Along with returning armor and weapons, the King’s Fall raid has pretty much everything you can remember from its Destiny 1 iteration. Bosses like the Warpriest, Golgoroth and Oryx return along with sequences like platforming across Hive ships and the wall with battering rams. Of course, much like the refurbished Vault of Glass raid, expect some changes here and there to freshen up the challenge.

King’s Fall is available on August 26th for all players, regardless if they own The Witch Queen expansion and Season of Plunder pass or not. It will have its own World’s First Race with new rules and conditions. Learn more about that here. For more details on Season of Plunder, head here.

Like many before it, this one is looking very promising. First, assistant game director Joe Blackburn confirmed that sunsetting – wherein Legendary weapons would have a Power Infusion cap and remain viable for no more than a year – was being removed. Also, from season 14 onwards, the Power cap will also be increased by 10 instead of 50 (with expansions being the exception), thus allowing players to get into the new content right away instead of replaying old content to level up.

But that’s just the beginning. For PvP, the security team will be doubled; Bungie will take a more aggressive stance against cheat developers; various Light sub-classes will see buffs while Stasis sub-classes will be nerfed; three-peeking in Competitive and Trials of Osiris is going away; and there will even be investigations into Trials for solo players. For good measure, we’ll see Ikora Rey having a bigger role in The Witch Queen, Ada-1 returning as a transmog vendor and shaders finally, finally being permanent unlocks instead of consumables. This is a venerable wish-list of everything that hardcore players have been asking for since last year with some features being requested much before Beyond Light’s reveal.

It’s good that Bungie is addressing all of this and gathering the resources necessary to deliver. The weapons team is being expanded to allow for more diverse choices in the coming days. The Witch Queen has been delayed to early 2022 to ensure that it delivers on its story since it will “light the fire on a strongly interconnected narrative across Lightfall and beyond” in Blackburn’s words. There’s even another unnamed expansion coming after Lightfall to properly conclude this epic tale of Light and Darkness. So far, there’s plenty of reason to celebrate.

The problem is that many of the upcoming quality of life changes are less of a step forward and more akin to corrections on past mistakes. These have come after nigh endless reams of feedback well before their implementation, from why sunsetting is a bad idea, to why Trials of Osiris should have solo queuing, and even pleas to remove the constant Power grind. Just like how the numerous updates and expansions leading up to Forsaken were meant to “address feedback”, which is a nicer way of saying that features lost in the jump from Destiny 1 to 2 were being added back. Or how the seasonal approach in Shadowkeep encouraged FOMO before being sort-of done away with following Beyond Light’s release.

Worst of all is that several key issues remain unaddressed. The Cosmodrome is missing several key areas and features like the Rocketyards or even a reason to visit it. The Destiny Content Vault houses tons of content including seasons and DLC that players put down money for. Yes, Curse of Osiris was terrible and Warmind was below average at best, but their raid lairs were pretty good while also tying into the current story of Season of the Chosen. Also, what about Black Armory and its Forges? Season of Opulence’s Menagerie? Both had worthwhile content and raids that are now “vaulted.”

Forsaken, touted as the best possible time to play Destiny 2, will also see its content vaulted at some point. That means incredible locations like the Dreaming City and The Last Wish raid will be going away. For that matter, so will all the compelling story missions to hunt down the Barons or the post-campaign content surrounding Riven and the curse, never mind the death of Cayde-6 and the tale to avenge him. What’s especially strange is that the expansion plays a key role in setting up The Witch Queen and its main antagonist Savathun. This isn’t to say that Bungie will vault Forsaken before its next expansion arrives, but it didn’t say it wouldn’t either.

Ultimately, this all leads back to the same problem – Bungie pushes out a huge revamp for Destiny 2, one that sees push-back from a lot of fans. It explains away the reasons why and while it acknowledges feedback, these wholesale changes are pushed out regardless. Then when these changes are have backfired, it backtracks and attempts to correct them. While I don’t doubt that the developer had the best possible intentions for sunsetting, many can and have argued otherwise. Some could simply point at Bungie’s reputation for recycling content mercilessly, especially when it comes to loot or seasonal events, and that sunsetting was just another step to accomplish this.

It also doesn’t help that it takes time and resources, from programming to quality assurance, to go back from certain revamps. From a development point of view, it can’t be all that exciting to revert such big changes after putting so much time into them already. From a consumer’s point of view, the end result of months of complaining won’t even be felt right away. It feels like the vaulting process will also come under fire at some point, simply because one is “renting” content instead of owning it.

Why this pattern keeps repeating is hard to really explain. Is it really all that different from titles like Path of Exile, Warframe or even The Division 2 that introduce massive changes every now and then to sway new players (who may be tempted to stay and spend some money)? Maybe not but in Destiny’s case, it goes back to its identity as a whole.  Since the very beginning, Bungie didn’t have a cut-and-dry approach to developing the first game, as evidenced by problems with its story-telling, progression and loot systems.

Over the years, it’s experimented with all kinds of mechanics, from armor mods and Masterworks to battle passes and free-to-play. Granted, it’s also a one of a kind game – a first person shooter with shared world elements, co-op, end-game dungeons and raids, competitive and non-competitive PvP, PvEvP, a long-running story, extensive lore, limited time events, and much much more. It’s even incorporated concepts like the Infinite Forest and its procedural generation; the near-endlessness of the Corridors of Time; the extensive puzzle-solving of Niobe Labs; and dungeons like Whisper of the Worm and Zero Hour. Many of these were subsequently removed or “vaulted” if you will but I digress.

With how many different things it’s managing, it’s tough trying to balance the demands and desires of so many different audiences. The new innovations and systems are partly to draw in new players while also appealing to long-time current ones – a constant struggle for live-service games to be sure. It’s just amazing how one moment, Destiny is a shared world looter shooter while the next, it’s a narrative-heavy game with dark lore. Then it’s a sci-fi action comedy with a barren end-game before reverting back to its dark lore and dabbling with Fortnite’s monetization model. Next thing you know, it’s a free-to-play looter shooter where the loot has an expiry date.

Perhaps Destiny‘s future is to keep going with the flow, molding and shifting in ways that none of us may expect or even enjoy while new content continues to be pushed out. Perhaps its the robust community that’s still going strong and adamantly vocal about everything, both good and bad, that will secure its future. With Bungie touting plans to open its first international office and expand its current Bellevue headquarters while growing the Destiny universe further, there’s no doubt that the franchise is here to stay.

However, few people could look back on the franchise and remember any feature more defining than its gameplay, art design and music (the lore also, but that’s even fewer). If it’s going to keep changing to constantly try and appeal to new players or solve existing problems or just for the sake of change, then so be it. But will the constantly repeating pattern of overhauling and backtracking be Destiny’s defining legacy? Will the focus really be on the epic saga of Light and Darkness or The Witch Queen, Lightfall and beyond? Or will it become a bizarre Ship of Theseus, equal parts new and old that are swapped in and out for years to come without seemingly any rhyme or reason?

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Last year, the company parted with Activision and made Destiny 2 free to play, adopting a seasonal battle pass approach starting with Shadowkeep (though the concept of seasons only really got rolling after the launch of Forsaken). Of course, this year is no different with Destiny 2: Beyond Light but the shared world shooter is undergoing its most radical shift yet. With the expansion’s launch in November, more than half of the current game’s content will be going into the Destiny Content Vault.

This means that Strikes, Crucible maps, Exotic quests, campaigns and entire planets are being effectively retired. Some Exotics, like Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected, can only be obtained through missions like The Whisper and Zero Hour. With those missions being removed, there won’t be any way to obtain them until Bungie introduces a new mechanic down the line (which it’s currently working on).

The justification for this approach is that the current game has become too bloated and requires some excessive trimming not to only make way for new content but ensure better performance. Of course, Bungie is also using the vault as a means to not only reintroduce this content down the line but to bring back old Destiny 1 content. Say hello to the Cosmodrome in Destiny 2 in November, though it’s not going to be the full size version from the first game. The Vault of Glass is also coming back sometime post-expansion launch.

However, some interesting bits of information surrounding the Destiny Content Vault have been going around in the past few weeks. It all started with YouTuber Aztecross making a video stating that Beyond Light was essentially Destiny 3. This is due to a meeting that took place last year with Bungie director Luke Smith meeting with content creators about the current state of the game. Apparently, Smith said that the vault was for the purpose of rotating out planets and activities to improve them. This “rebuilding” process was also necessary given the number of bugs in the game.

Even more interesting is that Smith apparently asked why these content creators wanted Destiny 3 at all and noted that delivering larger new play spaces, more RPG elements and so on was feasible with the current game. Of course, I say “apparently” because Bungie hasn’t confirmed any of this when explaining the Destiny Content Vault. Furthermore, Aztecross indicated that he may breaking some kind of non-disclosure agreement by airing all of this but felt it was necessary because it reflected well on the developer’s overall goal. Again, Bungie neither confirmed nor denied all of this.

Regardless of what the current plan is, it’s already obvious that Bungie isn’t making a Destiny 3. On top of Beyond Light and the Destiny Content Vault, it also unveiled the next two major expansions coming to the franchise – The Witch Queen and LightFall – in 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, the game’s current state as a free to play title and pseudo-MMO doesn’t serve as incentive to pump out a new sequel. There’s a reason why you haven’t seen sequels to League of Legends or Dota 2, much less World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14 or even Phantasy Star Online 2. Along with cultivating communities on a certain base, the sheer amount of in-game purchases and the like would be difficult to carry over into a new game.

Bungie would know – it faced similar kinds of backlash with Destiny 2. While many were intrigued by the new story and overhauled mechanics (before mercilessly tearing down both after launch), there were plenty annoyed about having to leave behind several years worth of progress. Removing everyone’s favourite loot, only to reintroduce and resell it to them down the line didn’t help matters either. Some of these mistakes are being avoided while others aren’t.

However, it’s important to point out what purpose the Destiny Content Vault really is. Much like the various seasons that Bungie has released and the timed content it’s put out, this is a means to get people playing via FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. With Destiny 1 expansions, players were encouraged to line up from launch and get themselves raid ready. If you didn’t or perhaps fell behind on the grind, there was no guarantee that you’d be able to participate in the shiny new end-game content. And the more you delayed this process, the less likely you were to find other players for raids.

With Destiny 2 post-Shadowkeep, the application of FOMO has been a lot more obvious. Experience this limited time seasonal content now because it’s going to be gone when the season ends! Grind out this battle pass and get all of that loot because it’ll be gone when the season ends (despite a lot of the armor being reintroduced in later seasons). Even now, you should probably hop into Destiny 2 and get as many Exotics and Catalysts as you can, or maybe even enjoy all of the content that’s there while it lasts. Because in due time, it’s all going to be gone.

Such an approach isn’t really new. In fact, Fortnite started the whole vaulting process way before, throwing guns, items and other crazy mechanics away, only to sometimes bring them back later (which was more of a way to keep the game fresh but still). The same could be said of Battle Passes, limited time events, cosmetics, special DLC tied to real-world events (whether it’s Street Fighter 5 tournament skins or Overwatch League All-Stars skins). You could even go further into the real world when it comes to limited time collectible figures, special editions, fancy console variants and so on. For better or worse, FOMO is an inherent part of commercialism so it only makes sense to see video games adopt it.

My main qualm with Bungie’s approach isn’t necessarily to do with the removal or return of content. I’ve long since abandoned any pretense of the game being a looter shooter where I create the most powerful character, much less participate in a collection game to gather every item available. But the one thing that’s hard to abandon is that sense of wanting for greater things. Of following a story and ultimately see the world grow, if not being influenced by my actions. Which only seems fair given how many cosmic shifts are taking place with each new Hive pantheon death but isn’t really happening.

And while the story seems like it’s on some kind of track, it doesn’t feel wholly organic. Instead, events happen as more of a consequence of Bungie’s live-service practices as opposed any actual plot development. Beyond Light sees players traveling to Europa to deal with a new Kell of Darkness. In-game, Europa hasn’t been mentioned (and if it has, it’s inconsequential to the point of not existing) but suddenly becomes important because, well, Darkness and that’s where the new expansion is. It’s a shame because the House of Darkness is composed of former House of Devils, Wolves and Dusk members, all who have had interesting stories in the universe.

Even crazier is the fact that Eramis and her pre-House of Darkness crew actually had a role in the Zero Hour Exotic quest. However, that didn’t serve to plant the seeds for what would happen next. No, instead, Eramis is just on Europa now and has the House of Darkness.

Maybe Beyond Light will explain what she was up to in the Grimoire but all this lore feels like an after-thought as opposed to actual story-telling that’s playing out before us. Look no further than the current goings-on during Season of Arrivals. The Traveler’s Chosen Exotic quest finally dropped and it saw players helping various vendors like Asher Mir and Sloane evacuate their planets. But did you know that vendors like Asher Mir, Sloane and Brother Vance have been killed during the evacuation of various planets against the Pyramids of the Darkness?

It’s all according to the lore that players have collected recently but there’s a problem: The vendors are still very much alive on these planets. So what gives?

Well, Beyond Light was delayed from its launch in September 10^th, which also meant that old destinations have been delayed in their vaulting. This was meant to be a send-off of sorts for these characters, explaining their absence for the future. Due to the expansion being delayed and Bungie not wanting to hold back on content, this weird mix of story-telling has happened. It’s not something that you can really blame the developer for but it does highlight the problems of trying to pursue an evolving story like this.

Destiny has never really known what kind of story it’s trying to tell. Blame the live-service model and shifting creative decisions throughout the years but it’s just been one big mess since day one. The first game took a dark sci-fi fantasy route that was completely lost when it came to explaining what players were doing, who the enemy was and what exactly they were trying to accomplish. Things improved with subsequent expansions but the core story never really advanced forward.

Cue Destiny 2 and Bungie seemed keen on turning the game into a Marvel Cinematic Universe wannabe, desperately trying to retcon several key elements of the lore while pretending it was a brand new beginning. Several key characters like Lord Saladin, who had players helped in Rise of Iron, didn’t even recognize them – and that was just the tip of the immersion-breaking for players. Brother Vance was retconned to be a fanboy for Osiris. Cayde-6 became the venerable court jester. Even with some interesting lore bits here and there, the story being told in-game was just a mess.

One can find many interesting tales in the lore but that overarching narrative isn’t translated to actual gameplay. For all the neat stories told about Oryx’s origin in The Taken King, the Books of Sorrow were interesting lore that had nothing to do with the game. Perhaps the one great instance of lore tying seamlessly into the gameplay was with Forsaken where Oryx’s actions, the Ahamkara, Riven’s fate the Dreaming City curse all culminated in an amazing way. And that’s been tossed aside and forgotten without even needing to remove it from the game.

That’s why it’s hard to really take assumptions like Beyond Light being Destiny 3 even the least bit seriously. It’s a new starting point, again, with which to introduce some new gameplay mechanics and hooks that players will engross themselves in before the next big expansion that overhauls everything. All the seasons and content in between is fluff. It’s time-wasting, sometimes entertaining fluff but fluff in the grand scheme of things. Osiris’s Sundial, the Leviathan, characters like Asher Mir, Failsafe and Hawthorne, Uldren Sov, the Vex Invasions and Vex Offensive – none of this feels like it’s part of an actual living universe, which makes their disappearance all the less significant from a story-telling perspective. And it’s not like they don’t have interesting stories – they do, just not in the actual gameplay being presented.

Everyone has their own idea of what a sequel should be, especially when it comes to RPGs. Having played The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Cold Steel series, I feel that each new game is a venerable new story with memorable characters and adventures just waiting to be told while expanding on the overall series as a whole. If I think of a game with a continuous story in the MMO space, one that continues building on its content rather than arbitrarily retiring or ripping it out for later, then titles like Final Fantasy 14 come to mind. These are games that treat their characters and events with respect, building up interesting settings and locations that are actually alive as opposed to pretty movie sets that you have no interaction with.

Even with all the loot changes, nerfs, bugs, Bounties, uninspired content and arbitrary grinds, Destiny 2 is a fun shooter. However, it’s also the epitome of the live-service model – chugging along, trying new tactics and gimmicks to say afloat, and drip-feeding content to its most loyal players. All pretense of telling a compelling story, much less one that will have a satisfying beginning, middle and end while being supported by consistent world-building and lore, was tossed out the window a long time ago. All that’s left is that next dopamine hit, that sensation of being part of something greater with the next expansion launch before inevitably waiting for next year’s offering to maybe, hopefully, finally move things forward.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

There are a few other things to dissect though. Research firm like Cowen and Company believe that the split from Activision was due to the difference in vision over the game’s direction. Schreier notes that an annualized format of content release was a source of tension as well. Activision is also apparently looking to strengthen its own brands like Call of Duty, even if that means a short-term financial slump from losing Destiny.

"Those who have been in touch with reports over the years know that the situation between Bungie and Activision wasn’t quite so cut and dry."

Not that it matters to fans cheering at Activision’s removal from the equation. The Destiny subreddit wants to proclaim this as “Destiny Freedom Day”. Others have suddenly become more interested in purchasing Eververse items since Activision is not involved. Many believe that Bungie will finally have a chance to shine without an overbearing publisher looking over their shoulder.

Those who have been in touch with reports over the years know that the situation between Bungie and Activision was more than a little complicated. When the much-hyped 10 year deal was penned between both companies, Bungie agreed to deliver numerous Destiny titles and expansions in between those sequels under Activision’s label. Plans went for a toss when Destiny had been delayed from its original 2013 release date to early 2014. It then received another delay to September 2014.

Reports from Schreier and high-profile departures like writer Joseph Staten and composer Martin O’Donnell indicated that all was not well in development though. Once Destiny launched, it was a jumbled mess of plot points, shallow gameplay, fundamental design flaws and networking issues. Such issues were exacerbated with The Dark Below, Destiny’s first major DLC. It featured mission maps similar to the base game but backwards and a buggy as hell raid. Don’t even try to remind players about the process of re-leveling Exotics.

"Destiny had some bumps here and there but was at its peak going into the reveal of Destiny 2 in May 2017."

House of Wolves would improve things, especially for PvP since Trials of Osiris was introduced for hardcore competitive players to indulge in, but not by a huge margin. We eventually learned that the final product of Destiny was meant to encompass the base game, the first two DLC and The Taken King expansion. When Destiny was apparently rebooted in 2014, a spanner was thrown into plans and the additional content was sold off as separate DLC.

However, after The Taken King, Bungie seemed to be back on track. Festival of the Lost was neat. Sparrow Racing League was pretty cool. Crimson Days was lame but hey, new content, and the April 2017 update provided plenty of new, interesting things for PvE fans to engage with. For the most part, it seemed that Destiny was firing on all cylinders even if Bungie made many of us skeptical with its introduction of the Eververse.

Then we learned about Rise of Iron, Destiny’s next expansion, releasing in September 2016. Why was Rise of Iron releasing in September 2016?

According to Schreier, Destiny 2 was pushed back to 2017 because Bungie had rebooted development. Luke Smith was appointed director and the previous director left the company (but that fact would only be revealed later). As for Rise of Iron, it released to a middling reception. The Wrath of the Machine raid was praised but the story missions and overall content were criticized for regressing from The Taken King’s brilliance. The Festival of the Lost returned as a microtransaction-laden debacle but Bungie made good on things with The Dawning and Age of Triumph. Destiny had some bumps here and there but was at its peak going into the reveal of Destiny 2 in May 2017.

"Eventually, Schreier would report how Bungie renegotiated terms with Activision for Destiny 2. Its previous content cycle was thought to be too rigorous and producing so much content was deemed too difficult."

Bungie unveiled some controversial changes for the sequel but it’s a testament to the will of the community that things still looked pretty good. We heard about Lost Sectors, Adventures, World Quests, and tons more content to sink our eager teeth into. Destiny 2 would go on to become an incredible financial success at launch. Critics even lauded it for being an improvement over the first game.

However, as time passed, it was hounded by numerous issues concerning the end-game. Exotics were useless. The raid meant nothing and thus, hitting max Power level meant nothing. The Lost Sectors were rendered useless in the end-game simply because they gave lower level loot. PvP was a snooze-fest and encompassed team-shooting above all. A number of awesome looking cosmetics, previously earned through in-game activities like Strikes and the raid, were locked behind Eververse. Bungie’s decisions when it came to things like one-time use shaders, XP throttling, charging for Heroic Strikes, locking the base game’s raid behind the purchase of DLC and stingy seasonal events didn’t help matters.

Eventually, Schreier would report on how the developer renegotiated terms with Activision for Destiny 2. Its previous content cycle was thought to be too rigorous; producing so much content was deemed too difficult. So instead, Bungie would focus more on cosmetic content through the Eververse and Seasons. As more cosmetic items landed up on Tess Everis’s shelves over the months, it seemed like Schreier’s report had plenty of truth to it.

"Bungie’s track record when it comes to development has been less than stellar. It rebooted Destiny 1 and 2 before their subsequent launches."

Of course, there was still DLC like Curse of Osiris and Warmind. Activision-owned studios like High Moon Studios and Vicarious Visions were assisting Bungie with content as the latter spent 2018 trying to get back on the good side of its longtime fans. It talked more and more about catering to the hobbyist, changing up its weapon slot system and bringing back random rolls for weapons and armour. Masterworks, Exotic revamps, Nightfall Challenges, Bounties and much more were introduced before Forsaken to appease the hardcore player. Bungie even announced the Annual Pass, something that would provide a consistent stream of “end-game” content after Forsaken, as it seemingly moved towards away from more cinematic adventures towards a much deeper grind.

In September 2018, Forsaken launched and was met with praise from critics and hardcore fans. Sure, there was dissent about the heavy RNG-based nature of Bungie’s content (like earning Exotics) and it also didn’t help that some activities were time-gated. But Forsaken delivered a good story (by Destiny standards), a great raid and tons of new loot to collect. The majority of Forsaken was also accessible to all players. Gating content behind high Power requirements, boring quest grinds and baffling puzzles really didn’t stick out as major issues until Black Armory came around.

If you’ve been keeping track of the story thus far, you might have noticed a common theme: Bungie’s track record when it comes to development has been less than stellar. It rebooted Destiny 1 and 2 before their subsequent launches. Throughout the history of both games, Bungie would also prove to be completely out of touch with its community’s needs, taking months to fix long-standing issues.

"For all intents and purposes, Bungie going independent and being free to pursue its own development cycle for Destiny is good."

Only a major exodus of players following the launch of Destiny 2 and Curse of Osiris (not to mention the failure of events like Faction Rally, Iron Banner and The Dawning 2017) would motivate the developer to sit down and actually address concerns. Even now, Destiny 2 is still lacking on issues like competitive PvP matchmaking, endgame economy items like Enhancement Cores and not locking DLC content that players paid for behind ridiculous requirements. And yes, one-time user shaders, awesome cosmetics locked behind Eververse, time-gated content and heavy RNG are still problematic. Did we mention Trials of the Nine was removed before Forsaken and has yet to return?

For all intents and purposes, Bungie going independent and being free to pursue its own development cycle for Destiny is good. However, the enthusiasm for the developer’s approach doesn’t look all that different from when it split from Microsoft.

“Finally, we’d get to see the developer separated from the evil corporation and free to pursue its own vision!” “Finally, we’d get the very best that Bungie could deliver!” That wasn’t quite the case though, as evidenced by the barreling rollercoaster that is the Destiny franchise. I’m no fan of Activision (especially following their treatment of Call of Duty creators Vince Zampella and Jason West) but reading about the additional time and resources, not to mention the new deals it negotiated with Bungie, makes it look like a publisher tried to help rather than impede Destiny’s progress.

"But hey, if you’re a Destiny player, all of this should be very familiar. Destiny has offered experiences to a player base that simply can’t get enough of it."

What this split means for the future of Destiny 2 is still unknown. Cowen and Company believes that Destiny 3 is still coming in 2020. Rumours regarding its content and features along with a greater emphasis on RPG mechanics have been doing the rounds for a few months. Will the studio repeat the same mistakes as before? What’s the plan for content after the Annual Pass? Will we receive another expansion and another Annual Pass until Destiny 3 comes out? Will Bungie scrap the idea of sequels altogether? Will Destiny go free to play? What’s the plan for Eververse? How likely is it that Bungie announces Destiny 3’s exclusivity on the Epic Games Store for PC in the coming years? Will the core issues with leadership that caused Staten and O’Donnell to leave in the first place be fixed?

Blame Activision all you want but Bungie was and still is the company developing the series. How it addressed the issues that plagued both games at their respective launches is available for all to see. It’s currently fine with the stingy RNG for Exotics and Power level system that makes much of the loot irrelevant. It’s the company that said Black Armory’s Niobe Labs was for anyone that was “smart and brave enough to attempt it” in a now-deleted tweet after frustrated attempts by players. At least it went ahead and unlocked the last Forge when no one could figure out the solution.

If you’re a Destiny player, all of this should be very familiar. Destiny has offered experiences to a player base that simply can’t get enough. I should know, having been part of that player base for a few years. Even when the content didn’t quite measure up, I plunked down my own money and waited till launch to join the hype train. Destiny has been a franchise that’s provided some truly amazing moments while simultaneously making me question the numerous blunders that could have been avoided. Looking back, at the end of the day, maybe everyone just wants that same kind of experience without the fear of Activision mucking everything up.

"Can Bungie adhere to long-time fans and become successful in its own right? Can it attract even more players to its franchise in the coming years?"

For Bungie, the real test begins now. Without the big bad villainous publisher for people to deflect blame to when things go wrong, it will take the brunt of not delivering worthwhile content and financial failure. Will it sink or swim in the process? This is an industry that’s being defined more by games-as-a-service titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Fortnite: Battle Royale. That’s not including beloved free to play games like Path of Exile or Warframe. Additional competition from blockbusters like Anthem and The Division 2 is also coming. Can Bungie adhere to long-time fans and achieve the potential that Destiny seemingly promised all those years ago? Can it attract even more players in the coming years?

It’s hard to say but unlike October 2007, this isn’t a Bungie that inspires confidence. It’s a Bungie that makes me cautious of investing time or money in their products. Here’s hoping for the future to change. As a member of the Bungie.net forums so aptly put it though: We’re finally going to see who was responsible for Destiny’s failings – Bungie or Activision.

Sadly, that’s exactly what happened and despite both DICE and EA trying to justify the new Star Card system, the high cost of hero unlocks and much more, the economy for Star Wars Battlefront 2 crumbled in a number of ways. The fact that it was so blatantly pay-to-win in a competitive multiplayer setting while offering a convoluted system of scrapping and crafting was also pretty terrible.

"There are variety of reasons why games like Battlefield and Call of Duty continue to sell despite growing microtransaction concerns. There’s also a reason why Overwatch, despite concerns for loot boxes, continues to rake in the cash."

However, upon looking at the entire disaster, one has to wonder why certain games that implement microtransactions are doing so much better. Why do some games like Digital Extremes’ Warframe continue to do so well despite allowing you to purchase entire Frames and weapons, or even essential functions like Weapon Slots and Frame Slots? Heck, for all the hoopla surrounding cosmetics, Warframe also locks different colour palettes, Deluxe Frames and special skins behind microtransactions. Even if the entire experience is free-to-play, most new players would probably have a much better time by spending some money on Platinum to start with.

Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile is slightly different. All of its loot has to be earned in-game. There’s no way to pay wholesale for weapons and even resetting your character is something that’s only possible through copious amounts of grinding (or, well, making a new character). For the cosmetics and stash tabs, you need to pay up. Did we mention those cosmetics are locked behind RNG loot boxes whose prices would make Jeff Kaplan and his team at Blizzard blush? I can’t speak for the odds of getting different pieces since the cosmetic pool isn’t as saturated but it’s not weird to see long-time players spend tens, if not hundreds of dollars, to look good. New cosmetics are constantly being released as well.

For that matter, why are games-as-a-service titles still in such demand despite so much controversy? Halo 5: Guardians was a massive success and Halo Infinite will also seemingly have microtransactions (but not “real money loot boxes”). Tom Clancy’s The Division bounced back extremely well despite a disappointing few months post-launch and some lop-sided updates. Even if The Division 2 has been criticized for including stash slots as part of costlier editions, there’s not nearly as much controversy as EA’s debacle.

There are variety of reasons why games like Battlefield and Call of Duty continue to sell despite growing microtransaction concerns. There’s also a reason why Overwatch, despite concerns for loot boxes, continues to rake in the cash. Grand Theft Auto 5 is the biggest-selling title of all time and even that has Grand Theft Auto Online with its heavy grind and “pay to skip” Shark Cards. So what gives? What do so many games do right that’s seemingly so difficult in this age of microtransactions and post-launch monetization? The answer probably lays in “good will”.

"This approach isn’t too new – titles like Warframe also allow you to earn Platinum in-game even if the process relies completely on trading and grinding out certain “popular” items."

Let’s take a look at Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, a recent controversial example. Odyssey features an enormous single-player campaign that – like Origins – has an in-game store with cosmetics and weapons to purchase. However, it’s possible to purchase “time saver” items like a permanent 50 percent XP booster or smaller boosters that can make the experience “better”. “Better” in what sense?

Well, Odyssey’s campaign missions can be level-gated, requiring you to grind out side missions and bounty board requests to level up. Given how much difference a level or two can make up, it’s always best to be at a level equivalent to your foes. One of the major complaints, however, is that the XP gains have been tuned in such a way as to push a player towards using a booster (which Ubisoft has denied).

Furthermore, for those who want to just experience the story in Odyssey and not have their journey interrupted by mundane side content, having to do any kind of grinding feels boring. This doesn’t alter the fact that some people’s mileage of the side content will vary. Many abhor the “go here, get this, kill enemies” style of quest design while others found more nuanced quests with strong writing and characters to enjoy. So while this may feel like a “grind” to some players, others will see a familiar style of role-playing progression. The latter will feel like Ubisoft is purposely pushing them out into the open world to explore and play the content and that’s just fine because it’s what they signed up. The various points-of-interest and objectives may seem fairly cookie-cutter but there were no illusions that the game would work this way.

From a grinding perspective, it’s possible to earn Orichalcum, which can be spent on random loot boxes that have a chance to drop cosmetics from the store. These can be earned from daily and weekly quests while also providing an in-game currency for some of the better weapons and armour. So over time, it’s possible to purchase many of the cosmetics and items without spending any real money. This approach isn’t too new – titles like Warframe also allow you to earn Platinum in-game even if the process relies completely on trading and grinding out certain “popular” items.

"Rather than thinking of this as Ubisoft slowly introducing microtransactions into its series, pushing the boundaries of what it can get away with, it’s important to understand their bigger picture (or the idea of it, at least)"

The idea is the same though – the items that can be purchased with premium currency aren’t things that players need from the outset. You don’t “need” every Legendary item in Odyssey’s store any more than you need to purchase every item in Warframe’s store from the outset of the game. Just as it’s possible to unlock different Frames (and better them) through in-game means, so is it possible to earn different weapons and loot in Odyssey by progressing through the game. If these unlocks are then placed in the game for longer-term investment players, then the real question is: Why?

It’s no mystery that Ubisoft wants to pursue a games-as-a-service model for numerous titles. There’s a vision for larger scale titles that allow for traversing multiple eras in the next Assassin’s Creed, which would mean less entries and stronger post-launch support for the games in question. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey will apparently not be followed by a sequel in 2019 as Ubisoft focuses more on post-launch support.

This can be seen in the post-launch “Lost Tales of Greece” that are being made free to fill the gap between bigger paid expansions such as Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis. In-game events tasking players with hunting down tough enemies every week are also coming (if not available already). Also, I have no doubt that the in-game store will be updated with new items that will be more easily accessed by players who have more time and thus Orichalcum earned in-game.

Rather than thinking of this as Ubisoft slowly introducing microtransactions into its series, pushing the boundaries of what it can get away with, it’s important to understand their bigger picture (or the idea of it, at least). Assassin’s Creed Odyssey isn’t just a vehicle to get you to pay extra cash. It’s a massive, sprawling game that wants to offer as much value in its core package as possible. It wants to offer a grand spanning story with interesting characters and compelling combat to keep different types of players coming back for more.

"The concepts themselves like Warframe’s Plains of Eidolon or Path of Exile’s Delve League may not be incredibly polished out of the gate but their ambition and innate potential are appealing."

The free content, updates and support are just a means to earn more “good will” from players in the hopes that they’ll spend more money. Maybe not spend immediately – because as noted in many counter-arguments, the side content can be fun for some players to “grind” through – but maybe after 100 to 200 hours of game time. Maybe when a player wants to start from the beginning and re-experience it all over again with a different build, thinking to skip the grind like they would do in an MMO.

This “science of good will” may seem ludicrous at first but it’s not strange. Some companies and their shareholders aren’t just looking for direct revenue right away. Instead, recurring player counts – both on a daily and monthly basis – are incredibly important. Free-to-play titles like Warframe and Path of Exile dole out amazing concepts every year and we’re always impressed with the amount of content offered for free. However, it’s by fostering good will with the player base – one that’s in it for the long haul – that both games earn their money.

The concepts themselves like Warframe’s Plains of Eidolon or Path of Exile’s Delve League may not be incredibly polished out of the gate but their ambition and innate potential are appealing. Long-term support and numerous updates, even if they’re just cosmetics and new items, further keep players hooked. In the end, it’s all free and the hardcore player that invests hours upon hours into a game like Warframe may have no need for Platinum. But for the average player, that sense of investment and wanting to “reward” the developer for having and continuing to get so much out of a free experience is what the goal ultimately is.

Yes, there are plenty of ways to “push” players to spend their premium currency (or to spend real money to immediately obtain more). A brand-spanking new Frame has been released? Better lock the parts behind some annoying drop rates (the construction of which, by the way, can be sped up using Platinum). A new weapon has dropped? Well it’s exclusive to those with Clan access and who’ve built the required labs. Don’t have a clan? You could always purchase them directly. The list goes on.

"Keep in mind that the “science” of good will isn’t just about games with microtransactions. Numerous different titles across several segments of the industry are looking at making their games more appealing by fostering good will, even if microtransactions aren’t the road to this."

Even if Ubisoft didn’t muck about with the XP gains, the long-term investment strategy for Odyssey is hard to deny. It wants players to keep coming back, offering a meaty base game with strong support and constant updates alongside free content to reward those who stay on. You could criticize Ubisoft for the random bounty board quest, “bloated” map with quest markers galore or loot grind but it wants you to play all of that content over a long, long period of time. And hopefully, if you appreciate it enough and feel invested enough, you’ll want to spend some more money. Perhaps with the Season Pass or through some Helix Credit bundles.

Unlike Digital Extremes and Grinding Gear Games, the onus is on Ubisoft to provide a worthwhile experience at all times. If it’s DLC isn’t up to snuff or the free updates don’t keep players engaged, that hurts the company’s bottom line and could thus influence how future monetization is handled. It doesn’t have the benefit of being free like Warframe or Path of Exile either. If someone feels that their time has been wasted after the initial $60 entry point, there’s a risk of them swearing off the current and future product.

Keep in mind that the “science” of good will isn’t just about games with microtransactions. Numerous different titles across several segments of the industry are looking at making their games more appealing by fostering good will, even if microtransactions aren’t the road to this. Take the example of Moonlighter. Recently, Digital Sun added New Game Plus mode to the Zelda-meets-shopkeeper action RPG along with a higher rarity tier of weapons and armour, a new item type and much more. Since the game’s launch, other updates have brought new room compositions, challenges and so on. With Halloween coming up, there will also be an “event” of sorts for players to earn items.

How can that be, especially if Moonlighter is a crowd-funded title from a relatively small studio? By delivering a strong base experience, Digital Sun could look to appeal to its established player base with free updates. And every time a new update goes live, Moonlighter goes on sale (at least on Steam), enticing more players to hop on board. The fact that the entry point isn’t all that high to begin with doesn’t hurt either.

"Firaxis did something similar with XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. It recently released the Tactical Legacy Pack, a free content pack that was only available for those who owned the base game and War of the Chosen."

Another interesting strategy is free DLC but for a timed period. The trend was recently highlighted by A Hat in Time’s Seal the Deal DLC. Seal the Deal added a new chapter, a new difficulty mode and other snazzy additions, all for the price of nothing. However, it was free only for owners of the base game and that too for 24 hours. Fortunately, the game went on sale in that same period, allowing first-time players to successfully jump into the game and enjoy the free content. You could say it’s a weird strategy to force people to buy the game…or you could interpret it as a developer both rewarding its loyal fans and trying to attract newcomers.

Firaxis did something similar with XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. It recently released the Tactical Legacy Pack, a free content pack that was only available for those who owned the base game and War of the Chosen. In terms of content, players can expect five Legacy Ops, a series of consecutively linked missions that explore events taking place between the first and second game; 28 new maps remastered from Enemy Unknown/Within; returning armour from Enemy Unknown along with “reimagined” weapons; Skirmish Mode for creating custom missions; Resistance Archives for battling in a series of missions with increasing difficulty; a photo mode of sorts; and over 100 challenges from War of the Chosen that can be played offline repeatedly.

That sounds like a whole smattering of content, right? And it’s free! Of course, you need to own XCOM 2 and War of the Chosen. Even if you didn’t take advantage of the ongoing sale to purchase either the base game, the expansion or both alongside the Reinforcement Pack (which itself offers three DLC drops for the “complete” XCOM 2 experience), then there’s not much reason to worry. The Tactical Legacy Pack will remain free until December, providing enough time for players to decide if they want to hop onboard – and maybe take advantage of other sales that might crop up along the way.

If you think about it even further, it makes sense why Firaxis is going this route. Good will with the developer wasn’t looking so good following launch troubles with XCOM 2. Even after a number of issues were resolved, players still took issue with the pricing and content of Reinforcement Pack. War of the Chosen could be looked upon as the first step in rebuilding that good will with the Tactical Legacy Pack only furthering it.

"Coming back to microtransactions and free content updates: For clarification’s sake, I’m not saying that this is necessarily what the developers themselves want."

Not only does it reward players who have been loyal to the game but also offers tons of nostalgia and compelling features for those loyal to the brand for all these years. It’s the little things but they help. For all the negativity I’m talking about XCOM 2 facing after its launch, the game was still lauded and loved by its fans. Capitalizing on that kind of brand loyalty and using it to draw in new players is an exceptional strategy, to say the least. However, you still need to pay money to be a part of this process so Firaxis benefits as well.

Of course, how can we forget other means of building good will among players? How many games like The Elder Scrolls Online, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 1 and 2, Overwatch, and so on offer free to play weekends for newcomers? They place all their content on the table for players to try for as long as they’d like with discounts and progress transferring over if you permanently want the full experience. Electronic Arts, for all the bad publicity they drum up for themselves, have created one of the biggest value propositions out there with Origin Access that offers a number of titles from EA and various third party developers for unlimited play every month at just $4.99 per month. Even if you hate the company, being able to play games like RIME, Titanfall 2, Burnout Paradise Remastered, Gonner, Torchlight 2, Jotun, The Sexy Brutale, The Witness, Pillars of Eternity, Inside and much more per month for that price is pretty crazy in retrospect.

Coming back to microtransactions and free content updates: For clarification’s sake, I’m not saying that this is necessarily what the developers themselves want. I don’t know the terms of agreement when it comes to these kinds of titles, whether certain updates are mandated to sell more units through sales or not. I’m also not saying that every single developer would appreciate putting microtransactions into their full-priced single-player game or that publishers don’t have a hand in pushing these kinds of decisions for the sake of more profit.

All I’m trying to offer is a perspective as to why these tactics may be done. Because, for all intents and purposes, developers and publishers are both companies at the end of the day. Both want to and need to make money, whether it’s to recoup costs, fund future ventures, invest in new technology or simply expand. The line between what is acceptable and unacceptable, at least when it pertains to players and their preferences, is becoming thinner as bigger triple-A games get made.

"How convenient is it then that Destiny 2, which faced a year of scrutiny and terrible DLC along with an initially heavy-handed Eververse store, has regained a lot of its good will thanks to content like Whisper of the Worm, Solstice of Heroes and Forsaken."

Still, if you ever need to look back at why certain introductions of microtransactions seem to “take” better than others, then good will may be the answer. Destiny fans were fairly angry about emotes being sold before The Taken King, whether as part of a Collector’s Edition or in a separate package. At the time, good will for the franchise was pretty much on the brink. When The Taken King launched and effectively revitalized the player base, it was met with applause. So much so that many didn’t mind the introduction of a micro-transaction store in Eververse for cosmetic items including emotes being sold separately.

Bungie further did its good will bit by ensuring that subsequent events for Destiny like Festival of the Lost, Sparrow Racing League and the April 2016 Update (which again sparked only a bit of controversy for the fact that armour sets were now being included in Eververse) were competently delivered. Even when the studio’s reputation took a hit for going too far with microtransactions in Festival of the Lost 2016, it still earned it back with The Dawning. How convenient is it then that Destiny 2, which faced a year of scrutiny and terrible DLC along with an initially heavy-handed Eververse store, has regained a lot of its good will thanks to content like Whisper of the Worm, Solstice of Heroes and Forsaken.

In fact, not many fans seem to be all that troubled that the purchase of DLC like Curse of Osiris and Warmind, which were required to play the most recent expansion, has recently been made free with the purchase of Forsaken. Or that this change was done in order to facilitate more players, particularly those who received Destiny 2 for free on PS4 with their PlayStation Plus subscription, just in time for the Festival of the Lost 2018 which introduces even more new content and Eververse items.

Let’s not forget that, as per Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, the decision to put so much content in the Eververse store and drip-feed a lot of other stuff to players was made by Bungie and approved by Activision. Not the other way around. It really makes you think about which developers are being “strong-armed” into such tactics and which ones aren’t. But I digress.

"Anyone who hates the idea of microtransactions in the first place can’t be blamed for not putting down $60 for a title they may or may not even like all that much."

For me, the implementation of microtransactions varies from game to game. It’s honestly never affected my experience in a game like Grand Theft Auto Online. That being said, microtransactions are something that are dealt with, directly or indirectly, in Warframe. Trading items for Platinum to unlock things that I don’t want to bother grinding for is one thing. Wanting to skip the grind for some items, picking up new slots and obtaining dope cosmetics by paying real money for Platinum is another thing, which I have done by the way. This was after putting in 200 hours into the game, being satisfied with my experience and wanting to play even more.

Those who aren’t necessarily satisfied with their experience in a game like Overwatch, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Destiny 2 or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey might find the microtransactions to be annoying. And no, this isn’t just taking into account their impact on the game. When playing Assassin’s Creed Origins, no amount of content – whether it was free or discounted – could make me enjoy the side missions, the style of open world gameplay or the combat. None of those aspect were bad – I just couldn’t get into the game. Would I like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey more, even if it weren’t saddled with microtransactions that hope to capitalize on “good will” that Ubisoft earns from delivering a better product? It comes down to enjoying the game at that point. Anyone who hates the idea of microtransactions in the first place can’t be blamed for not putting down $60 for a title they may or may not even like all that much.

In the meantime, as recent examples above indicates, there are plenty of games that garner good will without stuffing their packages with microtransactions (whatever purpose they may serve). Larian’s Divinity: Original Sin 2 is still a great game, for example. It recently received free DLC in the form of Sir Lora (a squirrel knight companion with an undead cat steed) along with numerous changes courtesy in the Definitive Edition. Arkane Studios’ games have provided meaty single-player experiences like Dishonored 2 and Prey. They’ve even received good expansions like Death of the Outsider and Mooncrash respectively. Don’t even get me started on Radical Fish’s CrossCode which is simply stellar in almost everything it does (which is an article for another day).

The debate around microtransactions in video games will go on, as it rightfully should, and whether you’re against publishers asking for more cash, or supportive of an experience that offers several months of gameplay, a little good will can sometimes go a long way. Many developers already know this. Now the question is how their audiences – in this case, you, me and the other person – choose to respond.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Bungie is no stranger to reusing assets from previous releases for Destiny 2. Several parts of the European Dead Zone call to mind Widow’s Court, a Crucible map from Destiny 1. Mars in Warmind reuses assets from the first game in terms of environments and structures. Even House of Wolves’ Prison of Elders got a nice little cameo appearance in a Destiny 2: Forsaken Strike called “Warden of Nothing”.

So given the ending of Destiny 2, it only makes sense that the Dreadnaught – Oryx’s ship from The Taken King – also makes a return. Reddit user AlanahNahNah reported playing a Daily Heroic Adventure, where the loading sequence culminated in the Dreadnaught, still orbiting around Saturn. Even the iconic Taken King music played as the ship seemingly flew into the location before the player was transported back to the actual game.

The clip itself can be seen on Twitter, but the full video, as captured with the Xbox One’s DVR function, can be viewed here for further proof. It’s worth noting that Bungie hasn’t hinted or officially confirmed if the Dreadnaught would be returning. Could future content like Black Armory, Joker’s Wild, or Penumbra feature it as a new mission, if not a new location? It’s certainly possible, though once again, we’ll have to wait for more information. Take this with some degree of skepticism before getting too hyped.

#Destiny2 #Dreadnaught #Bug pic.twitter.com/O5vOYOp8tn

— Alanah :3 (@AlanahNahNah) October 12, 2018

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls was my first real addiction, from hitting max levels to ascending the Torment scale and grinding out Greater Rifts. The feedback from combat was excellent and it was simply enjoyable to tear through the competition. Both of these fed into the urge to become even stronger. Imagine how it felt to finally discover Legendary Gems and Gear Sets, which were there for a while but I had failed to properly notice, like the noob I was.

"Path of Exile with its endless customization options and sheer range of content, what with different Leagues and overpowered Ascendancies calling to me, was something else."

Since then, a number of games really scratched that looter itch. Path of Exile with its endless customization options and sheer range of content, what with different Leagues and overpowered Ascendancies calling to me, was something else. At times, it felt like powerful loot didn’t really drop on a consistent basis in the beginning. The connection issues were also fairly annoying. Ancestral Call + Frost Blades + Multistrike helped alleviate those pains as enemies fell left and right while tougher Elites and bosses required a bit more strategy. Regardless, the potential for a long-term grind became obvious even as connection issues ultimately forced me to quit.

There have been other recent releases that helped though. Grim Dawn, Nioh, Warframe, Monster Hunter World, Tom Clancy’s The Division and even Divinity: Original Sin 2 pushed me further down the loot grind rabbit hole. All of these games differed in a number of ways like the ability to obtain desired with Warframe’s Platinum and trading system (balanced by the fact that you could farm and trade items, thus never spending any real money. This could help one properly plan and obtain builds they wanted…if the price from other players felt right.

Digital Extremes’ constant updates with balance and new content helped keep things reasonably fresh as well. Of course, the game’s focus on crafting, properly modding your weapon and Formaing it for optimal mod usage (since matching mods with their respective polarities would halve the energy required, thus allowing for higher level mods to be equipped) provided even more control to one’s progression. The game’s free to play nature offset the focus on simply earning each and every Warframe, weapon or powerful mod through sheer grinding.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 didn’t really allow you to upgrade gear or weapons past their current level, thus forcing certain stats and perks on numerically better weapons. There was still a grind to steal and scavenge for more gold while Lucky Charm unearthed some worthwhile goodies in random containers and chests. Augmenting your character until you were decked out in the best Uniques, Legendaries and Divines wasn’t the goal of the game and it wasn’t difficult to clear even Tactician difficulty without fully optimized gear.

"Well, how much further can I push the build then? Should I farm for more Paragon points? Level up those Legendary Gems and augment them into all my pieces?"

That being said, the grind wasn’t really punishing or forceful – just there, ready for the taking, provided you had enough coin. Crafting wasn’t really all that special and if you couldn’t afford some equipment, there was at least some hope that the next big encounter would drop something worthy. On the surface, Divinity: Original Sin 2 wasn’t really a looter action RPG but it could be played that way for sure.

Tom Clancy’s The Division mixed generous loot drops with caches, currency grinds, Elite farming, World Boss killing, Global Events and whatnot to provide one of the more intrinsically addictive games out there. Even new gameplay features like the Optimization Station allowed players to properly raise the Gear Score on their favourite equipment as opposed to running out and re-grinding for everything again. Of course, this had – you guessed it – a Division Tech grind associated with it.

I could go on and on but the point is that each one of these games has a looting aspect that appealed to me. The term “Skinner Box” has often been applied and it works in a fairly simple manner – kill stuff, get better loot so you can kill stronger stuff, acquire even better loot, repeat. Of course, players don’t just want the same stuff to kill things with. They also want different play-styles, unique items and elements that introduce variety to the looting process. By providing variety and different challenges, games prevent us from becoming too numb to the Skinner Box’s rewards.

Over the years, however, I’ve started hitting a very interesting wall with regards to looter games. Let’s take Diablo 3 for example. My Paragon Level 600+ Demon Hunter with her Shadow Impale build is pretty awesome. I’ve almost obtained a full set of Ancient items with a few Legendary Gem Augments, thus further increasing her toughness and damage output. Everything is so perfectly slotted together. However, I can’t quite progress past Greater Rift level 100. Well, how much further can I push the build then? Should I farm for more Paragon points? Level up those Legendary Gems and augment them into all my pieces? Farm for better gear, re-roll stats to push min-maxing to its limit, pursue Primal Ancients or simply throw in the towel and go for an S-tier meta build which carries its own grind?

"Loot in general is also in a confusing place – there aren’t any sets that outright break the game (even the vaunted Striker’s Battlegear has seen numerous nerfs)."

The issue isn’t that I haven’t gotten more powerful. It’s more that the loot progression feels more like walking through molasses than actually obtaining significant upgrades. I may be getting stronger but it’s not at a faster rate than my enemies, particularly in content that endlessly scales. Thus a lot of time is spent just to ensure I’m competing with them. However, that is the very basis of min-maxing, to be honest. Those small increases in percentage are more akin to polishing all the rough edges as opposed to making earth-shattering increases in power. In those circumstances, it’s the satisfying gameplay that keeps players coming back.

Such a phenomenon isn’t limited to games like Diablo 3 and The Division – hitting that certain “wall” can happen in just about any looter. Over time, the high that players receive from getting powerful loot becomes more and more diminished. This is because over time, the boosts in power feel more and more negligible. Many look at this as having everything you could possibly want. So it’s probably time to start a new character class and push for some other build. After all, the gameplay experience is pretty much complete. There’s no where to go from here.

Now let’s look at The Division. There’s been a greater move towards tactical cover-based shooting over the past year. Loot in general is also in a confusing place – there aren’t any sets that outright break the game (even the vaunted Striker’s Battlegear has seen numerous nerfs). However, there are a number of underwhelming sets in the game like FireCrest, AlphaBridge, Tactician’s Authority, etc.

It’s not that they’re outright bad or useless but The Division definitely wants to be both a cover-based third person shooter and action RPG. The gameplay is satisfying, for sure, but that “cap” on one’s power still comes into play. Here’s the irony – you’ll never feel powerful enough to rely mostly on reflexive skill when taking down enemies. Conversely, even when focusing on the RPG elements, there are no builds that feel like they outright break the PvE experience at the higher World Tiers (most likely due to PvP balance).

"So to recap – after a point, there’s a very slow, heavily drawn out decrease in progression in both looters near the end-game. Varying play-styles and having different builds helps alleviate this."

Though there are no Greater Rift levels, playing Endless Resistance at World Tier 5 is probably the best test to see how far your build can go. The problem is that the rewards aren’t even worth it all that much. Besides, everyone just goes and farms Lexington anyway, especially when Global Events roll around. These fuels a content problem as well. With one character and a limited set of skills, what new gameplay experience will you find by simply switching builds? The effective grind remains the same and is only reinforced when the game’s live elements take over.

In the case of Diablo 3, even with how satisfying the gameplay can be, there’s also an issue with worthwhile content. Why complete Bounties and random Adventure quests or replay the campaign if the best rewards come from Greater Rifts? Forget Challenge Rifts or Set Dungeons – why not just keep farming Greater Rifts for Death’s Breaths, Blood Shards and loot drops? Even the normal Rifts are great for loot that can be dismantled into materials. But then it’s not quite the case where having the highest stats guarantees success since the composition of Greater Rifts can affect your chances as well.

So to recap – after a point, there’s a very slow, heavily drawn out decrease in progression in both looters near the end-game. Varying play-styles and having different builds helps alleviate this. However, they’re both somewhat screwed on the more fundamental issues. The Division relies more on situational awareness and properly creating a build – for a tactical cover-based shooter, your killing potential depends on your stats and the health of enemies (dictated by World Tier).

You can only grind so much before you stop getting stronger and the range of content itself is fairly limited at end-game. Diablo 3 also requires you to properly create and optimize a build, playing it with some matter of dexterity, but Rift composition is completely out of your control. Which is tough beans because that’s the most optimal content for getting more power. That same power, by the way, is doled out in a slower fashion the longer you play.

"Look at Destiny – the loot grind in Year 2 and 3 of the first game was more about completing tougher quests. Even if you were forced to grind out certain activities like raids, their gameplay was more intricate than your average Greater Rift run."

I guess what I’m getting at is whether the current Skinner Box model in looter games is sustainable over a very long period of time. Once you get past that point where the stat increases, levels, gear and whatnot don’t feel substantial enough to keep up with ever-increasing end-game challenges, the jig is up. You realize that you’ve effectively “beaten” the game. It becomes very hard to go back to certain looter games from that point on (or even peruse new ones). The grind just doesn’t feel as satisfying, even if it’s on a different character; the sense of reward just isn’t the same as the first time. The fact that the content doesn’t really change or there’s no viable end-game beyond a few activities also hurts.

Though I believe the gameplay in both titles has a role to play in the eventual withdrawal from end-game, there might be a few solutions. Instead of focusing on a set number of activities or just one facet of the end-game, why not give players memorable missions instead? Look at Destiny – the loot grind in Year 2 and 3 of the first game was more about completing tougher quests. Even if you were forced to grind out certain activities like raids, their gameplay was more intricate than your average Greater Rift run. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but I do remember soloing the Templar in Vault of Glass till this day.

Sure, you had to grind out materials as well (Exotic Sword Quests. Never forget) but there were also tough missions that were interesting in their own right. Weapons like Touch of Malice exposed you to the deeper lore inherent in The Taken King while providing a treasure hunt for all the Calcified Fragments. Black Spindle was a secret mission that, once exposed, turned into a time attack challenge against overwhelming enemies. Outbreak Prime is a whole other complex quest that’s the perfect combination of community collaboration and raid group teamwork. For all the flak the game received for its RNG, lame storylines and lack of ambition, it felt good to have these defined routes to memorable weapons.

Of course, looter fans would want more nuanced stats and gear that’s within their realm of control, either by constant grinding or enchanting/optimizing. So why not go the route of Nioh which guaranteed weapons like Raikiri through completing various missions? It also allowed infusion of weapons to make them higher level from the very beginning, thus letting players choose what they want to stick with while challenging them to max out Familiarity with a weapon once again to get the most of it.

"It’s also probably to Nioh’s credit that it establishes these things right out of the gate – that there are plenty of different play-styles which can trivialize the opposition but you’d do best not to underestimate enemies."

Players also receive Smithing Texts to craft their own version of Raikiri and other weapons should they want different rolls. Perhaps the best part is that success depends on understanding which weapon and stance is best for which situation, how to properly fight certain enemies and so on. Having great gear won’t make every mission a cakewalk (enemies like the hulking Yokai henchmen can take you out with a few swipes, for example) but taking advantage of your gear’s benefits and different weapon effects certainly makes a difference.

It’s also probably to Nioh’s credit that it establishes these things right out of the gate – that there are plenty of different play-styles which can trivialize the opposition but you’d do best not to underestimate enemies. They are not entities bested by simple stat differences (unless you’re overwhelmingly more powerful than them). The tougher Twilight missions also provide players with more incentive for testing out their builds and earning even greater rewards. That’s not even taking into account the various New Game Plus modes which introduce new loot tiers and tougher enemies for players to grind for.

Then there’s Monster Hunter World. Much like Nioh, success depends on understanding your enemies, the Monsters and weapons. The key gameplay loop and style of progression lies in mastering a weapon and then a particular monster at greater difficulties. Ensuring your gear – which ties directly into your success along with actual skill – is up to par is also important. The game’s focus is on crafting materials and constantly powering up your gear. The resource grind becomes much more hectic in the end-game as the min-maxing really starts to come into play.

However, circumstances can still be salvaged with one’s individual skill (and knowing which weapons works for which situation). Your understanding of game mechanics like Elderseal, Flash Pods, Canteen meals and properly timing attacks is what carries you. It also doesn’t hurt that the game is layered in such a way that there’s no clear split between the normal game and end-game. Everything you’re doing, from low rank to high rank hunts forms the basis of the game.

"Maybe I’m being a little too hard on the above games feeling slow with their progression after such a long period of time on the market."

Once again, it’s not perfect. The end-game devolves into farming Tempered Investigations for Stream Stones and Decorations. Not all monsters have a Tempered form and those that do feel unevenly distributed, some popping up more than others. There’s also the fact that even if some monsters were made Tempered, what benefits do their gear sets really have for some people? I do feel that Monster Hunter World at least provides incredibly different ways to play thanks to the nuanced weapons system, dynamic nature of battles and the sheer range of things to do. There are so many different ways to approach different encounters, various mixes of monsters to combat within certain investigations and challenges to pursue.

However, Capcom needs to expand the scope of its end-game more to ensure that progression doesn’t become too stagnated. Perhaps when G-Rank is introduced that may happen but for now, it’s the upcoming Spring Blossom Fest, new monsters like Deviljho and so on that are doing it. If transmog was introduced, then players could farm different monsters and pursue a fashion end-game. Also, as a side note, the commitment to mastering certain weapon types along with the range of content prior to Tempered Investigations ensures you’ll have some variety on the next planned build. That’s without replaying the whole game as well.

Maybe I’m being a little too hard on the above games feeling slow with their progression after such a long period of time on the market. After all, Diablo 3, Tom Clancy’s The Division, various Monster Hunter titles and so on have provided hundreds, if not thousands of hours of fun for players around the world. However, I think it’s important to examine the Skinner Box loot grind, as seen in titles like Diablo 3 and The Division, and how it can be mixed up, if not improved.

Some may look upon games like Nioh or Monster Hunter World as Dark Souls-esque games with little more than difficulty curves that demand loot to properly keep pace with the challenge inherent. They’re not entirely wrong. But when the loot synergizes with combat rather than acting as a crutch or overtaking it, combined with memorable gameplay instances and a solid feedback loop, even if we risk trading long-term eventual stagnation for a shorter-term satisfying looter, the end result may be a uniquely valuable experience overall.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to GamingBolt as an organization.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Fortune (1st Battle) – Metal Gear Solid 2

It’s not like “Lady Luck” Fortune is the toughest boss to kill in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. She possesses a portable rail gun that can rip you apart easily but damaging her initially is impossible because bullets simply don’t hit her. Chalk this up to an electromagnetic device on her person that can deflect bullets and even disable nearby explosives. Whatever the case may be, just don’t waste your bullets in the early going.

Looks like Destiny: The Collection is real! Today, Bungie and Activision shared a brand new trailer announcing the bundle, which will come, in one package, with the base Destiny game, as well as all of its expansions- The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King, and of course, the upcoming Rise of Iron.

Basically, if you haven’t yet jumped in on Destiny yet, but want to now, this package is the way to go- the best bit here is that by now, most of Destiny‘s various bugs and problems have been largely worked out, and we are left with a game that largely lives up to its initial promise. This bundle will let players go through dozens of hours of content just among the five campaigns included- and that’s nothing to say of the end game content, which is truly endless.

Destiny: The Collection launches on September 20 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. You can check out its announcement trailer below.

Bungie finally dated its next major content update for Destiny – it’s out in April 12th and will deliver some new PvE content, including a new Strike.

According to David “DeeJ” Dague on This Week at Bungie, the update will include new PvE challenges, new (and updated) gear, an increased max Light level, updates to the Sandbox and Crucible and a new quest centered around the Blighted Chalice Strike. The image showcased above features Guardians in Prison of Elders gear (with a Taken shader of sorts) so it appears as though Year One content is making a comeback. The update will be free of purchase for those who own Destiny: The Taken King.

The next three weeks will see Bungie hyping up the update with Twitch streams planned for March 23rd, March 30th and April 6th, all at 11 AM PST. The team will walk players through the new things to do and earn while also covering other features.

What are your thoughts on the April update and will it get you back into Destiny? Let us know in the comments.