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Destiny 2's new $15 "Starter Pack" is a bunch of junk that feels it came from a shitty mobile game

Draugoth

Gold Member
Update:
Destiny 2 has pulled Starter Pack from the Steam Store due to player feedback


Hey everyone, we launched Season of the Wish yesterday and have been monitoring the conversation around what you’ve been enjoying and what you haven’t. We’ll start things off with the Starter Pack, which is not something bringing joy.






Text via Gamesradar

Imagine the Destiny 2 community's relief when Bungie quietly released a new "Destiny 2 Starter Pack" that only costs $15. Finally, a straightforward and affordable way to jump into a notoriously hard-to-start MMO! Now imagine the community's disappointment upon realizing it's a bunch of junk that only makes the game's position even worse.

Players spotted the starter pack on Steam following the recent launch of the Season of the Wish, which has taken Destiny 2 back to its Forsaken era with the Ahamkara of the Last Wish raid (and for an extended stay now that The Final Shape has been delayed).

The pack comes with three Exotics: the Traveler's Chosen sidearm, Ruinous Effigy trace rifle, and Sleeper Simulant linear fusion rifle. You'll also get a cosmetic-only Sparrow hoverbike and space ship, plus an Exotic Ghost shell that offers the most marginal of benefits over readily available non-Exotic shells. (I'm also swimming in Exotic shells, for the record.) Finally, you get 125,000 Glimmer, 50 Enhancement Cores, five Enhancement Prisms, and one Ascendant Shard for upgrading your gear.

For a variety of reasons, none of this stuff is worth much at all. You can fairly easily unlock all of these old Exotics in-game via the Lost Lights monument, and none of them are great or essential to begin with. Traveler's Chosen loses to other ability-refunding Exotics in the best builds, Ruinous Effigy has been nerfed so hard that it's worthless in any difficult content, and Sleeper Simulant is quite weak without the catalyst that you'll need to unlock through gameplay anyway (and at best a niche pick even with the catalyst).

This is the kind of thing that nobody should buy. It's not even pay-to-win; the power bump this grants you is infinitesimal. It's pay-to-get-nothing-of-value. Nobody would consider buying it unless they've got more money than they know what to do with or they have no idea how the game works. All of these Exotics are easily unlocked for free, and I can get three times as many materials in an hour.
 
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The Destiny IP should be put out to pasture at this point. It had its moments and will be regarded as one of the better FPS GAAS experiences of the last decade, but every new update coming out for this franchise in the past 2 years is just tarnishing the Bungie name into oblivion.


Ded Teletubbie GIF by MOODMAN
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
The Destiny IP should be put out to pasture at this point. It had its moments and will be regarded as one of the better FPS GAAS experiences of the last decade, but every new update coming out for this franchise in the past 2 years is just tarnishing the Bungie name into oblivion.


Ded Teletubbie GIF by MOODMAN

Bungie have destroyed it.
 
“they have no idea how the game works”

Well, yeah. It’s a Starter Pack and intended for newbies. It isn’t intended for anyone who might say
“Traveler's Chosen loses to other ability-refunding Exotics in the best builds, Ruinous Effigy has been nerfed so hard that it's worthless in any difficult content, and Sleeper Simulant is quite weak without the catalyst that you'll need to unlock through gameplay anyway (and at best a niche pick even with the catalyst).”
 
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LordCBH

Member
$15 for off meta exotics, some shitty cosmetics, and a paltry pile of materials. Is 125k glimmer even enough to buy a fragment or aspect on the subclasses? Embarrassing. Buying the season pass gives you a much better value even as a new player.
 
Can you imagine working at Naughty Dog (one of the worlds best studios) right now and making that TLOU Factions game for 3 or 4 years, only to have Bungie saying your game fails at knowing how to monetize itself...only to have Bungie itself "collapsing" like this just 2 months later with their only IP? lmao

Even Sony must be a bit unaware on what to do with Factions at this point. That game could come out next year or be cancelled tomorrow. It's such a weird situation to be in.
Like...if anything Destiny 2 has a LOT of issues with its own monetization system...and i hope Sony sees that.
 

havoc00

Member
After you beat the expansions the game feels like a job checklist simulator, I dunno how people grind it daily
 

Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
Wait, so the argument is that this stuff isn't that great and doesn't give you much of a benefit?

So, what do we want? Pay to win, where spending gives you an immediate advantage over people who don't pay extra? Or this type of stuff, where you pay extra for no real advantage, but gain some various cosmetics?

Either way, I'm ready to push the outrage button and dogpile on Bungie, cause that's what we do, right?
 

lifa-cobex

Member
The reason Destiny is notoriously hard-to-start is not due to lack of equipment/ weapons or any of the crap they are offering in this package.
It's because you get thrown into a game with little to no explanation of what's going on or where to go.

They need to create some training or introduction levels to pan out the basic elements of the story for new players.
Destiny does have a text log of to the side of the main screen. But it's little to no help for anyone. It's in the same effect of FF13.
Nobody wants to read about the game.
They want to play the game.

Obviously doing something like I have suggested would cost them time and money as nobody in their right mind would pay for it.
So it just won't happen.

They could have fixed this years ago but that ship has long since sailed. Their only hope is to keep the current audience which they seem to also be failing at.
(Speaking for experience).

This package is for no one. It's entirely pointless.
 
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Ogbert

Member
Genuinely sad about Destiny. My favourite game of all time, alongside WoW.

It’s just gone. They’ve let it decay beyond repair. Everything is stale and boring and pointless. The story is utter drivel. The latest seasonal content has you talking to a large squid looking for eggs whilst an albino weirdo talks at you cryptically.

The game has lost all sense of fun.
 

lifa-cobex

Member
Genuinely sad about Destiny. My favourite game of all time, alongside WoW.

It’s just gone. They’ve let it decay beyond repair. Everything is stale and boring and pointless. The story is utter drivel. The latest seasonal content has you talking to a large squid looking for eggs whilst an albino weirdo talks at you cryptically.

The game has lost all sense of fun.
I stopped after Lightfall. That DLC was embarrassing especially coming after The witch queen which was fantastic.
I've always felt like their were two teams at Bungie fighting over control.

The PVP has been long forgotten about which has always confused me. That was their A game for Halo.
Bungie and Blizzard and both fascinating and bazar companies to view from the outside.
 

HoodWinked

Member
You know what's actually kind of strange from a psychodynamic perspective. If they just sold this for $15 no one would give a shit.

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But because they actually include more stuff it creates more points of contention.
 

M0G

Member
I loved this game's world initially, but it's completely intolerable as a game now. Stopped buying the expansions when they became time limited rentals.
 

Ogbert

Member
I stopped after Lightfall. That DLC was embarrassing especially coming after The witch queen which was fantastic.
I've always felt like their were two teams at Bungie fighting over control.

The PVP has been long forgotten about which has always confused me. That was their A game for Halo.
Bungie and Blizzard and both fascinating and bazar companies to view from the outside.
You left at the right time. Lightfall was embarrassing.

I don’t think I’ve really enjoyed the game since Europa (a zone that is just awesome to move around in). The gunplay is no longer best in class; I think other titles, including CoD, have overtaken it. The bounties are stale. The strikes are stale. The zones are old and tired.

And Lord yes, I have no idea what their problem is with PvP. My suspicion is the fact that it never made the competitive grade (as it can’t really be balanced) meant senior management couldn’t be arsed with it.

I think another problem is that loot is basically pointless. I have a number of guns that I’m just not going to drop. It doesn’t matter what bow they design, I’m still using Le Monarque or Trinity.

Bungie are a weird company. And I’m not sure they’re what Sony need.
 

Destiny 2's new $15 "Starter Pack" is a bunch of junk that feels it came from a shitty mobile game​


-fixed.

That’s not true though. It’s been absolutely amazing at times. The gameplay was awesome for years. The raids and dungeons brilliant.

It’s just been left to wither away.

There's a key word in there.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
The Destiny IP should be put out to pasture at this point. It had its moments and will be regarded as one of the better FPS GAAS experiences of the last decade, but every new update coming out for this franchise in the past 2 years is just tarnishing the Bungie name into oblivion.


Ded Teletubbie GIF by MOODMAN
Hyperbole much? Witch queen was excellent as were some of the seasons. I've dropped off the game due to burnout (played since the original D1 alpha) But this is just nonsense.

Yes they missed internal projections, and lightfall was kinda shitty but Destiny has been in worse spots and come back stronger than ever.

I expect the Final shape will do gangbusters with a heck of a lot of lapsed players returning for one final swansong, myself included.
 

clarky

Gold Member
The same rewards you get in the daily login in other games…i rather buy an indie than this trash
Yeah it reminds me if the Amazon Prime rewards they used to give out for free.

This game could've been an epic single-player/co-op saga that surpassed Halo and it became this clown shit garbage. 🤡

The game has had some absolutely epic co-op moments, single player not so much. Although The Witch Queen campaign and Forsaken were excellent, although not hitting the unsurmountable highs of Halo at its very best, but theres not much (if anything) that does.

Some of my best gaming memories are in some of the Raids, there(was) nothing else like them at the time. Vault, Wrath, Wish etc were absolutely top tier gaming.
 
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Eventually every GAAS game turns into a shitty mobile game, it is their.... destiny
I think the reason for this is that at some point the development team might get tired of just releasing cosmetic/items and want to work on actual games so you are left with only the people that are ok just doing "items" (not saying its bad but some other people have other preferences)
 

Shubh_C63

Member
Isn’t this game economy basically a shitty mobile game casino type of thing?
Not really. Economy is not the problem at all. You don't even need hardcore guns to even enjoy this game.
The game is a shitty mobile game, always has been even destiny 1
False. Game has highest of high and lowest of low. Shitty mobile game is hyperbole.

___________
Worst season start ever of Destiny in terms of steam player count. Well deserved.
 

Eotheod

Member
Hyperbole much? Witch queen was excellent as were some of the seasons. I've dropped off the game due to burnout (played since the original D1 alpha) But this is just nonsense.

Yes they missed internal projections, and lightfall was kinda shitty but Destiny has been in worse spots and come back stronger than ever.

I expect the Final shape will do gangbusters with a heck of a lot of lapsed players returning for one final swansong, myself included.
Everyone keeps saying this in response to another of Bungie's fuck ups, yet it keeps happening. When they removed literal paid for raids/strikes people were all "it's just a minor set back, don't worry they've been in worse spots they'll bounce back." Same with PvP, same with exotics, class balances etc. Bungie has had so many "it's okay they'll bounce back" moments that should have made people aware the game has turned to crap yet is defended so significantly.

I played OG Destiny 2 and the first expansion, I really enjoyed the game. I did not enjoy the path Bungie decided to take when initially increasing lightfall access for the base raid so they could force people into buying the expansion. I stopped playing after the first expansion because I quickly realised that no matter the amazing gunplay, Destiny as an IP is shallow and repetitive. Bungie don't care anymore, or at least what they are showing through their content says they don't care.

How the mighty fall.
 

Optimus Lime

(L3) + (R3) | Spartan rage activated
Destiny is now a digital casino in which you shoot the same 4 or 5 enemies that have been in the game since 2014.

It is horrible, horrible shit.
 

Dthomp

Member
Right idea that they need a starter pack, completely brain dead CEO thinking with this shit. I don't care that people have accepted this dumb digital hellscape where companies can just put 40 DLCs up and try charging you 600 dollars for a 70 dollar game, but IF they truly want to keep going with this, they need an all in one pack BEFORE the Final Shape. Release Destiny 2: The Collection which will have the licenses for all content up until TFS that is still in the game, Raids, Dungeons, Destinations, Exotics for 69.99 for The set + Current Season that at least gives new or returning players the whole package and not a few pieces of a very confusing puzzle. Time for Sony to push out the Bungie CEO and move up somebody with a vision of a game that can draw players and make money more then the current guy who just sees MTX as the only avenue (Not that that seemed to be doing well by all accounts leading up to Sony purchase)
 

lifa-cobex

Member
Everyone keeps saying this in response to another of Bungie's fuck ups, yet it keeps happening. When they removed literal paid for raids/strikes people were all "it's just a minor set back, don't worry they've been in worse spots they'll bounce back." Same with PvP, same with exotics, class balances etc. Bungie has had so many "it's okay they'll bounce back" moments that should have made people aware the game has turned to crap yet is defended so significantly.

I played OG Destiny 2 and the first expansion, I really enjoyed the game. I did not enjoy the path Bungie decided to take when initially increasing lightfall access for the base raid so they could force people into buying the expansion. I stopped playing after the first expansion because I quickly realised that no matter the amazing gunplay, Destiny as an IP is shallow and repetitive. Bungie don't care anymore, or at least what they are showing through their content says they don't care.

How the mighty fall.
It's because it more complicated than that. In fact it's a bit of a rabbit hole but it's also really hard to compartmentalize.

-Destiny as a looter/shooter is fine. In fact it's great in that basic respect.
-Destiny's story is good. It has some great lore and for the most part has an interesting main plot.
-It's PVP is good. The fundamentals of team or single pvp combat is good fun. Probably outdated by now but solid fundamentals.

Then it's like some group of cunts came along and literally said "How can we piss off everyone and make this as complicated for everyone involved".

You won't find many if any people agreeing with the decision to cut content. But you will find people who understand that something had to be done. For myself they should have release D3 at that very point of "vaulting the content".
They could have called D2 a failure and moved on to D3. Promising to do better blah blah blah.
Others will disagree with that though. However I still stand by that you could have carried over your character properly this time.

At specific certain points in D2's life. Bungie could have done something significant that would have welcomed in new players in. But they kept steamrolling through. Making it
more and more difficult for a new player to catch up to the story or how new mechanics work.

PVP just seemed to get left alone to it's own devices. They add new maps with DLC but the still wanted you to play certain game modes (gambit) that are really outdated and boring.
It's like wanting someone's attention. They are looking at you but give absolutely no response.


I think I can confidently say that you probably won't find many more die hard players saying that they can turn this around by this point. Fans are let down and finding it very difficult to suggest anymore fixes.
Not that Bungie listens.
The tragedy is they had some great elements to make a great game. A series that could have gone on for a lot longer. The heads just ravaged it to a jumbled cluster fuck.
I feel bad for the actual devs/ lore writers. Such a massive waste of potential.
 
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