Bungie Job openings

The Salt Emporium posted this link. But feel it might be worth a discussion here and what it means for the future of Destiny.

https://careers.bungie.com/en-us/careers/game-design/938163/senior-progression-designer---live

Create sustainable player progression and chase through Destiny 2’s Bright Engram
Work closely with our Live leadership team to craft a long-term vision for the Eververse and its presence in the Destiny IP
Work closely with our Live product manager to analyze key performance indicators to inform design
Design and implement new features and systems with an eye on engagement, retention, and monetization
Use data and design sensibilities to define strategies for maintaining ideal engagement patterns and maximizing player satisfaction
Work with Destiny 2 leadership to help define a cohesive monetization experience across multiple expansions and seasons
Manage the creative and craft growth of Progression designers on the Eververse team and help establish a strong design culture

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It's pretty gross. Blatant, codified manipulation of game structures to squeeze extra money out of consumers who already paid full price for a product, using a system that has proven, time and again, to be tantamount to gambling and which preys on the same addictions.

We need legislation. The video game industry has proven it is incapable of stopping this poor behavior on its own.

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It's pretty gross. Blatant, codified manipulation of game structures to squeeze extra money out of consumers who already paid full price for a product, using a system that has proven, time and again, to be tantamount to gambling and which preys on the same addictions.

We need legislation. The video game industry has proven it is incapable of stopping this poor behavior on its own.

It's called not buying stuff. If nobody bought from Tess, then the cost to implement the store would outweigh the gain, and it would be abandoned.

This pisses me off; they are just doubling down on a horrible decision and strategy. Maybe it makes sense financially, but artistically it is bankrupt.

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It's pretty gross. Blatant, codified manipulation of game structures to squeeze extra money out of consumers who already paid full price for a product, using a system that has proven, time and again, to be tantamount to gambling and which preys on the same addictions.

We need legislation. The video game industry has proven it is incapable of stopping this poor behavior on its own.

It's called not buying stuff. If nobody bought from Tess, then the cost to implement the store would outweigh the gain, and it would be abandoned.

This pisses me off; they are just doubling down on a horrible decision and strategy. Maybe it makes sense financially, but artistically it is bankrupt.

You can't stop addicts by telling them "just don't be addicted."

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Its not your job to police addicts.

Separating money from fools is a service

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That’s awful and cynical, and I’m a little disheartened that anyone could honestly feel that way. Taking advantage of people, whether they be addicts or merely idiots is a pretty awful thing to do.

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It's pretty gross. Blatant, codified manipulation of game structures to squeeze extra money out of consumers who already paid full price for a product, using a system that has proven, time and again, to be tantamount to gambling and which preys on the same addictions.

We need legislation. The video game industry has proven it is incapable of stopping this poor behavior on its own.

I hate to break it to you, but this is pretty par for the course across all industries.

"How do we make money" and "Can we make more money" are pretty basic and constant questions.

I work in the auto industry. I will tell you that we have lots of automotive complexity precisely because someone figured out that people will pay extra for some feature, but not all. So we have these base level packages with the bare bones, then we have all these comfort features that are bundled together precisely because we know people will pay extra because they want 2-3 things out of the 5-6 feature bundle.

I will note that the job also as maximizing customer satisfaction is part of the goal. I have this metric as well. It's hard to understand what customers want, compared to cold hard cash equations, but there is an honest effort for the most part to make customers happy.

Microtransactions are the current paradigm for squeezing more money out of a game, especially when the price point cannot be changed from the base 40/50/60$ bracket. Psychologically, no game developer could routinely get away with upping the price point for the initial software buy, so the added costs have to be taken out of DLC and microtransactions.

This job posting isn't anything unexpected or out of the ordinary.

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The two DLCs cost 20 each. TTK cost 40. So why don’t they combine the two DLCs into TTK style content drops? Best solution.

I will remind you three studios are working on this game.

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The two DLCs cost 20 each. TTK cost 40. So why don’t they combine the two DLCs into TTK style content drops? Best solution.

I will remind you three studios are working on this game.

Because those take time, and the biggest complaint about Destiny is and probably always be the perceived (wrong, in my opinion) lack of things to do. What you propose means longer periods of time between content drops, which seems counter to what most claim to want, and is probably counter to Bungie wanting folks to keep checking back in.

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The two DLCs cost 20 each. TTK cost 40. So why don’t they combine the two DLCs into TTK style content drops? Best solution.

I will remind you three studios are working on this game.

Because those take time, and the biggest complaint about Destiny is and probably always be the perceived (wrong, in my opinion) lack of things to do. What you propose means longer periods of time between content drops, which seems counter to what most claim to want, and is probably counter to Bungie wanting folks to keep checking back in.

Quality vs Quantity.

There is no way to create enough quantity to satisfy daily play. So you go for quality instead.

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The two DLCs cost 20 each. TTK cost 40. So why don’t they combine the two DLCs into TTK style content drops? Best solution.

I will remind you three studios are working on this game.

Because those take time, and the biggest complaint about Destiny is and probably always be the perceived (wrong, in my opinion) lack of things to do. What you propose means longer periods of time between content drops, which seems counter to what most claim to want, and is probably counter to Bungie wanting folks to keep checking back in.

Quality vs Quantity.

There is no way to create enough quantity to satisfy daily play. So you go for quality instead.

I honestly feel like we’re getting a good compromise between the two. Presumably we’ll be getting a Comet 2 after these first two DLCs.

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I honestly feel like we’re getting a good compromise between the two.

Are we? We are not even getting a full raid this time around! The story to me felt thin and rushed, where it could have taken more time to develop. As I said before, I really do consider this the worst DLC for Destiny Bungie has put out. Which is a shame because the artists are doing a killer job in building these worlds; it's just the story and design not measuring up.

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The two DLCs cost 20 each. TTK cost 40. So why don’t they combine the two DLCs into TTK style content drops? Best solution.

I will remind you three studios are working on this game.

Because those take time, and the biggest complaint about Destiny is and probably always be the perceived (wrong, in my opinion) lack of things to do. What you propose means longer periods of time between content drops, which seems counter to what most claim to want, and is probably counter to Bungie wanting folks to keep checking back in.

Quality vs Quantity.

There is no way to create enough quantity to satisfy daily play. So you go for quality instead.

If the quality is high enough, that alone will satisfy daily play. Fortnite Battle Royale has only one map, has no persistent loot, has maybe two dozen total items, and yet I play it every night for hours and have a blast. Why? Because it's incredibly fun. Destiny 1 was that game for me, but it was still just as frustrating as it was fun. Destiny 2 is... boring, I guess.

I enjoyed the new DLC's story mission, that was great fun and told an interesting and compelling story. And then I went back to Fortnite.

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And I guess as a follow-up to my prior post on legislation:

https://kotaku.com/hawaii-state-rep-is-drafting-bill-barring-minors-from-b-1821136540

He wants people under the age of 21 to be prevented from buying games with loot boxes. This would be at the state level. And based on the age, Cody's idea of the ESRB smacking games with loot boxes into the AO category could be a pretty good alternative that keeps the government out of it. But it looks like this is definitely going to play out at the state level of government for the time being. The article goes into potential pitfalls and difficulties in regulation, too.

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And I guess as a follow-up to my prior post on legislation:

https://kotaku.com/hawaii-state-rep-is-drafting-bill-barring-minors-from-b-1821136540

He wants people under the age of 21 to be prevented from buying games with loot boxes. This would be at the state level. And based on the age, Cody's idea of the ESRB smacking games with loot boxes into the AO category could be a pretty good alternative that keeps the government out of it. But it looks like this is definitely going to play out at the state level of government for the time being. The article goes into potential pitfalls and difficulties in regulation, too.

It's a good first step, and I also think there needs to be a gaming commission which gets to inspect the code and guarantee fair play in the loot rolls, as well as required gambling addiction pop-up warnings at the start of the games which include the number to a gambling counselor.

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[*]Create sustainable player progression and chase through Destiny 2’s Bright Engram

Instead of a compelling game. Okay.

[*]Work closely with our Live leadership team to craft a long-term vision for the Eververse and its presence in the Destiny IP

It belongs in one of those alternate Vex realities.

[*]Design and implement new features and systems with an eye on engagement, retention, and monetization

Fuck that.

[*]Use data and design sensibilities to define strategies for maintaining ideal engagement patterns and maximizing player satisfaction

In other words, a game designer?

[*]Work with Destiny 2 leadership to help define a cohesive monetization experience across multiple expansions and seasons

Bullshit.

[*]Manage the creative and craft growth of Progression designers on the Eververse team and help establish a strong design culture

I don't even…

Last time I saw a Job posting like this in 2010, I knew it was trouble…

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[*]Create sustainable player progression and chase through Destiny 2’s Bright Engram

Instead of a compelling game. Okay.

How about Alongside a compelling game? (This is clearly not a game/creative director position. And lots of designers who make amazing and compelling components of the Destiny games are still doing their thing!)

[*]Work closely with our Live leadership team to craft a long-term vision for the Eververse and its presence in the Destiny IP

It belongs in one of those alternate Vex realities.

Look. Eververse isn't going away. What if we the community had more dialog (less yelling into the nightmare realm) with Bungie about what that balance looks like?

[*]Design and implement new features and systems with an eye on engagement, retention, and monetization

Fuck that.

People gotta eat. And pay rent, and so on a so forth. I Actually have more of a problem with the second point (retention) as I personally want "new things to do" rather than "emotes to chase."

[*]Use data and design sensibilities to define strategies for maintaining ideal engagement patterns and maximizing player satisfaction

In other words, a game designer?

[*]Work with Destiny 2 leadership to help define a cohesive monetization experience across multiple expansions and seasons

Bullshit.

Does this honestly surprise you? Sure you're entitled to your opinion and be upset and frustrated, but this is literally what D1 did. They're just refining it (exclusive items per season for example).

[*]Manage the creative and craft growth of Progression designers on the Eververse team and help establish a strong design culture

I don't even…

Last time I saw a Job posting like this in 2010, I knew it was trouble…

Look, I don't love Eververse either. But unless you want the base game to be $100 (which means significantly fewer people would buy it), it's not going away (unless some sort of legislation gets passed). At this point, I think we'd be better to focus our efforts to communicate with Bungie about HOW (no not House of Wolves) loot boxes/Eververse items work in Destiny.

I'll start:

Eververse Items are all cosmetic!
XP earns bright engrams with a random assortment of Evervse items
There are different kinds of "boxes" to buy with silver: shaders, armor, and ornaments for example
You can buy individual items (maybe 4 weeks into the season) for a higher price of silver or bright dust

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The idea that these types of things are neasesary for AAA development - that games can’t be made and people can’t be paid without them is false. EA even admitted as such with the Star Wars debacle. They basically said their games make money just fine without it, but it’s just extra. Just like the used games controversy, people are willingly accepting excuses, even when ultimately the fans are hurt.

Datto posted something on twitter along the lines of “Doesn’t Bungie care that all the news about them is negative in the press lately? Aren’t they embarrassed? Why don’t they do something?”

It’s true. Everybody heaps praise on CD PROJEKT RED because they don’t pull any of this. They make money. Bungie should be like them. Because frankly as a Bungie fan it actually is embarrassing to see everybody laughing at them, even if I don’t 100% agree.

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It’s true. Everybody heaps praise on CD PROJEKT RED because they don’t pull any of this. They make money. Bungie should be like them. Because frankly as a Bungie fan it actually is embarrassing to see everybody laughing at them, even if I don’t 100% agree.

CD PROJEKT RED also reportedly underpays and overworks its employees. I don’t know the truth of the matter, and then being in Poland with a different wage expectation and work culture muddies the waters in that regard. But let’s not pretend that CD PROJEKT is some bastion everyone should be looking to emulate.

I have no doubt that studios can still make great AAA games with no micro transactions and still make good money, but as long as we function in a society where companies must seek higher and higher profits at all costs, this isn’t going to go away.

I won’t say I’m fond of micro transactions, but as far as they go, Bungie does them alright.

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It’s true. Everybody heaps praise on CD PROJEKT RED because they don’t pull any of this. They make money. Bungie should be like them. Because frankly as a Bungie fan it actually is embarrassing to see everybody laughing at them, even if I don’t 100% agree.

CD PROJEKT RED also reportedly underpays and overworks its employees. I don’t know the truth of the matter, and then being in Poland with a different wage expectation and work culture muddies the waters in that regard. But let’s not pretend that CD PROJEKT is some bastion everyone should be looking to emulate.

You can't argue both that you don't know the truth of the matter and that you do know they aren't a bastion people should emulate. Let's stick with we don't know about the company itself, but we do know that the way they treat their customers is awesome.

I have no doubt that studios can still make great AAA games with no micro transactions and still make good money, but as long as we function in a society where companies must seek higher and higher profits at all costs, this isn’t going to go away.

We need legislation to remove gambling elements from microtransactions, or dictate that when you pay full price for a game, all of that game's content is included in that price and not walled behind microtransactions.

I won’t say I’m fond of micro transactions, but as far as they go, Bungie does them alright.

Bungie includes a gambling aspect and therefore does not get a pass from me. If they only sold specific items directly without any skinnerbox, I'd be okay with them.

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We need legislation to remove gambling elements from microtransactions, or dictate that when you pay full price for a game, all of that game's content is included in that price and not walled behind microtransactions.

I strongly disagree with this. I don't want some government beaurocrat (who has their own self-interests in mind) making decisions on behalf of game makers. Making games is hard enough without involving that level of BS, which IMO won't really solve much.

I personally don't have a problem with micro-transactions existing. But I don't love them.

I do care a lot about how they are implemented, and what they can/are/will do to my gaming experiences, and further, those of my children. I think they can be extras. Once they cross into core gameplay (which is different for different people) then I start losing interest and removing myself and my money from the equation.

But I respect their right to go down such paths, and to suffer the consequences (both good and bad) of those decisions.

Disclaimer: I bought an emote once so I could harass a friend with it. It was well worth the money...! I've bought nothing else.

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Getting the government involved is bound to cause more problems than solutions. I can understand the desire, but I don’t think it’s the right way to go about this.

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Getting the government involved is bound to cause more problems than solutions. I can understand the desire, but I don’t think it’s the right way to go about this.

It seems necessary. The games industry is adding more addictive elements, not removing them.

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We need legislation to remove gambling elements from microtransactions, or dictate that when you pay full price for a game, all of that game's content is included in that price and not walled behind microtransactions.

I strongly disagree with this. I don't want some government beaurocrat (who has their own self-interests in mind) making decisions on behalf of game makers. Making games is hard enough without involving that level of BS, which IMO won't really solve much.

I personally don't have a problem with micro-transactions existing. But I don't love them.

I do care a lot about how they are implemented, and what they can/are/will do to my gaming experiences, and further, those of my children. I think they can be extras. Once they cross into core gameplay (which is different for different people) then I start losing interest and removing myself and my money from the equation.

But I respect their right to go down such paths, and to suffer the consequences (both good and bad) of those decisions.

Disclaimer: I bought an emote once so I could harass a friend with it. It was well worth the money...! I've bought nothing else.

You understand that I'm suggesting legislation to remove the gambling element from microtransactions, correct?

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If the government gets involved, it will do what it always does -- makes what it's regulating into what the goverment believes it should be. Sometimes this is a good thing. More often it is not.

They won't just get involved with the random/gambling aspect of it. For them to get involved it will get much, much deeper. And besides, there are already gambling laws on the books. I wouldn't be surprised if a legal case could be made around such things already.

Where's speedracer, isn't he a lawyer?

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I've gotten them 4 times with Google play credit. It's fun to open them. I know what I'm doing. It's my money. EA knows what they're doing. Why can't I blow my money on a dumb game?

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You can!

I firmly reject the “This is your fault!” rhetoric that happens every time preorders and micro transactions come up. I guess I don’t reject the argument, as it’s true. I just reject feeling bad about it. I have disposable income, I’ll spend it how I want. It falls to the folks that so vehemently opppse those things to put their money where their mouth is.

Folks can lament those things all they want, but it’s pretty hard for me to take the people that have been bitching about Destiny since day one and yet continue to dump 100s of hours into every release seriously, as they keep showing they aren’t really that bothered by continuing to play and buy every release.

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I don’t have a problem with buying each DLC release. Just because I thought CoO was the weakest one doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my time with it.

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I wans't referring to you, just for the record. I hope you didn't think that.

I was referring to the general audience, the folks you see on reddit constantly bitching about everything, but not actually caring enough to make a stand by just not buying the game, or the DLC.

If anyone makes a comment about not regretting a preorder, or admitting to buying Silver, they're met with a barrage of "this is your fault!" posts. That may be true in the strictest sense, but I don't think anyone needs to be shamed or feel guilty for it. You can buy loot boxes without being a gambling addict, you can preorder games without being an idiot, and everyone else can honestly avoid the issue completely entirely by just playing different games. There are so many great games out there to play without lootboxes, so why aren't people making a stand and playing those instead of playing Destiny for hundreds of hours and then bitching constantly about it?

On the flipside, I think it's also totally possible to hate lootboxes and everything associated with them and still thoroughly enjoy Destiny, and it doesn't make you a hypocrite or a bad person for doing so.

People should just focus more on doing things they like without pointing fingers at everyone else.

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People should just focus more on doing things they like without pointing fingers at everyone else.

Tragedy of the commons.

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I mean sure, I get it. But in a year with so many amazing video game releases without loot boxes or microtransactions at all . . . it's a non issue. If you don't like them, play something else. There are literally hundreds of other options. Video games aren't being killed by microtransactions, single-player campaign focused games aren't dying, etc.

At this point, people screaming about it are just running around yelling that the sky is falling.

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I mean sure, I get it. But in a year with so many amazing video game releases without loot boxes or microtransactions at all . . . it's a non issue.

This is what makes it so inexplicable!

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Please tell someone who lost their house and their children's inheritance to their addiction how it was their choice to do that. Gambling is a mental illness and taking advantage of addicts is despicable.

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Please tell someone who lost their house and their children's inheritance to their addiction how it was their choice to do that. Gambling is a mental illness and taking advantage of addicts is despicable.

I spoke to Doug Zartman for my Bungie book, and he used to work at Zynga. He told me how there were multiple people who would spend over 10 thousand dollars on some of the games. He used to imagine it was the bored wife of a Colombian drug lord, because who else has that much money to drop on mobile games?

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Please tell someone who lost their house and their children's inheritance to their addiction how it was their choice to do that. Gambling is a mental illness and taking advantage of addicts is despicable.

I spoke to Doug Zartman for my Bungie book, and he used to work at Zynga. He told me how there were multiple people who would spend over 10 thousand dollars on some of the games. He used to imagine it was the bored wife of a Colombian drug lord, because who else has that much money to drop on mobile games?

Who are Video game "Whales?"

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Mostly because Madden Mobile is turning into garbage and you shouldn’t support them until they figure out what they are doing.

But yeah, spend money on stuff you want to spend money on. I get way too drunk twice a week, and the only long term benefit I get from that is liver damage.

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I get way too drunk twice a week, and the only long term benefit I get from that is liver damage.

You should also be getting sex. You must be doing it wrong.

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Also I’m way too ugly to cheat on the dumb person dating me.

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Also I’m way too ugly to cheat on the dumb person dating me.

You are doing it right after all then ;-)

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I see this two ways:

1. Bungie is doubling down on their current crappy practices and is going full bore with more pay to win "features."

2. Bungie realizes that their current strategy isn't working and is looking for additional expertise/resources to do it better.

I'm inclined to think it is more 2 than 1, especially with all the negative sentiment regarding EA and their Battlefront screw ups. Bungie (and Activision) has to know that they could easily become the next microtransaction scapegoat and need to tread lightly.

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I see this two ways:

1. Bungie is doubling down on their current crappy practices and is going full bore with more pay to win "features."

or

2. Bungie realizes that their current strategy isn't working and is looking for additional expertise/resources to do it better.

I'm inclined to think it is more 2 than 1, especially with all the negative sentiment regarding EA and their Battlefront screw ups. Bungie (and Activision) has to know that they could easily become the next microtransaction scapegoat and need to tread lightly.

Was hoping someone would say this. It doesn't surprise me that people immediately consider the former when it could entirely be the latter.

Time will tell.

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I see this two ways:

1. Bungie is doubling down on their current crappy practices and is going full bore with more pay to win "features."

or

2. Bungie realizes that their current strategy isn't working and is looking for additional expertise/resources to do it better.

I'm inclined to think it is more 2 than 1, especially with all the negative sentiment regarding EA and their Battlefront screw ups. Bungie (and Activision) has to know that they could easily become the next microtransaction scapegoat and need to tread lightly.

I think the only sensible thing is this:

The Eververse and progression are completely separated. Items in the Eververse are cosmetic only, and cannot be earned in game. This eliminates the need to design 'frictions' into the game that make it worse for people who have no interest in cosmetics. This means doing away with Bright Engrams.

No boxes. Everything is purchased individually for a set price of real money. Do away with silver even.

The option to buy everything Eververse sells for a bundle price, perhaps 30 bucks. This should be included in special or ultimate editions of the game.

You're welcome Bungie. You can take that job posting down now, and it didn't cost you a thing!

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I see this two ways:

1. Bungie is doubling down on their current crappy practices and is going full bore with more pay to win "features."

or

2. Bungie realizes that their current strategy isn't working and is looking for additional expertise/resources to do it better.

I'm inclined to think it is more 2 than 1, especially with all the negative sentiment regarding EA and their Battlefront screw ups. Bungie (and Activision) has to know that they could easily become the next microtransaction scapegoat and need to tread lightly.

I think the only sensible thing is this:

The Eververse and progression are completely separated. Items in the Eververse are cosmetic only, and cannot be earned in game. This eliminates the need to design 'frictions' into the game that make it worse for people who have no interest in cosmetics. This means doing away with Bright Engrams.

No boxes. Everything is purchased individually for a set price of real money. Do away with silver even.

The option to buy everything Eververse sells for a bundle price, perhaps 30 bucks. This should be included in special or ultimate editions of the game.

You're welcome Bungie. You can take that job posting down now, and it didn't cost you a thing!

I for one think this is a terrible idea. I hate the idea of not being able to use my game time to get things over paying for it. I'm all for people buying stuff that they want to (as long as it doesn't affect the game and me) but I should be given the choice to spend any amount of hours of game time to get those same items.

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I for one think this is a terrible idea. I hate the idea of not being able to use my game time to get things over paying for it. I'm all for people buying stuff that they want to (as long as it doesn't affect the game and me) but I should be given the choice to spend any amount of hours of game time to get those same items.

Then have fun with a worse game because of the frictions.

With my idea, just buy the deluxe edition and you have everything.

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I for one think this is a terrible idea. I hate the idea of not being able to use my game time to get things over paying for it. I'm all for people buying stuff that they want to (as long as it doesn't affect the game and me) but I should be given the choice to spend any amount of hours of game time to get those same items.

Then have fun with a worse game because of the frictions.

With my idea, just buy the deluxe edition and you have everything.

I'm going to regret this, but... what frictions?

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I'm going to regret this, but... what frictions?

Cody thinks actually playing the game you paid for is a chore.

You're wrong on this one, Cody. People don't want to just buy things. Like it or not, folks like "earning" things by playing the game.

I would never spend $30 for a package of everything in the Eververse, and if we did it your way, I'd just never get to have any of that stuff. Bright Engrams are earned at such a reasonable rate, I would say calling it "friction" borders on hyperbole.

I can understand your hate for lootboxes and microtransactions, but your "compromise" is actively worse for tons of people.

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I'm going to regret this, but... what frictions?

Cody thinks actually playing the game you paid for is a chore.

You're wrong on this one, Cody. People don't want to just buy things. Like it or not, folks like "earning" things by playing the game.

I would never spend $30 for a package of everything in the Eververse, and if we did it your way, I'd just never get to have any of that stuff. Bright Engrams are earned at such a reasonable rate, I would say calling it "friction" borders on hyperbole.

I can understand your hate for lootboxes and microtransactions, but your "compromise" is actively worse for tons of people.

You act as though they can’t include things to earn that are not available in the store. The progression is just never tied to real money. So earn away. It will be better because such a system would then be ostensibly designed with only fun in mind.

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You act as though they can’t include things to earn that are not available in the store. The progression is just never tied to real money. So earn away. It will be better because such a system would then be ostensibly designed with only fun in mind.

I don’t disagree with you. That would absolutely be better.

Your hypothetical where they just offer things for sale with no way to get them for fee would absolutely not be better. That’s all I’m saying.

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Your hypothetical where they just offer things for sale with no way to get them for fee would absolutely not be better. That’s all I’m saying.

But the whole 'earning them for free' part is a trap. It sounds good, but requires compromises to the game design. If you really can earn them for free by playing, and your game is good, nobody would buy anything because it would be more fun to play and not pay, than to not play and pay. Hence, the frictions.

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I just don’t see the imagined friction, I guess. I’ve earned three or four Bright Engrans every night this week. It’s not like it takes hours and hours of time to get one.

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Your hypothetical where they just offer things for sale with no way to get them for fee would absolutely not be better. That’s all I’m saying.

But the whole 'earning them for free' part is a trap. It sounds good, but requires compromises to the game design. If you really can earn them for free by playing, and your game is good, nobody would buy anything because it would be more fun to play and not pay, than to not play and pay. Hence, the frictions.

This was wrong the first time you said it, and the second time, and the 1000th time. It's STILL wrong.

It will never be right.

There are tens of millions of gamers in this world. (Hundreds? Probably.) The idea that you can make a statement like that, and have it be right for all, or even a lot, of them, is ludicrous in the extreme.

Lots and lots and LOTS of people love to play, but have less free time than you have. Lots and lots and LOTS of people love to play, and have MORE free time than you have. Priorities are not set in a vacuum, and not everyone chooses to prioritize the same things. Multiple paths to the same goal is a POSITIVE situation, not a negative one. And you're 100% wrong when you say that if it's fun, some folks won't pay.

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Frictions exist to prevent or dissuade you from getting all this stuff for free. There is zero reason to include them if I am wrong. None. If you can find a wide variety of examples with games that have microtransactions available by playing, that have zero frictions, then you’d have a point.

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You're still operating under the delusion that playing the game is a friction, I think.

If it took hours and hours to earn to a Bright Engram, you'd have a point, but as it doesn't . . .

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there's a hot topic on reddit right now asking "what if bungie did away with eververse and gated all the cosmetics behind prestige activities."

my first thought was "well, people will just pay for carries," which then led me to think "hmm, people will pay for cosmetics regardless, so Bungie decided to be the ones charging for it"

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there's a hot topic on reddit right now asking "what if bungie did away with eververse and gated all the cosmetics behind prestige activities."

my first thought was "well, people will just pay for carries," which then led me to think "hmm, people will pay for cosmetics regardless, so Bungie decided to be the ones charging for it"

I don't mind paying for specific items if you really want that one thing. It's the gambling element that bothers me. It's abusive design aimed at leeching money from people who are chasing one item that they want rather than directly selling that thing.

I will say that people paying for Trials carries spawned a cottage industry of people DDoSing their way to victory in order to carry others and get paid, and Bungie SUCKED at identifying these accounts and banning them. If you get paid $100 per carry, then even if you're banned on every carry, you still make money after buying a whole new game. Unfortunately, there's no real incentive there for Bungie to ban their mac address or hardware profile since the current system is resulting in more game sales. It sucks and isn't fun. I haven't encountered the same level of cheating in trials in D2, but then again, I haven't had as much opportunity to even play trials, what with it being cancelled every other weekend.

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