A Guide to Understanding Monetization in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, New Light

The Seasons of the Drifter and Opulence added new modes such as the Reckoning and the Menagerie, gave lore-fiends interesting stories to chase, and re-introduced fan-favorite exotic weapons like Outbreak Prime, Bad Juju and The Truth. If it hadn’t been for the broken mess that was “The Revelry” event, these two seasons likely would have gone-off without much issue outside of the usual power and weapon balancing.

Next, Warmind released to a subdued reception. It was more content-rich than Curse of Osiris thanks to an interesting player-triggered public event and actually decent guns to grind for, but it wasn’t the saving throw both fans and developer were hoping for. Adding to the problem was the eventual shelving of the Trials of the Nine PvP mode, leaving Crucible enthusiasts with no end-game content to chew on. Since launch, Destiny 2 had been on a nonstop downward trend, and it looked like the game was doomed to die a quiet death as players left for newer multiplayer games. Thankfully, that’s not what happened.

On September 4, 2018, Bungie released Forsaken, the first major expansion for Destiny 2. From this moment onward, the game changed for the better. Just as The Taken King saved the original Destiny, it’s likely that Forsaken saved Destiny 2. With its launch, many of the inherent problems were done away with. New sub-classes were introduced with new Supers, ability recharge times were tuned to align more closely with how they were in Destiny 1 and Randomly rolled loot was back with even more ways to earn it. On top of all this, Two new locations were added, there were more secrets similar to the excellent “The Whisper ” secret exotic quest from Warmind tucked away for players to find, and it was all capped-off with “Last Wish,” one of the best raids in the series to date. With Forsaken, Destiny was finally back, and many fans were feeling happy.

This, of course, should be expected from a game that is as in-depth and player-driven as the Destiny franchise but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. So, let’s count down the easiest strikes in the game, along with the gut-punching ones that leave players crying for their m

Ace of Spades is a staple Hand Cannon in PvP all thanks to its main trait, Momento Mori, which grants the ability to see the radar while aiming, while giving a damage boost as well so long as players reload shortly after a kill. The weapon is a consistent three paracausal Shot perk to the head within its optimal range, and the ability to constantly have the radar up allows for constant intel on enemy positi

Let’s not mince words here, the Destiny community was in this exact situation three years ago in the months leading up the release of The Taken King. It was to be sold for a price of $40 and required the installation of all previous DLC, even though House of Wolves did not require the Dark Below. Players at the time were outraged at both the price tag and the need to purchase a DLC that was seemingly only required because Bungie said so. One would think the developer would learn a lesson from this, and they did; it was just the wrong one. We are now approaching the second year of Destiny 2 and Bungie is showing us exactly what they’ve learned: that they can get away with it. Curse of Osiris is almost universally panned as being unworthy of players’ time and money. It isn’t required to play Warmind, offers hardly any mechanical changes and yet Bungie, without offering any explanation, says it will be required for Forsaken all the same. This would be bad enough by itself, but Bungie isn’t content to stop there; no, they’ve decided that they need to milk their players even more than they already are, and they’re going to do it with the “Annual Pass.”

Unfortunately, there’s almost no way to earn these items through gameplay. Random tiers on the Battle Pass (we’ll get to that) drop Engrams that contain some of this gear. Other than that, players need to rely on two currencies:

With Monster Hunter World in particular, every update, event and addition has been given to players 100 percent free of charge and they’ve been implemented at a pace that Bungie can only dream of matching. What’s more, the game is a massive success. It’s lead Capcom, a developer/publisher that’s been around since the days of the NES, into its single most profitable period in the company’s entire history. With a contemporary example like that on the market, it’s hard to see how anyone can defend the business choices Bungie continues to make with Destiny.

The big addition that comes with the Season Passes is the Battle Pass. Yes, Destiny 2 is jumping on the Fortnite bandwagon by offering tiered rewards. There are actually two Battle Passes; a free one and a paid one. Season Pass owners earn rewards from both Battle Passes, and free players only from the free one.

If players can now carry their rewards wherever they go, it seems unlikely that they have anything to be upset about, right? Unfortunately, there are still some major hoops that Destiny 2 players will have to climb through to get everything from this event. Once players complete the grueling grind to a glowing Magnificent set of armor, they do not automatically unlock the ornaments to match. In fact, players only unlock the right to buy the ornaments from the Destiny 2 Eververse store. What’s worse, the cost of the ornaments put them above and beyond nearly everything else available in the st