Destiny 2: The Final Figure is a good expansion with a particularly vicious exotic loot chase. The new exotic class items are powerful pieces of RNG gear that can be incredibly tedious to chase down, so many players rely on AFK macros to farm the loot for them. The AFK farming epidemic has gotten so bad that Bungie is changing its terms of service to ban players as a workaround if they keep using it.
“Input macros can be a useful accessibility tool for many people, and we intend to keep it that way, but some use these tools to automate gameplay,” the studio explained. On Reddit and on Discord on Monday. “Players detected using automation to bypass idle detection or perform automated activities to earn loot may be restricted or banned. Loot includes, but is not limited to, XP, materials, or trophies (e.g. Exotic class items).”
While Bungie hasn't specifically mentioned farming exotic class items, it seems to be the most popular form of AFK macro lately, as players have reached peak fatigue levels with the game cycle required to obtain them. Since exotic items spawn with random perks, it's not just about getting one, it's about getting the “right one” for the builds you're running. And with the Overthrow activities in Pale Heart not being generous enough and Dual Destiny reruns being too much work, some Destiny 2 Fanatics on PC, especially recent accidental irritations made the whole matter worse.
The way it works, as you can see from dozens of examples Reddit threads And YouTube videosThis is done by loading players into the Overthrow the Landing patrol area and repeatedly looting the same old chest, which has about a 2% chance of dropping an exotic class item. Since the chest is nearby and always in the same location, it's just a matter of rinse and repeat. The script can loot about one chest per minuteWhile it may seem like a no-brainer to a player, if it's outsourced to a macro script that enters all the commands for you while you're busy complaining, you can get the farm done quickly. Destiny 2 on the subreddit.
“Is this allowed?” one player asked asked In early July, there was debate about whether this was a bannable offence. “I mean, as long as he's doing it alone and not interfering with anyone else's enjoyment of the game, I personally don't see a problem with it,” said another replied“I don't know why anyone would want to run around a patrol area for hours for a 1/64th chance of getting something they're looking for in a game.”
Bungie has now made it clear that this is no longer the case. Most players seem happy with the change, and the studio has stated that checkpoint macros, which are used to give teammates the same save point as the main person running the activity, will not be edited in the same way. But this still leaves open the larger issue of why players are so turned off by the current grind and are starting to farm AFK to begin with. “Based,” he wrote. Destiny 2 “But now it’s time to do something about why people choose these paths in the first place,” said YouTuber Stefan “Datto” Jonke.
“That's really the goal,” Bungie said wrote back“There will be some changes to XUR that we announced last week and the team continues to look at opportunities for improvement. We know this can be frustrating, but more feedback/data to demonstrate the issue helps a lot more than resorting to Macros.”