A fair trade?
Vaulting and a heavy focus on seasonal cadence, both in tandem, has probably been the worst decision Bungie has made when it comes to Destiny 2. And I’ve seen some head-scratchers.
In the before-times, Bungie could create larger expansions, which had longer lifetimes and less of a sense of a ratrace-esque seasonal grind. Now, we’re getting the worst of all worlds, it seems. Beyond Light is very small in terms of content, a ton of (good) old content was straight-up erased from the game, and seasonal progression, coupled with vaulting gear (most notably armor for some reason), creates a situation where earning certain items feels pointless: since their efficacy will be nuked mere months later.
We’re at the point where some sort of shakeup needs to happen. But for the time being, Bungie is sailing ahead with the above plans: with a twist. On their newest This Week at Bungie blog, the publisher explains that they’re going to be cutting down on FOMO (fear of missing out) with some new changes. Here’s the basic rundown of what they hope to achieve:
- Provide a guide to new, returning, and veteran players for what to do today/this week.
- Guide the player through the Seasonal content, week-over-week.
- Encourage players to engage with complexities and nuances of the Seasonal activity and rituals.
- Reduce the penalties on XP and Bright Dust for missing a given week.
“Seasonal challenges” are the cornerstone of all of this, which doubles down on the seasonal scheme: a big monetization focus of Bungie in this post-Activision era. Think of them like quests, but ones that are account-linked and easy to find/follow. Bungie is “moving away from” weekly bounties here, and following the weekly system found in many seasonal games like Fortnite. But Bungie isn’t just a round-by-round battle royale shooter: it’s a loot-based game.
I mostly just miss going back to old content with my new shiny gear. To me, that’s what Destiny was always about. Now, I’m forced to play limited amounts of content with gear that essentially has an expiration date. Not a great look for a looter shooter.
This Week at Bungie [Bungie.net]
