Destiny 2 fans disappointed by the lack of direct communication with Bungie's community managers aren't going to have their concerns addressed anytime soon, as a developer confirms that there's no plan for CMs to return to the subreddit. This comes after multiple instances of harassment towards devs speaking with the playerbase, apparently making it unsafe for them to even use a generic, shared account rather than their personal profiles.
This comes just days after one harasser was ordered to pay Bungie $489,435 over the abuse of an employee after it escalated to the point that the worker needed round-the-clock security at his home to keep him and his family safe. Since this incident, Bungie doesn't appear to be convinced that it's safe enough for workers to take a more active role in direct communications with fans, keeping support largely limited to its official forum.
Bungie's response comes from a popular thread in the Destiny subreddit, calling for the return of direct communications with CMs. While Bungie doesn't respond as much as it used to, it did leave a reply here to explain why it won't be returning to the old way of doing things, directing players to the official website instead.
"I completely understand the want to go back to how we used to respond all the time here, but that time has passed," reads the reply from the BNG Help account. "Until everyone can feel safe again, I wouldn’t expect to see many responses from us here for the foreseeable future.
"Unfortunately, devs who aren’t even CMs are still being harassed just because they work at Bungie, so using the CM account on Reddit will put a bigger target on all of the CM’s backs."
Bungie does however explain that it still reads Reddit posts and comments, even if it isn't as active of a participant in the community as it once was. "As a legend once said, 'we’re listening,' and while we can’t always act on the feedback, we do share it with stakeholders every single week. So please, keep it coming."
Many fans are sympathetic, even if they wish community management could go back to the earlier days of the game. They largely blame the abusers for this change in approach, calling them entitled and toxic.
Some do, however, still ask for at least some communication on Reddit, even if it's just an acknowledgement that a concern is being investigated. This is largely because they're not happy with the support the game itself is receiving, and don't believe that their comments are being read. Bungie hasn't responded to this follow-up, but its statement on the matter is quite definitive, so we shouldn't expect a change of approach anytime soon.