In-game microtransactions have always been a testy topic, so it's no surprise that Bungie is in hot water just a day after introducing the Eververse Trading Company where players can purchase a series of emotes.
The controversy stems from a new discovery made by a number of players who decided to dig into Destiny's Update 2.0.1 and found several consumable items that would offer significant bonuses to players who purchased them. Most damning of all is the discovery of King's Fall raid drop buffs, which would boost the armor and weapon drops, giving rise to fears that Destiny is turning into a pay-to-win title.
But Luke Smith, creative director of Destiny: The Taken King, has taken to Twitter to swiftly assuage those fears and deny that Bungie ever planned to ask for money in exchange for drop rate buffs.
We aren't (nor are we planning) on selling consumables that buff King's Fall drop rates for Silver.
— Luke Smith (@thislukesmith) October 14, 2015
In a separate post on NeoGAF, Smith also says the original plan was to have a different NPC (non-play character) sell the drop raid buffs for a different currency that is not Silver. However, the bugs apparently forced the buffs to be removed even before The Taken King was launched.
"The Valorous/Heuristic/Indomitable Light were Three of Coins-like buffs sold by the Speaker for Motes + Planetary Materials," Smith says. "(I honestly don't remember exactly what they cost [but it was never Silver] I can't keep the entire economy in my head) but for bug-related reasons they were removed. They were also - as has been pointed out - in the data files before TTK shipped."
However, not all players are appeased by Bungie's response. Some point out that while Smith addressed the rumors about the drop raid buffs, his omission of other consumable items that were also data-mined is telling of what the developer has in store for the future of microtransactions.
Other items unearthed include "starter pack" level boosters that would take a player to level 25, boosters that fully level a subclass and temporary experience buffs from killing enemies.
While some players have pointed out that level boosters are pretty common in MMORPGs - World of Warcraft, for instance, boosts players' gear, food and experience in exchange for money - others are not totally convinced that Destiny is limiting microtransactions to cosmetics.
"Who here has grinded to level 25 and fully levelled your subclasses wants someone to come along and obtain a level 25 character with a fully levelled subclass and several telemetries INSTANTLY?" complains one particularly riled up player on the Bungie forums. "This shouldn't be acceptable."
"Luke Smith has only commented about the Raid," says another. "A specific choice of words there. That doesn't rule out any future raid or other in-game activity. Bungie, having introduced these will engage in 'creep' to slowly expand what you can buy."
"I'm sorry Bungie, but I have a lot of understanding of businesses, and I get it," chimes in a third one. "You need to earn money whilst working on the next installment. But this is not the way, at least, not one that positively influences your franchise. I constantly played Destiny, but I feel I'm ready to slowly let it go. New awesome games are coming. We had a great run."
