the hardest thing Destiny 2 is get any friend to play this. Fans of Bungie’s ambitious and inventive sci-fi shooter have long hoped for a simple on-ramp that would make it easier to welcome veterans and newcomers back into its universe. Destiny 2‘s new “Starter Pack” might look exactly like this. Instead, it’s a bundle of expensive, random items that fans won’t be able to stop dunking on.
Wish Season was released today with an exciting trailer and new missions revolving around collecting dragon eggs to defeat an old enemy. However, players have also quietly noticed a new DLC add-on that has gone live with the latest update on PSN, Xbox, and Steam. It’s called Destiny 2 starter packIt costs $15 and is one of the most ridiculous microtransactions I’ve ever seen. As the name suggests, the Starter Pack does not contain any expansions, missions or story content. This is a random assortment of materials intended to “strengthen” players’ arsenals. Here’s what’s included:
- Traveler’s Choice
- Destructive Sculpture
- Sleeping Simulation
- Exotic Ship
- Exotic Sparrow
- Exotic Ghost Shell
- 125,000 Sparkles
- 50 Development Cores
- 5 Enhancement Prisms
- 1 Rising Piece
These first three items are all older Exotic weapons that have been in the game since 2019 or earlier. They’re mostly good, but only synergize with certain builds, and they can all be purchased from the Tower kiosk without too much fuss. The ship, sparrow and ghost shell are purely cosmetic and depend entirely on personal taste. What’s in the Starter Pack is far from the game’s better designs, at least in my opinion.
By the way, the ingredients are quite stingy. Glare Destiny 2‘s main in-game currency, earned by doing anything. Cores, prisms, and Ascendant Shards (what players affectionately call “golf balls”) are for focusing engrams, re-rolling equipment, and creating new items; None of these are particularly useful for new players and don’t make much sense for the amounts on offer. Even this is not enough absolute masterpiece A new piece of armor. It’s a strange array of gear to purchase for more than the cost of an entire season of the game.
One player wrote: “I’d say it’s giving money to win but really it’s just a waste of money.” on Destiny subreddit. “Pay to lose.” Another wrote: “This is so pathetic. 3 medium exotic items, a few crappy cosmetics, and some materials aren’t that valuable. A real starter pack would be weapons and old DLCs.”
There are three big obstacles to players returning to the game Destiny 2. The first is that most of the story is no longer in the game due to content skipping. If the second Destiny 2‘s “New Light” campaign remains fairly basic and offers no real direction regarding end-game events. Thirdly, although it is ostensibly free to play, all expansions are paid and unlocking access to everything is still quite expensive. Shadow Keeper2019’s underwhelming expansion is still normally priced at $25. The Starter Pack adds to the noise by confusing players with misleading descriptions like “Fly between destinations in your new Exotic ship.” Narrator voice: Exotic ships are just special loading screen animations.
The Starter Pack also comes in the context of layoffs at Bungie 2024s Final Figure expansion And reported revenue deficit. At a time when the studio is desperate for money, the $15 package underscores the gap between the actors and the person leading it Destiny 2money making strategy. Milking whales is one thing, though. Destiny 2 As players have pointed out, the new Starter Pack seems directly aimed at taking advantage of new players who might not know any better. As one of them put it, “This is some mobile gaming nonsense.”
Update 11.29.2023 18:09 ET: Bungie appears to have removed Destiny 2’s controversial Starter Pack from stores, including Valve’s storefront. “Do not notice: Destiny 2: Starter Pack is no longer available on the Steam store,” reads an update on the Steam listing. Meanwhile, PlayStation Store listings are returning error pages.
In addition to roiling the microtransaction on social media and Reddit, some players also attempted to review the pack, bomb it, and replace Steam tags with things like “psychological horror.”
