Bungie en dan met name Destiny 2 hebben eind vorig jaar veel kritiek te verduren gekregen. Zo was de Curse of Osiris uitbreiding te beperkt in content, sloot het onnodig spelers buiten en ook op Eververse kwam enorm veel kritiek, omdat het microtransacties zou stimuleren.

Het geluid dat de community heeft laten horen is gelukkig opgevangen door de ontwikkelaar. Zo gaven ze eind november vorig jaar al aan dat ze een aantal ingrijpende veranderingen zouden doorvoeren met een tweetal updates. Die updates zijn inmiddels beschikbaar gesteld, maar hoe ziet 2018 er uit?

Hierover heeft Bungie nu duidelijkheid gegeven in een blogpost door te beginnen met wat spelers krijgen als ze betalen voor content, wat men gratis krijgt en waar de microtransacties uit bestaan. Het schema hieronder geeft duidelijk aan wat de stand van zaken is en hoe Destiny 2 op termijn qua nieuwe content ingericht zal worden.

Faction Rallies komen terug op 16 januari en Iron Banner keert terug op 30 januari.

Eververse

De balans zal worden aangepast, waardoor het meer in het voordeel van activiteit beloningen komt te liggen. Kortom, als je Bright Engrams opwaardeert is de kans groter dat je mooie beloningen krijgt. De service zal niet verdwijnen, maar de dominantie neemt af. De drie belangrijkste veranderingen zijn als volgt:

  • We’re shifting the balance of new content in favor of activity rewards over Bright Engrams. This includes adding Ghosts, Sparrows, and ships (to date found only in Bright Engrams) to achievement reward pools.
  • We’ll provide a gameplay path to earn Bright Engrams and all contained rewards (including Event Engrams).
  • We’ll give players more direct purchase options and make adjustments to Bright Engrams to allow players to get the items they want more often.

Crimson Days

Het Crimson Days evenement zal op 13 februari beginnen en als je Nightfall, Raid en Crimson Days milestones weet te voltooien, krijg je een exclusieve legendarische emote, wapenskin en een exotische Sparrow.

  • Players will earn double engrams at level-up: one Crimson Engram and one Illuminated Engram for the duration of the event.
  • Crimson Engrams can also drop from completing the Crimson Days match and from completing the Crimson Days milestone on each character.
  • Each Crimson Engram is very strongly weighted to new rewards when decrypted until all new event items have been obtained.

Roadmap voor 2018

Als laatste maakte Bungie nog bekend wat ze van plan zijn met de game in het komende jaar. Voor nu zijn de updates van januari en februari aardig duidelijk, daarna is het wat meer troebel omdat Bungie geen loze verwachtingen wil creëren. Ook gaven ze aan dat bepaalde zaken op termijn alsnog kunnen veranderen, maar voor nu is het onderstaande hetgeen wat men in 2018 van plan is.

Januari update

Masterwork Armor

  • We are expanding the Masterwork system to include armor.
  • Masterwork Armor provides increased damage reduction while using your Super.
  • You can reroll the armor stat type on Masterwork Armor, and similar to Masterwork weapons, you can upgrade a piece of armor to Masterwork by spending Masterwork Cores and Legendary Shards.

Raid Reward Rework

  • We are updating Raid rewards to make them more unique and interesting. They will now feature mods with Raid-specific perks, and we are adjusting the rewards to ensure a Raid item drops from each major encounter. The Raid vendor will also directly sell Leviathan and Eater of Worlds armor and weapons for purchase with Raid tokens and Legendary Shards.
  • We are also adding a new Ghost with Raid-specific perks that has a chance to drop from the Leviathan and Eater of Worlds final encounters. We intend to return to creating more Raid and other activity-unique rewards in the future.

Februari update

Strike Scoring + High Score Tracking

  • Strike Scoring is coming to Nightfall and replacing the current time limit mechanic. The scoring is similar to the Destiny 1 system but with adjustments to emphasize competitive execution of Strike objectives and support for player selectable score modifiers. In February, Nightfall High Scores will be exposed in-game via new emblems and will unlock rewards. We also have plans for Clan and Community High Scores in the works.

    • Mods 2.0

  • Work is underway on a full rework of armor and weapon mods. This will focus on reducing redundant mods, more unique theming, and greatly increasing their impact on your power. We are aiming for a February release, but the scope of the rework could push parts or all of it out to early spring. We will be evaluating how Mods play into the Bright Engram economy as a result, because we’re sensitive to pay-to-win outcomes.

    • Quickplay Improvements

  • We are adjusting game mode rules to increase the pace of gameplay and power ammo acquisition in Quickplay.

    • Exotic Repetition Reduction

  • This will prevent players from receiving the same Exotic twice in a row. You may still receive duplicates, just not consecutively.

    • Fireteam Members on Destination Map

  • You will finally be able to see the other members of your fireteam on the destination map. No more having to ask your fireteam where they went when they fast travel to another landing zone.

Lente 2018

Crucible

  • We want to give players new reasons to play, more variety, and balance improvements. Spring will bring a number of exciting and long awaited features to the Crucible.

Crucible Rank

  • Beginning with Season 3 we will introduce Seasonal Crucible Ranks. There will be two different ranks for players to pursue:
    • Valor – A progression rank that goes up as you complete matches. Winning helps you move up faster, but there are no loss penalties.
    • Glory – A progression rank that goes up when you win and down when you lose. Performance is how you move up here.

Private Matches

  • Private Matches are coming to all players of Destiny 2. Players will be able to invite their friends to play on the map and mode of their choosing.

    • 6v6 Playlist

  • We’re bringing 6v6 PvP to Destiny 2 in addition to the current 4v4 game modes.

    • Mayhem Event

  • Mayhem will return as a limited-time event during Season 3 and going forward.

    • Additional Fixes

  • We are making some changes to make quitting less common and behind-the-scenes security improvements to help improve the overall Crucible experience.

Overige

Weapon and Ability Balance Pass

  • Sandbox adjustments based on player feedback and data from the live game. The Sandbox team will share specific changes as we lead up to Season 3.

    • Exotic Weapon and Armor Balance Pass

  • Exotic weapons and armor are receiving a comprehensive design pass to ensure they stand out from the rest of the gear and offer new, exciting, powerful ways to play.

    • Seasonal Reputation

  • Specific vendors will now display a Seasonal ranking. Earning reputation will unlock unique Seasonal rewards and will reset each Season.

    • Improved Iron Banner and Faction Rallies

  • In addition to the changes that you will see when Iron Banner and Faction Rallies return this month, we will continue iterating on these to make them unique, exciting experiences that you all look forward to.

    • Playlist Repetition Reduction

  • This feature solves the problem of experiencing the same playlist entry multiple times in consecutive or frequent succession for both Crucible and Strikes.

    • End Game Player Pursuits

  • We agree with your feedback on the imbalance between Achievement and Bright Engram rewards, and we will be making adjustments to shift more rewards into specific endgame pursuits instead of generic XP grinding for Bright Engrams. We are excited to share the details as soon as we have them worked out.

    • Multi-Emote

  • When multi-emote launches, you will be able to choose which emote you have equipped to each of your four emote slots.

    • Vault space

  • We are targeting an additional 50 slots to player vaults. We don’t believe just adding more space is a complete solution and are actively working on other changes to reduce load on your vault space.
  • We are adding an Exotic accessory tab to Vault collections so you will no longer need to spend Vault space on Exotic Ships, Sparrows, and Ghosts.

    • Heroic Strike Changes

  • We’ll be introducing modifiers to add more gameplay variety to the experience.

Najaar 2018 (of eerder)

  • tem Collections and Records
  • Weapon Slot and Archetype Improvements
  • Additional Crucible Playlists (e.g. Rumble)
  • Better Clan Rewards
  • Masterwork Exotics
  • Pinnacle Weapon and Gear Improvements
  • Trials of the Nine improvements
  • Shaders and dismantling
  • The Future of Guided Games
  • Address Solo Vs Fireteam matching