Destiny 2 Has a Microtransaction Problem

Megalith

Megalith

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As noted by a commenter, making cosmetics consumable (especially when they’re tied to your microtransaction system) is a dick move, but that’s exactly what Bungie has done for Destiny 2: unlike the original, the sequel’s shaders, which typically require the spending of real-world cash, are one-time use. Additionally, rare quality mods that boost your character can only be bought from the in-game shop with real money. Even the costs of loot boxes are higher when compared to other titles.

The confusing in-game shop and the worrying gameplay-affecting mods are bad enough, but it's the new shader system that has sparked the biggest uproar, and with good reason. You can't help but feel for Destiny 2, Bungie has re-tooled shaders to fuel the microtransaction system. Consider this: one cool change for Destiny 2 is that you can apply a shader to an individual piece of gear. So, you can apply one shader to your chest piece, a different one to your legs, and a different one to your gauntlets. If you're anything like me though, you'll want a complete set of armor to have the same shader applied to each item.
 
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
 
Shaders, sure. Diablo 3 did this too with dyes, but (1) those were cheap and easy to get with in-game currency, and (2) later (years later) got plugged into the vendor that does gear visual modifications (where it belongs). It's annoying to tie this into micro, but, that's fashion, I guess?

The mods are a bigger concern because it can be P2W depending on the drop rates for mods.

Loot boxes... well, every game seemingly has loot boxes now.

And if you want to talk about way too many types of confusing currency, please talk to anyone who has played The Division.
 
magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
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The cosmetic stuff isn't even an issue although some people on youtube are just flatout throwing tantrums over it(like jim sterling). I've never played a game and wondered whether or not I got my ass kicked in PvP because my opponent had all matching neon red cosmetic items or some specific skin that was themed for some upcoming holiday.

What is of course complete bullshit is the p2w aspect, where I don't know if I was just out skilled... or my opponent got the right combination of stat boosting items to fit into the current meta because he paid $300 this month.
 
magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
Click to expand...

I have known people....MANY people in games that ALL they care about is how their character looks. In games with gear that has stats, I have known people to use gear with lower stats just because of how it looked, I never understood that. I know someone who plays guild wars who spends at least $20 a month on transmutations (changes how gear looks), because they don't like looking the same each day.

Look at skins for just about any big name game, some skins go for hundreds of real world dollars.
 
I don't see the problem unless you mean for the players.. those people who don't matter.

This is business and games companies have figured out how insanely profitable micro-transactions are.
It could be worse... they could have put different colours/shaders inside an RNG box.
 
Merc1138 said:
The cosmetic stuff isn't even an issue although some people on youtube are just flatout throwing tantrums over it(like jim sterling).
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If this was a F2P game like, DOTA 2, then I'd agree. But this isn't. You have to buy the game. Then if you want your character to look differently as you spend hours staring at the avatar, you need to spend additional money. That's bullshit. If a company is concerned about making money on their product, then make a quality product, and the sales will bring in all the money you need. Look at WoW. They didn't need microtransactions to make money. They created a quality product, and the fans threw money at them. Players didn't need to give them an additional $5 to make their armor appear to be on fire on top of their subscriptions.

I play DOTA 2. It's my main game, and has been for years. But I haven't spent a penny on it. Yes, I'd like really like some of the cosmetics for the heroes I play the most. But I'm not spending money just to make my character look a little different. Or to make the map look a little different. Or anything. But I don't complain about it. Because it's a free game. They need a way to make money. And what they sell isn't considered P2W (except for, I believe, one of the map re-skins).
 
Merc1138 said:
The cosmetic stuff isn't even an issue although some people on youtube are just flatout throwing tantrums over it(like jim sterling). I've never played a game and wondered whether or not I got my ass kicked in PvP because my opponent had all matching neon red cosmetic items or some specific skin that was themed for some upcoming holiday.

What is of course complete bullshit is the p2w aspect, where I don't know if I was just out skilled... or my opponent got the right combination of stat boosting items to fit into the current meta because he paid $300 this month.
Click to expand...

Despite all claims of the game play being most important, this industry is built on visuals. Cosmetics do matter.

Hell, you are posting on an enthusiast website which mostly discusses how to select the best hardware to obtain your visuals.
 
Good thing I passed on this game. But kids with moms credit card will love .99 shades.
 
magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
Click to expand...
Kids.
 
DPI said:
Kids.
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Definitely not just kids. The guy I know who buys every single month is 43, I know a number of chicks in their 30's to 50's that are all about fashion in games, I know one who is 38 who spent $300 on a single skin item with zero stats. Adults are a big section of this market as well.
 
BlueFireIce said:
I have known people....MANY people in games that ALL they care about is how their character looks. In games with gear that has stats, I have known people to use gear with lower stats just because of how it looked, I never understood that. I know someone who plays guild wars who spends at least $20 a month on transmutations (changes how gear looks), because they don't like looking the same each day.

Look at skins for just about any big name game, some skins go for hundreds of real world dollars.
Click to expand...

Everquest 2 my friend. It was huge there, my wife spent so much time on her outfits it was insane. Me? I was a mismatched gnome ALWAYS. My gear was so oddball.
 
Mugato said:
Everquest 2 my friend. It was huge there, my wife spent so much time on her outfits it was insane. Me? I was a mismatched gnome ALWAYS. My gear was so oddball.
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My GW2 is a super small Asura, so you cant even see details on it (making looks almost pointless), and all my gear looks the same as I have one skin set that I got years ago lol.
 
magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
Click to expand...

Cosmetics are a huge thing in games like Destiny. When you have thousands of players running around people like looking different. Its nice to be able to visually tell yourself apart from an army of other people of your class wearing similar armor. Cosmetic stuff makes studios a shit ton of money, that is why everyone is doing it these days.
 
funstuff_wotlk_green_armor.jpg


Cash for Reusable Cosmetics. That's fine. Overwatch and LoL does this pretty good and I'll be more happy to drop a money on well-done skins for my favorite characters.
Cash for anything Consumable. You jerks. I refuse to buy what I can only use once.

Cash for boosts in PVE**. Meh. You'll be able to get your PVP gear faster/easier and means you'll hit harder and take less damage when I shoot you. So It's an indirect PvP boost.
Cash for boosts in PVP. Hell Nah. Get the fuck outta here. Whose got the fattest wallet or most viewers? That man with a 20 K/D Ratio.

This also takes into account that You play PVP to care about it.

I tend to stay away from PVP in games where you can boost your PVE gear.

**Normally I wouldn't bat an eye at PVE Boosts. Dragon Age and Mass Effect, for example, are PVE games - there's no PVP. So spending money on being able to get some better gear doesn't hurt a multiplayer game and can save some grind when you've only got an hour or less to play a game in the first place. If you've got some spare cash to throw around to make your enjoyment a little better - why not?

I do spend money on cosmetics. Real money. I spend it because I'd like switch things up a little bit or because "Shiny" and I like "Shiny" on my favorite character.
 
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magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
Click to expand...
Yes they do. In all MMORPG I played it was always said that true endgame was glamor. They had fashion show and stuff in game all the time. To some people the games were more of a social thing more then anything.
 
I feel like this headline is a little misleading. Yes, you can get armor and weapon mods by buying bright engrams using real money. But bright engrams are a common loot in the game. Apparently, you get one every time you level after you hit level 20 (I'm only level 18, so I can't verify this myself, yet).

So while it is accurate that you might get loot that impacts gameplay from microtransactions, the items are neither unique nor hard to come by, making it a silly thing to spend money on if you actually intend to play the game.
 
BlueFireIce said:
I have known people....MANY people in games that ALL they care about is how their character looks. In games with gear that has stats, I have known people to use gear with lower stats just because of how it looked, I never understood that. I know someone who plays guild wars who spends at least $20 a month on transmutations (changes how gear looks), because they don't like looking the same each day.

Look at skins for just about any big name game, some skins go for hundreds of real world dollars.
Click to expand...

I play GW2 and how your character looks is part of the game, but that is just mentally ill. You can earn charges pretty easily (I have like 80 just from playing and I'm not someone who never uses them). GW2 probably has the most reasonable micro transaction system of any MMO - you can buy anything short of the major expansions with in-game gold and nothing is P2W.

Destiny 2 gives me that kind of vibe like you know they have a team of psychologists and economists trying to work out the most effective skinner box driven transactions possible. No thanks.
 
Pez said:
If this was a F2P game like, DOTA 2, then I'd agree. But this isn't. You have to buy the game. Then if you want your character to look differently as you spend hours staring at the avatar, you need to spend additional money. That's bullshit. If a company is concerned about making money on their product, then make a quality product, and the sales will bring in all the money you need. Look at WoW. They didn't need microtransactions to make money. They created a quality product, and the fans threw money at them. Players didn't need to give them an additional $5 to make their armor appear to be on fire on top of their subscriptions.

I play DOTA 2. It's my main game, and has been for years. But I haven't spent a penny on it. Yes, I'd like really like some of the cosmetics for the heroes I play the most. But I'm not spending money just to make my character look a little different. Or to make the map look a little different. Or anything. But I don't complain about it. Because it's a free game. They need a way to make money. And what they sell isn't considered P2W (except for, I believe, one of the map re-skins).
Click to expand...

Spend hours looking at your avatar in a first person shooter? No, you don't. It's also hilarious that you mention WoW, a game that added cosmetic microtransactions years ago. Yes, on top of having to pay for WoW, and then on top of having a monthly subscription, they have for years had cosmetic microtransactions. And you know what? They don't affect the game.

emphy said:
Despite all claims of the game play being most important, this industry is built on visuals. Cosmetics do matter.

Hell, you are posting on an enthusiast website which mostly discusses how to select the best hardware to obtain your visuals.
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Wanting the best graphics possible is not the same as insisting that other people see my character as a specific color in a first person shooter.

If it doesn't affect gameplay(unless we're talking about camouflaging characters, which these cosmetics do not), then it's irrelevant. No one is going to be better or worse at a game because they had to pay $20 to make their armor green or whatever.
 
Uh, where does WoW have cosmetic transactions other than mounts and pets?
 
bugleyman said:
People who pay for this are the entire problem.
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Well if Destiny was a Free to Play game -- People who pay for this are the entire reason you can play your game. League of Legends, Warframe, etc.. I've known a friend who works in the game industry. He hates that people come and go quite frequently. As one project gets completed, you either get shuffled around or you get laid off.

But Destiny isn't F2P. This is a game you pay full price for and it's still trying to nickle and dime you with items other than fashion.
 
Can we all realise that this is a fully-priced game that now has micro transactions? Apparently $60 isn't enough.
 
Cosmetics are exactly what I have no issue with being bought. If people want to spend their money on that kind of thing, why should I care? Now the stat thing if accurate is a problem. If you can pay money to statistically improve your character that is P2W and flat out unacceptable. I'll need to confirm this because if true, I won't be buying Destiny 2 despite previously planning to.
 
As if selling 2 or 3 expansions before the game even had a beta test wasn't enough. Hoping the pc version is hacked to shit. Can't believe they still didn't add a offline option even thought the game is completely playable solo like the first game.
 
I have spent a total of $15 over my entire life for in game items (not counting expansion/booster packs that contained more maps). I don't expect that number to go up any time soon. I give 0 fucks about custom skins/weapons that cost $, just as long as a game isn't pay to win.
 
[21CW]killerofall said:
I have spent a total of $15 over my entire life for in game items (not counting expansion/booster packs that contained more maps). I don't expect that number to go up any time soon. I give 0 fucks about custom skins/weapons that cost $, just as long as a game isn't pay to win.
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You can also get "mods" which improve in-game stats. Soo...
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but the article indicates that the mods are "pay so you can level up your second or third character faster". I still thing this is bs but it's not a gamebreaking advantage.
 
Again, this is who you are supporting, "Luke Smith: If I fired up a video right now and showed you the emotes you would throw money at the screen." Don't act surprised now....
 
magoo said:
So let me get this straight......you have to pay real money to change the color of your armor?

Do people actually care what color their character wears? and they'll pay money to color an imaginary game character???

This is a true first world problem.
Click to expand...
yes
 
Microtransactions are a cancer and I certainly won't be supporting their spread in titles costing full price to own in the first place! I wIll continue to pass on this title even if my son begs with tears in his eyes:cry:
 
Chupachup said:
Microtransactions are a cancer and I certainly won't be supporting their spread in titles costing full price to own in the first place! I wIll continue to pass on this title even if my son begs with tears in his eyes:cry:
Click to expand...

I don't even care about that. I passed on this title, seeing as how they fucked up the first title. I wholeheartedly expected them to fuck up the sequel. Low and behold, they fucked it up.
 
krotch said:
I don't even care about that. I passed on this title, seeing as how they fucked up the first title. I wholeheartedly expected them to fuck up the sequel. Low and behold, they fucked it up.
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On the other hand, as a thread on Reddit pointed out -

So... day 1 rolls around without major network issues, performance seems to be okay, no weird bugs, etc. The PC version could still turn out to be a hot mess, but so far in console-land it's an actual playable game leaning on questionable microtransaction decisions.

(Of course given D1's history, there are many end-game changes that could still happen, but you sort of take that risk when it comes to any game dependent on the state of the end-game loot farm.)
 
BlueFireIce said:
My GW2 is a super small Asura, so you cant even see details on it (making looks almost pointless), and all my gear looks the same as I have one skin set that I got years ago lol.
Click to expand...

Small hehe, there was gear you wear, gear you could swap on and trigger for 24 hours and temp pots that would shrink you by X percentage. We had a game of who could be the smallest in raid, my wife usually won. I have some pics around here I'll have to dig up, so funny seeing a gnome the size of a mouse fighting next to barbarians!
 
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