I've got like, 6 Crucible Commendations. I don't have a lot of marks.

Why do you still need both to buy anything? I thought the Commendations were like a meal ticket, like a coupon to show you may not play 24/7 but enough to be rewarded, so that you don't have to get 120 marks each time you want to go to the store.

What's the point?

or, extending the time people play, which is one of the goals of grind, and which can be good for them but also good for the game

I have the opposite problem - 6 Vanguard Commendations, 200x3 marks, and nothing to buy. There are maybe (maybe!) two guns worth buying, and all the Vanguard Armour is outclassed by the factions.

I've got like, 6 Crucible Commendations. I don't have a lot of marks.

Why do you still need both to buy anything? I thought the Commendations were like a meal ticket, like a coupon to show you may not play 24/7 but enough to be rewarded, so that you don't have to get 120 marks each time you want to go to the store.

What's the point?

Agreed. They should cut the cost of Vendor stuff in half, or bump up the Marks payout (and remove the weekly cap).

All these artificial time sucking barriers are getting annoying...

My wife and son take priority over all games (he's not old enough yet and she doesn't play), so I don't have a bunch of "extra" time to spend getting to the "fun" parts of the weapons and armor.

I get that Destiny appears to be a long-term type game, but at this rate it feels more like a glacier-pace than a reasonable stroll.

....all the Vanguard Armour is outclassed by the factions.

I admit I don't know all the details of how each compare; how do the Faction armors outclass the Vanguard exactly? Is it just for the specific perks you're looking for? They all go to the same light/defense, right?

....all the Vanguard Armour is outclassed by the factions.

I admit I don't know all the details of how each compare; how do the Faction armors outclass the Vanguard exactly? Is it just for the specific perks you're looking for? They all go to the same light/defense, right?

Int/Dis and Perks, yeah. There are only 2 options per armor space for Vanguard and 6 total per armor space for factions once you hit rank 2 in each.

Yup, more options, and the Int/Dis/Str of faction gear is (almost) always better than Vanguard gear.

...thanks to not earning enough vanguard or crucible marks to be able to spend the commendations as quickly as I receive them.

Since you can store your commendations in the vault I really don't have to worry about not having any commendations now. It seems like they are pretty worthless now for people who run multiple characters.

6 Crucible Commendations, 50 marks.

And I'm stuck on the roof of 200 Vangaurds, and no Commendations.

Granted, I just realized that my inventory is actually full(never thought that would happen), so I had to make some space.

6 Crucible Commendations, 50 marks.

And I'm stuck on the roof of 200 Vangaurds, and no Commendations.

If you run two characters, run one on Vanguard rep and the other on crucible rep. It'll provide you with a source for both kinds of commendations. Even if you don't play that much, as long as you're splitting time between PvE and PvP, specific rolls for your characters will continually generate both kinds of commendations. I play PvE with one warlock and PvP with another; the PvE one reps vanguard, and the PvP one reps Dead Orbit. This solves the commendation issue.

But that doesn't slove the problem of the PvE character still needing crucible marks for most armor. I've got plenty of commendations, but the armor for one of my PvE characters with the specific upgrades I want is with the crucible handler. Still have to grind it out in crucible.

But that doesn't slove the problem of the PvE character still needing crucible marks for most armor. I've got plenty of commendations, but the armor for one of my PvE characters with the specific upgrades I want is with the crucible handler. Still have to grind it out in crucible.

I only run warlocks so this isn't an issue for me. But yeah, if you run 3 different classes like you do, well, that's the real undertaking if you're serious about outfitting all of them.

I only run warlocks so this isn't an issue for me. But yeah, if you run 3 different classes like you do, well, that's the real undertaking if you're serious about outfitting all of them.

This morning I finally got enough shards to get my hunter to 31. Titan has the armor, but no shards. Warlock still needs 25-35 crucible games to get the armor I want. My mistake was trying to rank them all up together at first. I should have just focused on one at a time.

or, extending the time people play, which is one of the goals of grind, and which can be good for them but also good for the game

I don't think it's that it at all.

Grind is what some people do voluntarily in response to a mechanism that is designed to do something else-- in this case, gating.

I think what Bungie is doing with this mechanic is slowing the flow of legendary items to players who are routinely hitting the mark cap on multiple characters. The commendations add a random element to how often those characters can convert those marks into gear.

Another possibility is that it is another system designed to require players to diversify their play style. You can get marks by doing the daily, weekly, nightfall, strike playlists and public events, without ever touching a bounty.

With the addition of the commendation, you HAVE to check with the bounty bot. You probably don't have to change your playstyle much-- you can do a fair number of the bounties without actually having to play anything in particular, if you choose the non-mission specific ones, and doing those alone will generate commendations.

I have 3-4 vanguard commendations and 2 crucible commendations sitting in storage right now because I haven't decided what to buy with them yet, and my play style is more centered around clearing bounties than strike playlists.

I have 3-4 vanguard commendations and 2 crucible commendations sitting in storage right now because I haven't decided what to buy with them yet, and my play style is more centered around clearing bounties than strike playlists.

The problem isn't commendations: it's marks.

If you earn 150 marks, you are most likely going to earn a commendation in the process of doing that as well. I have no shortage of commendations, but I have a shortage of marks.

1. Crucible marks are painfully slow to get. You can max out Vanguard marks without even trying, but crucible marks require around 8 hours of crucible play to max out.

2. Marks are used to buy materials. Guess which variety you use to buy them?

From where I am standing, the only reason these were introduced was so that players could not buy something immediately with marks they saved up. That's it. They don't hold you back in any other way really.

I have 3-4 vanguard commendations and 2 crucible commendations sitting in storage right now because I haven't decided what to buy with them yet, and my play style is more centered around clearing bounties than strike playlists.

The problem isn't commendations: it's marks.

If you earn 150 marks, you are most likely going to earn a commendation in the process of doing that as well. I have no shortage of commendations, but I have a shortage of marks.

1. Crucible marks are painfully slow to get. You can max out Vanguard marks without even trying, but crucible marks require around 8 hours of crucible play to max out.

2. Marks are used to buy materials. Guess which variety you use to buy them?

I agree with you except this part, I've never bought materials and I actually exchanged some for marks back when you could do that (I'd really like to see that return) and I have hundreds of each

From where I am standing, the only reason these were introduced was so that players could not buy something immediately with marks they saved up. That's it. They don't hold you back in any other way really.

They also increased the price of some armor-- I forget if it's just chest pieces or chests, gauntlets, and boots-- from 65 to 75. That doesn't seem like much but it means 4 or 5 more Crucible matches or two more Vanguard strikes to get what you want. Also with the cap at 200 it means you can't buy three pieces of Vanguard, Crucible, or faction armor in one sitting any more, although you can still buy two and buy from both the Vanguard and Shaxx or a faction rep, but then the total is down from 6 to 4.