Many objectives throughout the quest require you to get zone captures, which is meant to push players towards them. We've seen feedback for quite some time that players don't push the objectives often enough, so I'd love to know if you feel this has helped at all.
We've seen mixed results between feedback around the Iron Banner quest over the last few seasons. While some players leave poor feedback over having to use specific weapon types, others are appreciating a wider range in sandbox when approaching the Iron Banner.
Ex: Rather than seeing every player running the norm, players are using Handcannons, SMG's, Fusion Rifles, and Bows to finish up their quest.
Sure, after you finish the quest you can default to your desired loadout, but the more hardcore among you may be running these quests 3 times. This is also leading to some players who hadn't tried Handcannons or SMG's into new territory, leading to some new playstyles or attempts at strategy.
Throwing this next part in a quote - if you don't care for a quick blurb on my experience in IB, feel free to skip it!
On my side (as a player), it was nice in the first Iron Banner of the season not seeing Spare Rations/Mindbenders/HardLight immediately. Yes, players will get back to those loadouts after getting through the quest (or they're running them because they don't care about the quest), but it was kind of fun getting through the SMG portion with the Breath of the Dragon that dropped with HighCal. Had no idea that SMG could rip people apart, just needed to approach some encounters in a way other than "jump around the corner and try to hose down the shotgunner".
I did indeed had a few frustrating moments where my Dire Promise didn't stack up to someone elses, but I eventually got through that step, and just finished the quest up this afternoon. There were indeed a few matches last night where my fireteam (5/6 stack) were stomped with mercy, and most of the time that was poor coordination on our part, not capping zones or winning our 1v1's. I know a few of you don't necessarily care for my opinions on this, but I'm just talking through my experience and looking to better empathize with your feedback.
As a final question for those that have left poor feedback on specific weapons being tied to quest steps - would you rather see more objective/ability requirements, or general "verbs", like headshots, multikills, etc?
Here's a quick list of what I've got from this thread. I know a few are repeats from previous Iron Banners, but we'll be sure to cover them with the team:
Players do not like being forced to use a specific weapon archetype during IB quest steps
Players would like to turn in their tokens before finishing the quest
Players feel that matchmaking restrictions are too strict - Skill seems to be creating a poor environment for
some, whether it be load times or general match quality
SMG's and Bows don't feel appropriate as quest step requirements in the current sandbox
Continued feedback on Solo vs Fireteam matchmaking
Thanks in advance for the additional feedback.
[Edit - I totally posted this the first time without a formatting extension. The joys of working from home... should be more readable now.]