advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Destiny’s “The Taken King” expansion angers its players

It’s safe to say that Destiny, Bungie’s first new IP since it handed the beloved Halo Franchise over to 343 Industries,  is one of the biggest games on the new generation of consoles.

The game cost $500 million (more than R6 billion) to make and it’s attracted a player base that fervently whittles down the hours online. That player base has been kept happy for the most part, especially after E3 where a new expansion was announced for the game.

That harmonious relationship is facing its first real test as the pricing and content of the Taken King expansion has Day One players swearing off of the game altogether.

Here is a breakdown of the different ways you can buy the expansion on September 15th, what you’ll pay and what you receive:

-$40: “The Taken King” expansion download.

-$60 : “Legendary Edition” the original game, the two previous expansions (“The Dark below” and “House of Wolves”) and The Taken King.

-$80: “Collector’s Edition” the original game, the two previous expansions, The Taken king, steelbook case, weapon schematic, book replica, notes and illustrations, “relics and artefacts” (look to be paper prints), Strange Coin replica, early access weapons pack, three class items with XP bonuses, three armour shaders and three class emotes. Lastly: the expansion, at its current price, costs as much as the base game.

-$80: “Digital Collector’s Edition” the original game, the two previous expansions, The Taken king, early access weapons pack, three class items with XP bonuses, three armour shaders and three class emotes.

The above prices are in US dollars, however. On the South African Playstation Store The Taken King’s Digital Collector’s Edition is priced at R1 099, with no price listed for the other editions yet. Similarly, on the local Xbox online store it is listed as R1 159.  We do not have confirmation as to whether physical copies will be available to buy locally.

And here’s the problems: the digital Collector’s Editions cost the same as the physical edition despite containing less content, and the emotes (which would only really matter to those long-term, loyal players) cannot be obtained any other way. This means that a dedicated player who would like to access them would need to spend $80 to get them, while again paying for a game and the previous two expansions which they would most likely own.

As you’d probably imagine, this news has put a lot of players’ noses out of joint. Many players are even going on a strike of sorts by not playing the game on “Bungie Day”, which is July 7th.

With the community jaded, Eurogamer sat down with Luke Smith (Bungie’s creative director for The Taken King) to try and understand these seemingly greedy decisions. We urge you to read the entire interview, as painful as it may be, to understand why Luke Smith has made Destiny players angrier. Here is an excerpt of it:

 

Eurogamer: Final question on prices –

Luke Smith: Is it also the final question on the emotes?

Eurogamer: I’m not going to mention them again. I can’t get them.

Luke Smith: But you can if you buy the Collector’s Edition.

Eurogamer: I’m not going to buy the game and the two DLCs all over again.

Luke Smith: Okay, but first I want to poke at you on this a little bit.

Eurogamer: Poke at me?

Luke Smith: You’re feeling anxious because you want this exclusive content but you don’t know yet how much you want it. The notion of spending this money is making you anxious, I can see it –

Eurogamer: I do want them. I would buy them –

Luke Smith: If I fired up a video right now and showed you the emotes you would throw money at the screen.

A professional representing his company using the term “throw your money at the screen” seems to show something of a disconnect with the fanbase and it’s one of the reasons so many people are crying out. Since the interview Bungie has come forward to say that “Veteran players will receive ‘something better’ than the Collector’s Edition perks”. We’ll have to wait and see how good Bungie is at reversing because they have a lot of backtracking to do.

[Source – Eurogamer, Bungie, Image – Canadian Business]

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement