Remember shaders in the original Destiny? They were cosmetic items that you could apply to you character's armour, changing its colours whenever you liked. You could use shaders as many times as you needed, equipping them and replacing them to suit your style. That's no longer the case in Destiny 2.
We're really enjoying Destiny 2 as noted in our hands on impressions of the game so far, but this new shader system is a complete mess. Why does it have to be this way? Well, it's probably because of the sequel's expanded suite of microtransactions.
The old, easy-to-use and manage shader system has been replaced with something that's best described as a farce. In Destiny 2, shaders are single-use items that colour only one piece of equipment. That alone seems like a maddening step backwards, but it gets even worse when you consider that you can obtain shaders from bright engrams -- Destiny 2's version of randomised loot boxes that can also be purchased with real money.
As you'd expect, much of the Destiny community is currently up in arms about this -- and rightly so, as far as we're concerned. It wouldn't be quite so bad but for the fact that the first Destiny had a shader system that worked perfectly fine. The bottom line, at least from where we're sitting, is that the previous system has been butchered in order to bolster the appeal of Destiny 2's bright engram microtransactions.
It's a blemish on an otherwise great game (based on what we've played so far), and we're holding out hope that Activison and Bungie see sense.
[source reddit.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 40
Apologies to those of you who have already read the hands on preview of Destiny 2 and therefore know about this issue already, but I think it's a stink worthy of its own article.
Ya I can totally agree that the shader system in D2 is really unfair compared to D1 as sometimes I like to switch back and forth thru the colors I like depending on my mood. But now I may have to pay actual money to be able to do that? I hope none of you actually pay them money to do that so they realize how ridiculous it is to pay money to change a color of your armor is.
Couldn't care less but this kind of stuff never really bugs me in any game I play. On balance it's such a small issue. Shame so many people will focus on it though. Oh well!
This sounds very F2P
Worse still, is doesn't Destiny 2 give cooldowns and stat buffs via microtransactions too? Now that's definitely wrong.
@BLP_Software on gear up to level 20. At that point you can also buy those buffs from vendors for easily obtainable in game items. So for anyone playing the end game it's not really any difference.
And anyway, this stuff is never a disadvantage if you play PvE enemy anyway. All it means is a guy you might walk past in the wild has more powerful gear. Big whoop.
@kyleforrester87 Isn't there PVP?
My issue is, regardless of how long it is for, it incentivises having some players be disadvantaged, simply through money.
@1eyedlink @ShogunRok besides being totally cosmetic, and besides 95% of the time you being in first-person and can't actually see your armor colour - in 2 months we'll all have piles of shaders using up space, no? Seems like a launch-week-only-first-world-problem that doesn't affect game balance???
@BLP_Software so when the PC version drops will everyone have to have the same graphics card so the ones "with money" don't get a FPS advantage?
I get it, no microtransactions would be better. But let's keep it in context. Destiny does a LOT right.
@kyleforrester87 Its a gameplay advantage. Graphics, outside of FPS, don't give you an advantage. But this is paying for buffs to your character directly within the game, not the hardware playing the game.
@BLP_Software and ones okay and the other isn't becauuuse... because nothing really lol.
Fact is, none of it makes any real world difference to anyone, and it's a shame people get so bogged down in it. Anyway I'm off to play some more Destiny
I wish the gaming community would stand together and boycott ALL micro-transactions in ALL paid for games. However there is always going to some 'rich' kids with more money than sense that will pay 10x or more the cost of the game to have that 'cool' looking armour colour or stupid 'emote'. Along with those 'youtubers' who want to make video's of opening 'hundreds' of these and feign excitement over getting 'legendary or exotic' cosmetics.
I know in some games, you can 'earn' some form of currency to get these - eventually but these are incredibly unlikely that some will never see them - even with hundreds or thousands of hours.
I much preferred the old way where even Camo's were rewarded for completing certain challenges. If someone had a gold camo on a weapon, you knew they had 'earned' that - not got lucky in loot box or spent £100's to buy it....
It takes away incentives and enjoyment. Wearing 'Glohoo' for example signified you had beating the 'hardest' content Destiny offered at that time.
@BAMozzy I'm with ya on this one man. The only extra monetisation I agree with is DLC that's worthwhile and is announced once the game has at least gone Gold.
@BAMozzy Well said.
@BLP_Software Graphics cards give you a much bigger advantage - and in a competitive environment - than these, which as @kyleforrester87 pointed out only really help for the first solo pve portion of the game.
@Mega-Gazz I'm talking about the microtransactions that get you cooldown reductions and stat increases. Not these cosmetic ones.
@Mega-Gazz My main problem with this is that even if we disregard the other microtransaction stuff, the shader system that was perfectly fine in the first game has been taken apart for no good reason (that I can see) other than to make money.
It's more about purposefully damaging an aspect of the game's design (big or small) in order to make it serve a different purpose. That just doesn't sit well with me.
@ShogunRok I basically agree with that, but on the other hand I don't begrudge other people making a profit, and games are a very competitive industry.
(Yes, activision is doing just fine, I know)
@BLP_Software I agree on the whole with that too. I get that some games - like CoD, BF etc are 'expected' to have a DLC season with extra MP maps and I have no issue with these offering a 'season pass' in its 'special editions' and even announce these before a game has gone Gold. There is a 'historic' precedence in these and often, they would need to announce their plans before a game has gone gold or even before a 'beta' for those who may want to pre-order.
I don't have an issue with these at all. That 'Historic Precedence' also gives us an indication of what to expect - both from the season of DLC as well as the base game content. Its difficult to argue that 'maps' have been cut from the base game for DLC when the content hasn't dropped over the years - a similar map count, similar campaign length, similar co-op content etc.
SP content can be difficult to quantify. Some may only add a few hours of story in an area we already accessed - not just Destiny but the first Witcher 3 DLC was all in an area we had from the main game - not criticising - also felt that some of the 'free DLC' was 'cut' from the game for that purpose too - although not an 'issue' so much as they did give it to you for free but I did think it was more a PR stunt.
What I find more annoying is Micro-transaction. Removing aspects - like customisation which was linked to 'rewards', like Camos, armour or clothing and the 'colour' of it, that were given for completing certain challenges. What makes these micro-transactions worse though is the RNG. If they were to sell a 'camo' for example, there is no way someone would pay £50 or more for it. However, because its now behind a 'random' loot drop, the chances of getting the 'cosmetic' item you want is so limited - so people spend the odd £5 here, £10 there and then end spending over £50 for that item they wanted - only for these companies to then add more and more stuff you prefer. If you didn't get the 'camo' you wanted before then, the increased 'junk' they keep putting in these, reduces the chances you have of getting the stuff you may of wanted.
From my perspective, if they sold these separately and you could buy what you actually wanted, I would be willing to pay a few £'s here and there extra to get some - still think they should have in game cosmetic rewards for completing challenges - like Gold Camo or Gloohoo Shader. I also think the 'highest' tier challenges should reward the highest quality camo's/shaders etc. Not look worse than a random or purchasable one. These should be the best as only those that 'earned' them should feel proud to wear them - not disappointed that some 'noob' with more money has the best looking cosmetics. Now I won't spend anything on Random loot boxes.
I am not adverse to a few 'cosmetic only' micro-transactions as long as they sold outright - not behind some Random generator. If they are 'good enough' to buy, but not better than the highest rewards in game, then I think that's OK. People can buy exactly what they want - if they want - like BO2 did with their Weapon Camo's. I would like to see them try and sell these at more than the cost of a game but people will still spend that and more. Its no different from 'gambling' - except the reward is completely valueless compared to gambling - at least you may make a profit some times...
@Mega-Gazz Yeah, that's the point where it gets even more muddy, really. At the end of the day Destiny 2 exists to make money, but as customers I think we have to call stuff like this out as anti-consumer, at least on some level.
And then when you consider that Destiny 2 is a fully priced retail game with various collector's editions and a season pass... I start to find it harder and harder to defend stuff like this. If all of that's not making enough of a profit for Activision, then something's well out of whack.
The shader system is a improvement over Destiny for the fact that you can now shader each piece of armour, ship, sparrow etc. Over Destinys one shader for all your armour now you can make your Gardian even more unique, the only problem is a shader has one use. But your given a lot of shaders just by playing, i've just reached level 20 and have quite a few shaders. I'm using them on the amour i'll be keeping like legendary armour.
I personally like the new shader system apart from being one use, but like i said above thay are not rare. Microtransactions shouldn't really be in a full RRP AAA game anyway, but obviously people are buying them so thay are here to stay no matter how much you hate them. But in Destiny 2 these Microtransactions don't affect gameplay so it isn't as of a big deal, especially towards Paragon that has added Microtransactions that directly affects gameplay but you don't see articles on this.
Full priced game + season pass(es) + microtransactions = unethical. Why should Destiny 2 get a pass when other games don't? Because people put 1000+ hours into the games? That's a mite shortsighted and for a franchise that is as huge as Destiny it's disconcerting to think that this game will most likely have a considerable impact on the industry.
In short I applaud anyone that takes issue with things like this. It's very conscientious, and takes into account differing perspectives on a pretty serious matter.
When the companies that make the products we enjoy become anti-consumer or toxic to their fans they usually fail. Just look at Marvel and the state of the comics industry right now.
On the one hand, this does really bother me, because I liked being able to chop and change shaders on a total whim; even if it served no actual functional purpose, it was nice to be able to switch up colour schemes with sub-classes and different loadouts. Having to commit to one colour scheme per item is, to say the least, disheartening; and I find the practice of doing so to retrofit the game around a loot box economy disgusting for obvious reasons.
On the other hand, I think people should take into account the following - a lot of the complaints surrounding Destiny 2, and the way Bungie/Acti have chosen to monetise it, focus on this one incredibly baffling change. I'd consider that to be a positive in the grand scheme, especially when other big upcoming games cough cough shadow of war cough have actual "pay to win" mechanics in their microtransactions.
@Mega-Gazz Here's the kicker; you'll probably have to buy extra shader space for your inventory
@BAMozzy "Along with those 'youtubers' who want to make video's of opening 'hundreds' of these and feign excitement over getting 'legendary or exotic' cosmetics."
Thank God for those dumb youtubers, I got a random skirt from a crate in Playerunknown's battlegrounds and sold it for $200!
Here is Luke Smith (game director) commenting on it:
https://twitter.com/thislukesmith/status/905863339103838208
Not a huge deal, it is a joke. I've not paid anything and already have 21 shaders.
Although now not being able to change my shaders whenever I like, that p*sses me off a whole lot.
Look. I've briefly played the game. I finished the story, have done about 4 strikes and a dozen or so public events. Maybe 14 hours of play time. In that time I accumulated 53 shaders. 53! If you put time into this game you WILL be flush in shaders. No doubt about it.
I'm still undecided on the new system, but it's just not THAT big of a deal. AND I actually prefer being able to shade each item individually - including guns!
I find it sad that people say it doesn't matter or it's not a big deal,imo because of people like that gaming is in this trouble that it is now with microtranactions instead of boycotting this devs and microtransactions people aren't doing anything what's even worse is the attitude of “if you don’t like it, don’t buy it” has risen to astonishing levels among the gaming community,but that's not the point though and publishers know this.
The fact is that when you pay for a product, you should get that product. You don’t buy a car then pay extra to get the tyres inflated as an optional extra
You don’t watch a movie, only to have a character scene taken out because “it’s not essential”.
Games as a medium are built on making the experience your own. What separates games from movies is the fact that you can experience a game how you choose. By saying that these customisable options aren’t essential, you’re effectively undermining the point of video games.
At the end of it all if we don't do another gamergate against the devs this time,they will never listen and we will be getting games that that have more cut content and later re released as dlc or microtransactions...Pick your poison
@ShogunRok But its so easy you want them to go away dont buy them. People scream that its a rippoff still somehow the developers get enough money out of it to keep doing it. So the market says it is ok somehow because the sales of microtransactions keep going up.
@Hapuc Why boycot the developer just dont buy microtransactions. And not all DLC is a rippoff. If you get a big game and after that they sell you another piece of good DLC i dont see it as a rippoff. Back in the Days it was called part 2.
@SwitchGlitch In free games they do belong they need to make money somehow. 😀 😁 😂 🤣
@Constable_What I do agree but people keep buying so who are the idiots. Just stop buying it and stops if not have fun with microtransactions and bad DLC.
@Flaming_Kaiser At the very least people should stop defending practices like this. It IS a big deal! This year we have seen an alarming increase in full priced games that have season passes and microtransactions, and it is showing no signs of slowing. This is something the majority of gamers don't particularly like, but simply deal with it by not buying, or saying they aren't buying, the microtransactions.
How long until they gate story, simple mechanics (sprint, jump, attack), or graphics settings behind a pay wall? Sound ridiculous? What if I traveled back in time to the late 90's and told someone that you could pay to speed up your experience in game, or pay to be stronger, or have an advantage against the 2P in a fighting game? That person would think I was crazy! Well in 2017 it hasn't just happened it has been happening for going on 10 years!
It's time to stop!
I mean, If you play the game your are literally drowning in shaders by the end of the campaign, plus you can get them from free by dismantling sparrows to get Brightdust, sure its a bit rubbish they have changed the system, but its not a game breaker, at least its not Shadow of War and their actual pay to win loot system
I don't care much about shaders. I liked them in D1, but now I just scrap them for glimmer and bright...er...stuff and then trade 'em for something different with Triss.
@Flaming_Kaiser
That answer right there is why I say that the biggest problem is when people say don't buy it that's not the point if i give 60$ for a game i expect everything to be there,not microtransactions that are becoming so intrusive it's insane.
And if you want for microtransactions to be there then all the game should be F2p because Destiny 2 right now is not worth 60$ and all of us already know that there will be 6-7 parts of dlc content so buying games is not viable anymore since you don't get anything anymore all a guy that can do now is wait for few years for GOTY or Complete version of the game to come out and buy it (if there are any players left by then to play with)
I'm surprised Luke Smith hasn't come out and say that players should be throwing their money at their screens, yet.
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