New Diamond Gas Sunset cosmetics have been dropped in Bungie‘s weekly update for Destiny 2, but players have been launching flying invective at the state of the game and at Eververse. The community manager A_dmg04 shared the good news about the available items before the discussion spiraled into the graver issues affecting the beloved looter shooter.
The Bright Dust options seem to include a handful of armor sets with a Witcher undertone-release of swords across the backs of the pieces-and some players admitted that they do look quite good. “Really like that the witcher set is bright dust,” said one player in appreciation. However, the bright dust spotlight was lost in the riptides of player ire.
Then gamers seized on the opportunity to air their grievances against Destiny 2‘s evolution. “People might actually play the game if you could earn stuff in game instead of buying them in Eververse,” another player responded, echoing a refrain heard repeatedly throughout the replies. It is still that sore spot: cool cosmetics most of all exist through real world money payments and not as achievements in the game.
However, the complaints went beyond cosmetics. Players brought other issues into the limelight: technical glitches, for example, and questions about the game’s mechanics. “How come we only have 3 seasonal challenges this week? And are the data pads fixed now?” one player enquired, referring to known bugs that seem to have been swept under the carpet for too long. Another clicked his fingers at the loot: “I just hit 450, and have to set everything to 520 in hopes of loot. Yea, no thanks.”
But the most intense allegations seemed to be associated with the departing content creators and community figures. “Big time creators & community leaving destiny 2, yet let’s talk about eververse cosmetics lol. Not one word regarding the matter,” was uttered by one user earnestly, reflecting what many see as Bungie’s misplaced priorities.
The Bright Dust economy itself came under fire, with many players simply requesting a better earning route for the in-game currency. “I need more bright dust, bring back the bright dust bounties and increase the rate from the daily from 10 to at least 50,” one pleaded. Others just said, “a way to earn a decent amount of bright dust per week,” trying to make clear that the current system just doesn’t work.
Dripping with sarcasm and becoming increasingly vitriolic with nearly every iteration, the comments were beginning to compare Destiny 2’s monetization to other titles notorious for aggressive cosmetic stores: “My favorite gameplay, swiping the amex or left-clicking in the Fortnite item store.” One comment summarized it rather simply: “Doing everything but fixing the game,” which resonates well with the players who feel Bungie is putting a priority on monetization over gameplay improvements.
The discussion even turned into more of a business’s view with one of the players declaring that Bungie must move from “we must make money” to “we need to earn our money,” a hint on how sour the relationship from the developers is on the opposite side.
Among the slew of criticisms, a few stand out for the cosmetics. Many loved the sword-back pieces, and one even mentioned to “definitely pick up the sword cosmetics!” Alas, such ebullience was fairly rare in the ensuing outrage.
What is interesting, then, is that this simple announcement on weekly cosmetics turned into a broad discussion about the state of Destiny 2. Players are evidently utilizing any issue to complain about: Eververse, bugs, and the general direction of the game. That from the seemingly lightweight topic regarding cosmetics have erupted into such a wide array of concerns speaks for strongly rooted underlying issues that are far-reaching.
The overall community response seems to be grinding increasingly farther apart from Bungie’s talks on cosmetic offerings, concerning player expectations for substantial gameplay improvements and fixes. New cosmetics might trigger some short-term excitement; however, the deep message that the players are really trying to get across is that they want to be able to enjoy the game first. The remaining Eververse-focused cash grab without a single on-topic business concern is just becoming untenable for the dedicated players base.
What to look out for in this season of Destiny 2 is whether Bungie will actually pick up all these community concerns or continue down cosmetic lane. Judging by all the feedback from players following this one tweet, that Bungie can really never satisfy the hunger for meatier improvements to their game life with cosmetic updates alone. The ball now sits in Bungie’s court to either reconcile or drive the player base further away.
