Every year or so, one of Destiny 2’s top developers will write an extensive blog post investigating the problems of MMOFPS and proposing solutions. “It can be good,” I always think, “depending on how they implement it.” But the plans are always vague and in reality have often proved disappointing. So I’m so glad the latest blog explosion sets out very specific changes that are definitely welcome. It also sounds like they will continue Destiny for many, many years to come.
First, the long-term news of co-game director Joe Blackburn, which appears in 3,600 words: this fall’s annual expansion, The Witch Queen, is being delayed until early 2022. partly because they want to make it good if Destiny’s story approaches some kind of conclusion. Players expected the end to come in the Lightfall, the 2022 expansion, but apparently not – in two ways.
Blackburn said Bungie realized we needed to add an additional chapter without announcement to Lightfall to complete our first saga of Destiny. 1) Oh, so Lightfall will not be the end. 2) O! Even the end to Lightfall will only be the end of the ‘first saga’! Ooh! The current site is called their “Light and Darkness Saga”, without any hint as to what might follow. I’ll be happy with more Destiny expansions until Bungie releases their mysterious brand new thing in 2025 and hell, I’ll take more Destiny after that too.
The delay of Witch Queen can be worrying, as the delay of Beyond Light last year made the last expansion season very thin. They at least have plenty of time to plan for it, and the plans for this year’s seasons sound promising.
The biggest news for the next one, season 14, is that Bungie is undergoing sunset. Non-exotic weapons and armor will no longer have a high limit, but you can apply their Power level. This gave a timing for how long equipment could be used in end-of-game activities, which caused many beloved weapons to be turned inside out, leading to quite a few grinding substitutes for old favorites. Although Bungie does not undo the sunset (which will grieve me so much equipment that I took it apart unnecessarily), they end it. If you can currently apply equipment to the maximum power level of this season of 1310, luckily, it will be good next season and forever.
“With Season 11, we introduced infusion caps, a repeat of infusion designed to keep Destiny’s equipment game fresh from release to release and to create a healthy ecosystem for our aspiration content,” Blackburn said. “While we still believe in these goals, it is clear that we were carrying out the point.”
I myself was theoretically sinking if Bungie could show interesting consequences. They did not. It is such a nuisance to grind for new armor, and especially for new rolls of sunset weapons to be reissued. Sunsetting also left the current meta with a huge shortage of kinetic weapons with special ammunition. Goodbye, bad system.
We look forward to more changes with the not yet named season 14 …
- The Power grind is reduced, and future limits will only increase by 10 each season. Well. Although it still needs to be preserved at this stage?
- The first Destiny’s Vault Of Glass attack appears from the Destiny Content Vault. It will also have another World First race, with a bunch of challenging Triumphs on top, because people already know how to complete the raid.
- Ikora will stop moping quietly around the tower and actually be part of the story again.
- Transmogrification will eventually arrive. Armor Synthesis, as it is called, allows players to turn weapons into universal ornaments to slap on other equipment (and no, you do not have to stockpile in preparation – it will run off your collection). Ada-1 from the Black Armory will return to do so, with the materials needed for transmog material obtained by doing bounties or paying Silver (the microtransaction cash for real money). I have so many fashion plans.
- Shaders will also no longer be stock items, but only unlock which we can easily apply through ornaments in the new screen for customizing appearance. Hurray.
Bungie also plans to adapt Stasis during the season and the next two in PvP. Stasis Hunters and Titans will be nerfed, Warlocks will have bugs fixed and if frozen it will reduce extra damage. I still think Stasis is incompatibly bad for PvP because delayed or frozen is always unfair in a first person game, but I think it’s something?
Other promising future plans …
- End ‘3-peek’ in Trials and Competitive PvP, the strategy of swiping an outdoor ammunition sword to get the third-person camera and to look around the corners. You can only equip them if they have ammunition. Well.
- Fighting cheats by doubling the size of the security team.
- To buff underutilized light subclasses, which in my opinion is the most according to these points?
- Try not to make trials so alternately dull that players would rather jump off cliffs than really play.
- Really proper Stasis weapons for your energy and power slots, not just this one newest ice thrower we currently have.
- Over-platform gaming comes in season 15. PC and console players will not be paired in PvP unless consoles specifically join a PC party.
- Continue to customize Crucible by balancing guns, introducing new weapon benefits, and perhaps making guns a little more focused than they currently compare to capabilities.
- And yes, the Crucible-dominated shotgun Felwinter’s Lie will get a nerve. Although bad news for PvE lurks: Warmind Cells is likely to get a hit as well.
Oh, very good things. Yes, some of these plans are the vague statements of intent we have heard, but enough plans are very concrete for me to be very satisfied. It is such a relief to swallow their pride and to end sunset. Reducing power grinding is no longer necessary. Destiny’s violence and reconnaissance and raids are so damn good that I would have continued without these changes, but now I will grumble much less. Though I’m incredibly skeptical about still vague talk about fixing Crucible, which has been bursting and neglected for so long.
I did not summarize everything, because ha ha ha, also read the blog post myself. How do you feel about all this?