Rant follows - Paul, I'm sorry if this ends up being too much of a downer for your newsletter.
Seeing transmogrification in Destiny 2 come out the way it has, I can only say that 1) I am not surprised and 2) that it essentially confirms my theory about Destiny 2. There is no plan to make it the premier action-MMO the continues to grow and evolve that you can "play anyway you want". The plan is to keep Destiny 2 as low-maintenance but as profitable as possible for Bungie while they work on a new IP.
To break that down, I think the long-term plan with Destiny 2 is as follows:
1. Charge as much money as possible for content in Destiny 2;
2. Use that money to develop technologies like cross-save, cross-play and other RPG systems;
3. Use cross-save, cross-play and those RPG systems in future IPs; and
4. Keep Destiny 2 as a low maintenance money-maker that double-dips on a loyal fan base.
The economy in Destiny 2 has become mobile game-grade. Grind thousands of hours to get something you want or just pay for it with real money, even when you already paid for a full expansion and you already paid for the thing you are now re-grinding for some reason.
In Destiny 2, you didn't buy something, you bought the privilege of grinding for stuff.
I think my theory explains why Bungie never seems to get Destiny 2 right and why Beyond Light seems like such a big step back. The game sunsets and vaults, and forces you to regrind because it always makes you "start over". And when players have to start over, Bungie makes more money from the players. That is Destiny 2 in a nutshell. It's unbecoming of a AAA title, but here we are.
Can anyone honestly tell me that Destiny 2 right now is better than D1: Age of Triumph (spring-summer 2017)? It had daily heroic strikes, daily missions, nightfall and day-break strikes, daily crucible, weekly rotating raids (there were 4 raids), weekly rotating Prison of Elders, hundreds of weapons and armor pieces, ornaments for all those, and no seasonal content. And by the way Age of Triumph was FREE for anyone who bought Rise of Iron.
Can anyone honestly tell me that Destiny 2 right now is better than in Season of Arrivals (Season 11)? In Season 11 we still had Reckoning, Menagerie, Forges, four more planets, 2 more gambit maps, about 8 more crucible maps, 7 extra strikes, nothing was sunset yet, 7 raids (including raid lairs), and all the campaigns up to Shadowkeep.
We lost all of that in Beyond Light and for what? These "Empire Hunts" and "Wrathborn Hunts", while good for targeted farming are just "Nightmare Hunts", which I am already sick of from Shadowkeep.
Let me put my experience into perspective: I have put about 64 days (yes, that many hours) into Destiny 2. The music, the lore, the gunplay, and core game play loop are all really great. I may even say second-to-none. But at this point:
1. I see no point to doing "builds" because armor 2.0 is too grindy;
2. I see not point in farming weapons because sunsetting can apparently just come back;
3. I see no point buying expansions because content can just be "vaulted"; and
4. I see no point in seeing what "happens" next season because Destiny 2 basically has no story or character development. Uncharted 4 has more story in its Epilogue than all Destiny 2 so far.
The game is on the decline. I do still think it's fun to play, but when you include content-vaulting, sunsetting, random rolls coupled with luck-based progression, stingy upgrade economies, and now expensive or grindy transmogrification... it's too expensive and/or time-consuming to take seriously.
I would love to be wrong, and see Bungie pull out of this tail-spin, but I think all the aforementioned trends in Destiny 2 signal an irreversible decline. Transmogrification isn't just the latest in a bad trend of making us not regrind for stuff we already bought, it's the straw the broke the camel's back.
If there is a way for Destiny 2 to change course, and respecting that Destiny 2 has to make money, I think Aztecross (YouTube) said it best, which I will paraphrase here:
The right approach to monetizing the game was to create two classes of players: 1) players who paid for the full version/expansion and 2) free-to-play players. Players who pay should get some perks, like no cap on transmogrification or have all the season passes included. Free-to-play players can be nickel-and-dimed for season passes, gear, shaders, etc. because they haven't paid for the rest of it. That's a dichotomy that would make sense for the sake of retaining loyalty of players.
At this point, Destiny 2 has a mobile game-like economy, and it's not deserving of your hard-earned after-tax money. It's double-dipping on loyal players, punishing them when it should be rewarding them.
However, I seriously doubt that any of the above will change and as such, Bungie has lost me as a loyal customer (I've been playing since 2015). I can't be the only one who sees the writing on the wall, and I bet many saw it sooner.
So, while I will continue to tune into Paul Tassi for his Destiny 2 (and other) content, I am putting Destiny 2 down at least until the Witch Queen expansion, which I am not pre-ordering... could be I never pick it up.
It's been fun, Guardians. You guys and girls were always the best part of the game for me and you always will be. You made all the time and effort worth it. Thank you.
Rant follows - Paul, I'm sorry if this ends up being too much of a downer for your newsletter.
Seeing transmogrification in Destiny 2 come out the way it has, I can only say that 1) I am not surprised and 2) that it essentially confirms my theory about Destiny 2. There is no plan to make it the premier action-MMO the continues to grow and evolve that you can "play anyway you want". The plan is to keep Destiny 2 as low-maintenance but as profitable as possible for Bungie while they work on a new IP.
To break that down, I think the long-term plan with Destiny 2 is as follows:
1. Charge as much money as possible for content in Destiny 2;
2. Use that money to develop technologies like cross-save, cross-play and other RPG systems;
3. Use cross-save, cross-play and those RPG systems in future IPs; and
4. Keep Destiny 2 as a low maintenance money-maker that double-dips on a loyal fan base.
The economy in Destiny 2 has become mobile game-grade. Grind thousands of hours to get something you want or just pay for it with real money, even when you already paid for a full expansion and you already paid for the thing you are now re-grinding for some reason.
In Destiny 2, you didn't buy something, you bought the privilege of grinding for stuff.
I think my theory explains why Bungie never seems to get Destiny 2 right and why Beyond Light seems like such a big step back. The game sunsets and vaults, and forces you to regrind because it always makes you "start over". And when players have to start over, Bungie makes more money from the players. That is Destiny 2 in a nutshell. It's unbecoming of a AAA title, but here we are.
Can anyone honestly tell me that Destiny 2 right now is better than D1: Age of Triumph (spring-summer 2017)? It had daily heroic strikes, daily missions, nightfall and day-break strikes, daily crucible, weekly rotating raids (there were 4 raids), weekly rotating Prison of Elders, hundreds of weapons and armor pieces, ornaments for all those, and no seasonal content. And by the way Age of Triumph was FREE for anyone who bought Rise of Iron.
Can anyone honestly tell me that Destiny 2 right now is better than in Season of Arrivals (Season 11)? In Season 11 we still had Reckoning, Menagerie, Forges, four more planets, 2 more gambit maps, about 8 more crucible maps, 7 extra strikes, nothing was sunset yet, 7 raids (including raid lairs), and all the campaigns up to Shadowkeep.
We lost all of that in Beyond Light and for what? These "Empire Hunts" and "Wrathborn Hunts", while good for targeted farming are just "Nightmare Hunts", which I am already sick of from Shadowkeep.
Let me put my experience into perspective: I have put about 64 days (yes, that many hours) into Destiny 2. The music, the lore, the gunplay, and core game play loop are all really great. I may even say second-to-none. But at this point:
1. I see no point to doing "builds" because armor 2.0 is too grindy;
2. I see not point in farming weapons because sunsetting can apparently just come back;
3. I see no point buying expansions because content can just be "vaulted"; and
4. I see no point in seeing what "happens" next season because Destiny 2 basically has no story or character development. Uncharted 4 has more story in its Epilogue than all Destiny 2 so far.
The game is on the decline. I do still think it's fun to play, but when you include content-vaulting, sunsetting, random rolls coupled with luck-based progression, stingy upgrade economies, and now expensive or grindy transmogrification... it's too expensive and/or time-consuming to take seriously.
I would love to be wrong, and see Bungie pull out of this tail-spin, but I think all the aforementioned trends in Destiny 2 signal an irreversible decline. Transmogrification isn't just the latest in a bad trend of making us not regrind for stuff we already bought, it's the straw the broke the camel's back.
If there is a way for Destiny 2 to change course, and respecting that Destiny 2 has to make money, I think Aztecross (YouTube) said it best, which I will paraphrase here:
The right approach to monetizing the game was to create two classes of players: 1) players who paid for the full version/expansion and 2) free-to-play players. Players who pay should get some perks, like no cap on transmogrification or have all the season passes included. Free-to-play players can be nickel-and-dimed for season passes, gear, shaders, etc. because they haven't paid for the rest of it. That's a dichotomy that would make sense for the sake of retaining loyalty of players.
At this point, Destiny 2 has a mobile game-like economy, and it's not deserving of your hard-earned after-tax money. It's double-dipping on loyal players, punishing them when it should be rewarding them.
However, I seriously doubt that any of the above will change and as such, Bungie has lost me as a loyal customer (I've been playing since 2015). I can't be the only one who sees the writing on the wall, and I bet many saw it sooner.
So, while I will continue to tune into Paul Tassi for his Destiny 2 (and other) content, I am putting Destiny 2 down at least until the Witch Queen expansion, which I am not pre-ordering... could be I never pick it up.
It's been fun, Guardians. You guys and girls were always the best part of the game for me and you always will be. You made all the time and effort worth it. Thank you.