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Destiny 2's Microtransactions Devour Shaders by Jim Sterling

Yo what the fuck. Shaders are single fucking use? Well this fucking sucks. I like keeping a theme to my outfit and they've essentially fucked me on this.

Now this means I'm not coloring my outfit with my desired colors until essentially end game.

And not just single use - but also per piece. So it doesn't do your whole outfit now.
 
So are they at least giving free content updates or something ?.

I was under the understanding that games like Overwatch or For Honor that have loot boxes at least offer free Characters, maps and game modes
 
They can drop from chest around the maps too.
You also get 1 loot box (the Bright Engram) for ever level you hit after max, which usually contain a couple.

So the big issue is that they are consumables I'm assuming (which does suck I haven't actually used any shaders because they are consumables.) I personally will never buy anything from this game but, the day they make shaders not consumables I can throw em something.
 
So are they at least giving free content updates or something ?.

I was under the understanding that games like Overwatch or For Honor that have loot boxes at least offer free cheaters , maps and game modes

Free updates

Activision

These two do not match
 
Consumables are a good way to keep microtransactions relevant even if you don't have the content pipeline to keep up and actually make new stuff.

It's one step below having weapons and clothing parts leased to you for a fixed period of time, rather than owned.
 
Consumables are a good way to keep microtransactions relevant even if you don't have the content pipeline to keep up and actually make new stuff.

It's one step below having weapons and clothing parts leased to you for a fixed period of time, rather than owned.

Don't give them any ideas
 
Jim is the consumer advocate we need, not the one we deserve. Might not always agree with the tone, but I'm glad he's holding publishers feet to the fire.
 
So are they at least giving free content updates or something ?.

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And not just single use - but also per piece. So it doesn't do your whole outfit now.

It's interesting that they threw out a design principle of Destiny 1 (shaders applied to an entire outfit to assure visual cohesion / no clashing colours) to pull this off.
 
It was already bad with emotes and the other cosmetic stuff from events. Really a shame they also included shaders with this.
 
Never played Destiny and don't know much about it other than headlines, but after watching this video the gameplay looks dull as fuck.

Most of the video consists of these red hulking baddies with dumb as shit AI continuously throwing themselves at you while you run around boxes and do 3 things - force push, shoot, and reload. Please tell me there's more to what's supposedly one of the most popular gaming franchises out there today.
 
Destiny was basically a bare bones game made to sell you dlc so it makes sense they are upping their game in the sequel. I learned my lesson the first time around.
 
Really interested to see how it works for Raid Shaders, also if events like Iron Banner require you to have a shader to complete event bounties.
 
Never played Destiny and don't know much about it other than headlines, but after watching this video the gameplay looks dull as fuck.

Most of the video consists of these red hulking baddies with dumb as shit AI continuously throwing themselves at you while you run around boxes and do 3 things - force push, shoot, and reload. Please tell me there's more to what's supposedly one of the most popular gaming franchises out there today.

Shootbang with friends!
 
It's interesting that they threw out a design principle of Destiny 1 (shaders applied to an entire outfit to assure visual cohesion / no clashing colours) to pull this off.

You know exactly why they threw that principle out:
$$$$
 
Bungie, for the love of all that is holy please change this shit.

I don't have my hopes up that a single item seller will appear on the game to buy exactly what you want, but af the very least make shaders appear more often in game and make them be multiple use.

How fucking scummy can you get with your audience.
 
Bungie, for the love of all that is holy please change this shit.

I don't have my hopes up that a single item seller will appear on the game to buy exactly what you want, but af the very least make shaders appear more often in game and make them be multiple use.

How fucking scummy can you get with your audience.

Again, not up to bungie to change shit.
 
I’m honestly beginning to question those who defend cosmetic microtransactions. The default you don’t have to buy it argument, is starting to sound fragile and hollow. Its like a pre-emptive automated PR response.

Those who buy these games are knowingly or passively endorsing games with such features as a viable practice and product. Slowly and steady they’re expecting consumers to accept these business practices, and its starting to leak into other gameplay-centric aspects. Its like a gradual Trojan horse.

At some point you’ll potentially be paying for a healthbar refill. If that happens, will you still be content with that same argument?
 
We've well passed the point of no return on loot box.
Publishers might not good at inventing next gen gameplay, they are very good at next gen business practices, better get ready for their next invention.
 
When Jim argues against people saying cosmetic microtransactions don't change the game he actually misses the point and argues against a point nobody is actually making.

We all know cosmetics can be enjoyable, but when people say "change the game" I think they are talking about the balance of the weapons in terms of damage or doesn't give you any stat boosts etc. That's what they mean.

Now I'm not saying loot boxes and cosmetic microtransactions should exist, but it is frustrating to see him argue against a point that that nobody is really making.

And yes, cosmetic skins don't alter the your characters or weapons performance I games like Overwatch and Destiny and that is a fact.

(I must make it clear I hate all this DLC trash and I'm not being an advocate... but if you're going to counter argue a subject then do it correctly)
 
Bungie, for the love of all that is holy please change this shit.

I don't have my hopes up that a single item seller will appear on the game to buy exactly what you want, but af the very least make shaders appear more often in game and make them be multiple use.

How fucking scummy can you get with your audience.

Probably the one thing you can blame Bungie for is that they kept this a "secret" till launch.
 
Its like a gradual Trojan horse.

At some point you’ll potentially be paying for a healthbar refill. If that happens, will you still be content with that same argument?

It is what it is. F2P elements are merging into $60 games. Little by little, one by one, gradually.

Slow.. but sure.
 
We all know cosmetics can be enjoyable, but when people say "change the game" I think they are talking about the balance of the weapons in terms of damage or doesn't give you any stat boosts etc. That's what they mean.

Yeah well, "it could be worse" isn't really a great argument to begin with.
 
As said, at some point the Law will catch up with this and any game with lootbox microtransactions will be rated 21+. That'll put a metaphorical stick in the wheel.
This. I don't know why it isn't considered gambling-lite. Granted gacha games are huge and it's what these are turning into. I loathe this shit and it's indefensible because cosmetics are 100% part of the gameplay loop and are often integral to (my) enjoyment of the game long-term. I wanna look cool! I won't pay to look cool!
 
This. I don't know why it isn't considered gambling-lite. Granted gacha games are huge and it's what these are turning into. I loathe this shit and it's indefensible because cosmetics are 100% part of the gameplay loop and are often integral to (my) enjoyment of the game long-term. I wanna look cool! I won't pay to look cool!
Because you're "guaranteed" to win something. Therefore it isn't gambling.
 
At this point if you buy anything from acti-bungie you should expect to have your consumer rights completely violated

Now that's just hyperbolic BS. What right is being violated over shaders lol?

I mean, I'd rather this not be happening, but let's all just realize we talkin' about shaders. Shaders!
 
Blows my mind that they did not simply create a massive collection of permanent shaders and just allow you to get duplicates time to time...

In 2-3 months (maybe less), we will likely have our first "Event" of time-limited items that can ONLY be acquired through Loot Cra- ahem - Bright Engrams, enticing people to spend $20-30 on them.

And then we will still need to play for the DLCs.

Oh, and what does the Season Pass get you again?
 
The actual worst of it is they are just opening up all revenue streams with absolutely no benefit to the players. They aren't using microtransactions to fund further development of new content. They are selling that separately. There isn't a way to justify chipping away at the game so they can resell it as microtransactions in this case. Consumers see absolutely no benefit. Players pay for the base game and the DLC while they convert ingame items to consumables with the sole purpose to sell them as microtransactions, hoping players will have to come back again and again to get what they want.
 
So when I first heard about this I imagined them as similiar to the D3 dying system...

How difficult are the shaders to get in game?
 
Wait wait wait. Not ONLY are shaders now single use, they now only work with 1 piece of armor rather than the whole thing? What a bunch of bs
 
As someone who thinks Overwatch is tangibly and negatively affected by its microtransactions I have obviously nothing but scorn for games that push the boat even further.

It's a shame that companies are just pushing as far as they think they can go instead of wondering how they're making their games worse with the implementation of these things but as people have said when there's even a staunch amount of support for microtransactions on places like Neogaf then there's not a lot that we can do.

But I still appreciate Jim and others that do shine a light on these things and do the little we can. Cosmetics, crafting, shaders, et all used to be great parts of games now they're just used for exploitation.
 
The actual worst of it is they are just opening up all revenue streams with absolutely no benefit to the players. They aren't using microtransactions to fund further development of new content. They are selling that separately. There isn't a way to justify chipping away at the game so they can resell it as microtransactions in this case. Consumers see absolutely no benefit. Players pay for the base game and the DLC while they convert ingame items to consumables with the sole purpose to sell them as microtransactions, hoping players will have to come back again and again to get what they want.

But what about that great "live team" content everyone loved? Sparrow racing? No? Anyone?
 
It's a shame that some people will try to defend this, why would you defend this? Just why would you choose this and say it's an alright thing? Even if you don't think it's that bad, i don't see why you'd accept this over the other way it was done. You gain absolutely nothing from this and it's outright a negative thing for players, regardless of if you use it or not i can't think of a single reason why anyone would think this is done for the benefit of the players. The whole "It's cosmetic!" and "Just don't buy them" defenses are more an avoiding of the problem than anything, if you have no explanation for why it's a good thing for players, then that's a good sign it shouldn't be accepted.

So are they at least giving free content updates or something ?.

I was under the understanding that games like Overwatch or For Honor that have loot boxes at least offer free cheaters , maps and game modes

I really don't understand this defense of them. They're paid games in the first place, loot boxes would only be what's supporting the game getting more content if they were the only income for it. Unless a game is F2P they aren't "needed" to support the game while it's still making money off of game sales, even less so when it's a hugely successful game in the first place.There's nothing to suggest any casuation between these updates and the microtransactions in a game that's making huge amounts of money off game sales alone.
 
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