Also just for the record (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Saturday, April 02, 2016, 17:08 (3251 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

I spent quite a bit extra on Mass Effect 3's micro transaction system during the first year of that game. Had to have the Defender Titan Asari Justicar and N7 Shadow, to name a few. Probably spent at least another $60 on the game. Really I'd estimate closer to $100 or more. Amusingly, I don't think the random drops I paid for ever actually got me the classes or guns I was looking for!

But the thing was, I was happy to spend the money. I was spending to try and get the new classes early, but each time they released a new set of classes, weapons, and maps I handed over a good $5 to $10 in appreciation of the ongoing support and content. (Remember, the weekly balance updates and all other content was free.)

I've been doing similar with Destiny. I bought the Ghost edition initially because I wanted that physical Ghost. It's my 2nd favorite extra to ever come with a game. (Halsey's Journal being the first, of course.) And, like basically everyone, I paid for The Taken King. But I also pitched in a few dollars for the Sparrow Racing League, and at least the minimum amount for the 2nd Festival of the Lost. Again, not so much because I wanted a blue flame-y mask (I never actually got it) but because it's my way of showing thanks for and hopefully encouraging continued support and updates.

I do agree that whether or not we've crossed a Pay to Win line, it is probably detrimental to the perception of the game any time Bungie does something that causes the discussion to pop back up. Maybe it wouldn't be so much of an issue if it had been in at the start? I'm not going to drag up the sources right now, but the concepts of micro transactions were discussed by Bungie before Destiny's launch. I'm fairly certain that emotes being things we pay for was in the original concept for Destiny as well. Remember the Wizard Ice Bucket Challenge video? It ended with a Guardian performing the Slow Clap emote something like two years before we got access to it...

But getting back to the point, if Destiny had launched with stronger content (like the higher quality mission of The Taken King) and had launched with the micro transactions from the beginning I wonder if people would have been driven away. A few, of course, but I think most would recognize that you couldn't actually Pay to Win and the content of the game (in addition to the always strong movement / gunplay) would have lead most to accept the selling of emotes and reputation boosters and so on and would have caused much less of a stir than this sorta gradual phasing in of additional ways to Pay.

Or, at the very least, we would have had this conversation two years ago and people would made their decisions to stay or leave Destiny by now... :)