The True State of Destiny 2

From The View Of A Player

So if you're reading this I'm sure you've already seen the blog put out by Bungie, to address the many layers of concerns the player base has with Destiny 2. The blog is extensive, primarily because it's a copy and paste of a previous blog post that teased players of future improvements, just with some added detail. And if you'd like the entire thing read back to you, there's plenty of Youtube videos out there that will be your personal book on tape. But I'd like to first go over the highlights of the article, and then give my thoughts on what's good, bad, and ugly.

Within the December update, their goal is to make four improvements :

- Deepen rewards

- Provide more control over rewards

- Make shards useful

- Provide quality of life fixes 

And the four main subjects that encapsulated these fixes were detailed under these four subjects : 

- Introduction to Masterworks 

- Re-implementation of Armor Ornaments 

- Re-implementation of Vendor Gear

- Introduction to Fated Engrams sold by Zur

With the issues on the table and the suggested solutions put beside them, we must ask ourselves, is it enough? Now, before I give my thoughts I want to start by saying that many of the issues in Destiny 2 go deep into the new systems implemented into the game. Systems that Bungie most likely added to attract more players, but are now punishing the loyal and avid gamers. Systems like the entire token economy, which is on the top of my list of things not needed in this sequel. But the development team unfortunately doesn't have the time or man power to both work on new material while also reconstructing the old. I had this in mind when reading the blog, so I never expected anything BIG, the bar of expectations for Destiny 2 seems to have gradually gotten lower.

Now, lets start with what will be re-implemented into the game since my thoughts can be pretty much summed up in one sentence. Why wasn't this in the game from the start? I know that question has been beaten to death, but it still rings true. Plus, Bungie re-structuring Destiny 2 by using features that existed in Destiny 1, feels as though they're admitting Destiny 1 is better. But the true issue here is something I'll touch on at the end of this article.

Next, the introduction of fated engrams reminds me of an issue in Destiny 1. Back in vanilla Destiny, there was the issue of legendary engrams encrypting into rare gear or guns for any class. This was fixed after an outcry for engrams that simply decrypted into the same engram type and were class specific. Now the cry is for less duplicates, but I don't know if this is the solution. In my opinion, unless you have a Pokemon mentality and gotta collect them all, there's no single exotic that stands out. This can be said for both gear and guns, which is unfortunate since it kinda kills the chase before there ever was one.

Last but not least, lets look at Masterworks, which could definitely use a better name, but seems like a decent system. Overall, I give it respect for being a new system they're willing to implement and I like that it adds some level of customization, but it's still very underwhelming. When the disclaimer  stating that a 'small pool' of re-roll-able upgrades would be available, my interest immediately began to deflate. Because in the end, I feel like Bungie is too scared to add anything that might become 'too powerful'.

That leads me into the issue I have left nearly all of Destiny 2's announcements with, including this one. And that is, there's no wow-factor in Destiny anymore. I have yet to be shocked or astounded by any news concerning the game after the raid becoming available. That's the true issue at the root of all these projected fixes is that they are either stuff we've seen before, or they're as shallow as a 'small pool'.

What do you think? Are you excited for the December update?