded team will begin the veto. Teams are given 12 minutes to finish the match. In terms of score limit, Zone Control and Clash have similar default score while Supremacy is set to 100. Tie-breaker round will be played whenever necessary.
Armor Rating System
As part of its desire to balance the game, ESL has put up its own armor rating system for Destiny. This evaluates each team member's armor, which should not go beyond 7. Through this rating system, players are prevented from being tanky, allowing them to withstand much damage. The system also fairly distributes a standard hit points which may be clocked in at 200.
Bans & Restrictions
Meanwhile, the tournament implements a ton of restrictions in order pull off a balanced match. ESL has banned players from wielding class specific weapons and exotic armors as well as duplicate subclasses on one team. On top of that, picking up heavy ammo is not permissible in the game. Further, ESL bans all artifacts in Rise of Iron except for the Memory of Jolder, which removes sprint cooldown. Artifacts give away special perks which may gain a team greater advantage from the other in one way or another.
In the meantime, Backstab, Bladedancer's perk, is removed from the mechanics due to it one-hit melee ability. Shotguns with Kneepads and Crowd Control perks, armor pieces with the Special Weapon Ammo perk, and weapons with Luck in the Chamber perk are banned as well. Although all exotic armors have been ditched, most exotic weapons remain intact. Banned exotic armors include the Ice Breaker, Invective, Universal Remote, Queenbreaker's Bow, No Land Beyond and Hawkmoon.
In general, these restrictions made by ESL aim for Destiny tournament to expand time to kill and create more exciting battles between teams.
What do you think of the Destiny's venture into eSports? Comment down below your thoughts!
