Ragashigo's post is super important. (Destiny)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, October 23, 2017, 09:03 (2592 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

So yeah, you could be like Speedracer and pay 40 bucks for an ornament. He seems fine with that. But the game is designed for any particular ornament to be frustrating to get. THAT is the problem. The game could easily be made so that obtaining ornaments is not only fun, but you can specifically choose which ones you want to earn.

That's the part I find indefensible... I would actually be more likely to buy a few items from the eververse from time to time if I could easily buy the exact one I wanted for a set price. But they had to go and add the layer of RNG into the mix, buying who knows how many engrams until you happen to get the amount of dust that you need to buy the item... I'm saying that the way they are implemented is clearly, obviously, designed to wring more money out of players than they would spend if given a straightforward marketplace. It's not the worst example of in-game microtransactions out there, but it is logically impossible to look at the eververse shop as it exists, and argue that it is designed to be a fair and player friendly marketplace.

How is it indefensible? The bright dust is not that difficult to get. Not only do you have a chance at seeing it drop fom a Bright Engram (I've seen it drop 1000 in one engram), but Ships, Sparrows, Legendary Shaders, and IIRC the Optimacy armor and Emotes all give you dust for dismantling them if you got them from a Bright Engram. If there's a specific thing that you really want, then wait for Eververse to sell it for dust.

At best, it can be described as being Bungie's attempt to find the point of "as exploitative and manipulative as players will tolerate".

Isn't that literally all business optimisations, though? In the real world, portions get smaller, prices go up subtly, the product is made with cheaper materials, etc. You act as though you're forced to buy all of these things, and companies should cater to you instead of their own interests. If you don't want to be exploited at all, then don't buy the product. You are not forced to do anything at all. In Destiny's case, they give you several avenues to the item that you want, while still encouraging players to spend money. Unless they start adding exclusive weapons or Mods to the store, I don't see an issue that isn't strictly self-imposed on the side of the player.