Step away from Destiny for a month or two and you'll find something curious in your email inbox. A message from Bungie, with a reward inside.
"Your contribution to Humanity's struggle is not overlooked," the message reads. "To help you continue your fight, the Vanguard have sent you 9 Strange Coins...visit the postmaster now to claim your currency.
Strange Coins, of course, are used in Destiny to purchase exotic weapons and armor from the merchant Xur, who appears every weekend. You see, Bungie desperately wants you to return to Destiny. It's why they give away free Strange Coins to players who have been long gone. The only problem is that 9 Strange Coins isn't a compelling reason for many players who have left the game behind in recent months. Most of these players, it turns out, have bought everything they want from Xur. New content, on the other hand, is a compelling reason.
That's where the issue rears its ugly head: nobody knows when new Destiny content is coming. Since the release of the game's third expansion, The Taken King, Bungie has completely changed how they approach their multiplayer shooter. The result is that the game, and its players, seem to have hit a wall. The game doesn't hold the same shine it used to. It has grown stale and tired, just when it seemed as if Bungie finally had figured out how to make Destiny work. It has been almost five months since Destiny received any substantial new content. New things for players to do and new items for players to acquire is the lifeblood of a game like this, but that is nowhere to be seen in the months following The Taken King.
It's a far cry from the game's original launch and the whole of 2014, when Destiny seemed on top of the gaming world. Three months after the game's original release in September of 2013 came The Dark Below, the game's first expansion. While it wasn't received all that well critically (then again, neither was Destiny), it managed to add more of what players cared about: new missions, new strikes and a new raid, along with all the new gear that came with it. In May, another expansion arrived in the form of House of Wolves. While it didn't add a new raid, it did add a new form of end-game content to keep Destiny players satisfied.
Then came The Taken King four months later, and at long last it seemed like Destiny had fulfilled its initial, lofty promises. With a massive new zone, new strikes, new raids, tons of new gear, a new leveling system and much, much more, Destiny was a brand new, and much improved, game.
But that was in September. Flash forward to January, and what players were experiencing five months ago is what they are still doing now.
What happened? Bungie's entire plan for Destiny changed. Paid expansions were out. It seems Bungie simply couldn't keep pace with releasing new content every four or five months. Instead, the developer has opted for regular free updates, while also adding paid microtransactions in the form of various cosmetic items and level boosts to make up for the lost revenue.
When the Eververse Trading Company (a.k.a. microtransaction store) launched in November, more than a few players were concerned. It was a warning sign. Those warning signs have only continued to pile up over time. Paid level boosts? Check. A "recruit a friend" initiative. Check. Bungie appeared to be scrambling to find a way to both make money without releasing new expansions while also keeping, and recruiting, new players to the game.
The free updates so far have been underwhelming. The game's Halloween update was fun enough, but it doesn't address the main issue of Bungie failing to provide new raids, strikes and gear. In December came the Sparrow Racing League, another temporary event. While it was technically new content and fun for a while, the temporary nature of the event made grinding your way through the ranks feel ultimately pointless. That this event was the big reveal at Sony's PlayStation Experience event in December was disappointing for more than a few players.
Now comes word of a Valentine's Day update that will add a new, temporary multiplayer game mode. As for what comes next? Bungie says a major update is on the way, but on the way isn't fast enough. Given that three months after the release of original Destiny players had a new raid, strike and story missions, to be now more than four months without any substantial new reason to play is hurting the game. Badly.
Destiny is all about the grind. It was when the game originally released, and it still is now, even if that grind has been lessened and improved. Games like Destiny are a treadmill, with players continually running to reach that next marker. As gamers have shown, they are more than willing to jump through a huge amount of hoops and play the same missions dozens upon dozens of times if it means an improvement to their character.
So what happens when the game's most hardcore players have already seen everything, done everything, and acquired everything they want? The treadmill stops, the player gets off and they go do something else.
That's what is happening to Destiny. Temporary events like Sparrow Racing League and the upcoming Crimson Days are fine, but they don't address the core issue of Bungie not providing what Destiny needs to stay alive: new stuff. If you're wondering just how serious the problem has become, the game's subreddit, the home of the game's most dedicated fanbase, was recently (and temporarily) renamed "Rahool's Salt Emporium" in light of Bungie's Crimson Days announcement. While it's meant to make light of a bad situation, it nonetheless highlights how negative the collective community has become in regards to Destiny's future.
The crazy thing is, players are more than willing to pay for new content. They've proved that with each of the game's previous expansions. Destiny players are craving more Destiny, but Bungie seems unable to provide it. Rumor has it that Destiny 2, which was slated for release towards the end of 2016, has now been delayed to 2017.
What will replace it at this point is uncertain. Bungie hasn't even formally announced Destiny 2 (or whatever it will be called), let alone give players an idea of new, free content to come. The lack of communication is almost as disappointing as Destiny's lack of new content. If players simply knew when to expect new strikes and raids, as they did in Destiny year one, perhaps what's happening to the game right now wouldn't be so problematic. So far, this is all players have to go on, one quote from Bungie community manager Urk:
"The first of these early 2016 experiences will be on a scale close to Festival of the Lost. The second will be far larger than anything you've seen since the release of The Taken King. There's also another significant update to the world and sandbox planned in this same window."
Bungie, however, isn't saying exactly what any of that means. Is the first of the 2016 events Crimson Days? Even though a major update is coming in the next few months, Bungie hasn't exactly explained what a "major" update is. Does that mean a new raid? A new strike? New story missions?
Nobody, perhaps not even Bungie, knows. And so Destiny, with each passing day, becomes more and more irrelevant. Given how much work went into transforming Destiny from year one to year two, to see all of the exciting new changes go nowhere thus far is disappointing. Perhaps Bungie will wow audiences at E3 this year, in the wake of releasing one of the best updates to the game yet. Maybe the developer will show the bright future that will be coming to Destiny in 2017. Teasing what is to come in another 12 months will no doubt excite some. Unfortunately, 2017 is a long ways away, and lofty promises of what's to come is hardly a reason to keep playing the game in the meantime if Bungie doesn't address the issue soon.
