At least sunsetting has been sunset
In this post-Activision Destiny 2 world, Bungie has made several big missteps.
One is “vaulting,” which takes away chunks of game content with the aim of making the base download more manageable. The other, far more contentious aspect, is “sunsetting.” In short, this system created a constant grind by making gear untenable to use for long periods of time; which pissed off pretty much everyone. That latter bit is going away, but it won’t apply retroactively.
The big news that brought about all this is the delay of The Witch Queen, Destiny 2‘s next big expansion. It’s been moved into 2022, and Bungie needs to placate the playerbase until that date arrives. As such, “rewards will matter” now (very clever to sell old features back as a new one), as Bungie admits the execution of the late 2020-2021 system was “off the mark.”
Here’s a quick breakdown: “We’ve made the decision that any weapon or armor that can currently be infused to max Power will continue to be able to reach max Power permanently. Starting in Season 14 we won’t be capping the infusion on any weapons or armor that have not already reached the cap as of the start of Season 13. This means you’ll be able to take your Trustee, your Falling Guillotine, and all the high-stat armor you’ve earned this year to take on the raid in The Witch Queen.”
As a concession, gear will be tweaked as needed (like the old days) to prevent things from getting out of hand, balance-wise. The Power Cap will also only be raised by 10 for each “non-expansion season,” to avoid excessive grinding even further. It’s a set of good changes! But the game didn’t need to enter this territory in the first place.
My main concern for the rest of 2021 is whether or not Beyond Light is going to last me through the year just on seasonal updates.
The Road to the Witch Queen [Bungie.net]
