Destiny 2 will add full-auto as an accessibility option
So you don't have to click six times per second
To fire some of Destiny 2's guns at their fastest possible rate, you need to click six times per second. This sucks. This especially sucks if you have physical issues which impede rapid clicking. Honestly, with these semi-auto weapon archetypes I've often looked for rolls with the Full Auto Trigger System perk to spare my hands. So it's grand to hear from Bungie's new accessibility initiative that yep, they're planning to add some sort of accessibility option enabling automatic fire. In some way.
Destiny's fastest-firing guns are already fully automatic (because to hell with firing a Submachine Gun semi-auto at 900 rounds per minute) but the point at which Bungie start switching to semi-auto seems a bit extreme. The semi-auto Sidearm archetypes run up to 360rpm, semi-auto Scout Rifles up to 200rpm, Pulse Rifles can be a pig too, and even Hand Cannons can get pretty clicky at 180rpm. While you can get the Full Auto perk rolled on some Scouts, Pulses, and Sidearms, they're not guaranteed and you sacrifice a perk slot just to not have your hands explode. If that sucks for me, it's outright hostile to others.
Thankfully, that's changing. Bungie have hinted before that they had plans for solving clickspam, and now they've been more explicit. The company this week announced Accessibility At Bungie, their fourth 'Inclusion Club' after Black At Bungie, Trans At Bungie, and Women At Bungie. That had words from new senior designer Robert Schuster, who relayed a chat he had with the game's weapons feature lead, Chris Proctor.
"I was hesitant at first to mention [to Chris] one of my barriers: fast firing non-automatic weapons like Scout Rifles and Hand Cannons cause me hand pain during longer sessions," he said. "Why couldn't we have a way to enable auto-fire on these kinds of weapons? I braced for a negative response. Instead, he heartily agreed and mentioned it was something he had already been considering as something that we could work toward including in the game."
How exactly that will work, he doesn't say. I'd hope for full-auto to simply be an setting in the options menu and for Full Auto Trigger System to be pulled from perk pools, but we'll see. Nor does he say when we should expect this feature, though Bungie's prior hint in August said we'd get a solution before the Witch Queen expansion, which is due on February 22nd, 2022.
The accessibility club announcement also notes they plan to launch a guide to help players find help for mental health issues.
"I've been trying to help players on Bungie.net for almost 15 years, either as a volunteer moderator or as a Bungie employee," player support specialist Drew Tucker explained. "In my time here, I've seen a lot of players describe mental health issues they are experiencing and are trying to seek help. We have procedures in place to guide them toward help, but I've always wanted to do more."
Bungie posted an update on their diversity & inclusion efforts earlier this week too. Alongside chat about improving practices and training and reporting and such, they mention one clear step that's often requested in the games industry: "We will be eliminating the mandatory arbitration clause in all our employee agreements, given the growing concern that arbitration may not be the fairest way to resolve employment complaints."Forced arbitration requires employees to agree to waive their right to sue and instead go through private arbitrator, a process which divides workers and often favours employers. Which can be a problem at workplaces with serious issues. Employees at Riot Games and Blizzard protested their forced arbitration in the wake of scandals over their workplace conditions, with Riot eventually walking it back a bit and Blizzard, well, they're still tied up in so many legal battles.
Season Of The Lost is still really good, by the way. Great season. Having a great time. Oh, but that poor lost boy.