State of the Eververse (Destiny)

by cheapLEY , Thursday, October 17, 2019, 12:34 (1665 days ago) @ Claude Errera

I don’t know if you’ve had this conversation with anyone at Bungie. You might know far more than I do.

I would find it incredibly hard to believe (not too mention pretty irresponsible, given that they’ve cited how important that income is to them in supporting the game) that they haven’t given a lot of thought on how to sell stuff at a Eververse. The fact that it charges every season tells me they are absolutely giving it a lot of thought.

I don’t even care about what’s free versus not free. It’s the fact that it seems intentionally designed to trap people into buying things. They make a piece of the armor available for bright dust every week. What happens when you get every piece but one because you missed a week? Are you going to just think that’s fine, or are you going to pony up the cash to complete that set? You might do either and feel completely okay about it, but I think lots of people would pay the cash. You would be hard pressed to convince me they haven’t thought about that exact situation. You can chalk that up to personal responsibility all you want, and I know there’s some truth there. But to pretend that’s not exploitative, and dangerously so for some people seems naive to me. Yes, I think that’s scummy. And maybe it’s a non-issue. Maybe those armor pieces will cycle continuously through the whole season. We’ll see, I guess.

I understand that I probably sound far more negative than I actually feel. I personally don’t feel exploited. I bought that armor set on like day two, despite assuming I could piece it together for free week by week. I love the set, and I’m happy to throw Bungie $15 for it. I am also happy that there is a way for people to get it for free. I’m not as enthused that the giving it away for free part is wrapped in the pressure to get it now or miss out.

I suspect most of us here have a pretty healthy view in the money we spend on Destiny. I’m less sure that’s true of the general population.

I would also point to the sparrow, ship, and ghosts as concrete examples of things that are not extra bonuses. They are things that used to be earned through playing the game we already bought, but now are offered in exchange for extra money. It’s taking things that used to be expected out of the game and asking for more money for them. I won’t say it’s indefensible, but I don’t think it’s a good look.

I also don’t find the “they’re a business, the just need to make money” argument a very compelling one. They have had millions of active players pretty consistently and sell a $60 product every year. They could make Eververse a better value proposition and still make plenty of money instead of as much money as absolutely possible.