Let's talk about This Week at Bungie: May 7, 2020

Greetings, Guardians. It’s Thursday, May 7, 2020, which means it’s time for another This Week at Bungie. The developer has spoken about Eververse, the hottest topic in the game for quite some time, and I’m going to weigh in on what was said and what players can expect. Let’s dive in.

Guardians vs Eververse

After months of begging for some transparency and change to the way Bungie handles microtransactions in Destiny 2, Bungie took some time today to weigh in. Luke Smith outlined a laundry list of changes to the way players will earn rewards, alleviating some of the tension from the dominance of Eververse.

Luke Smith is saying all the right things here, but that’s not a rare thing for Bungie. They are particularly good at the PR game when they do speak. Not so good when they let things boil over while ignoring cries for transparency. What speaks to me the most here, though, is the last sentence. A strong closing that they will fix the rewards in Destiny is promising.

Check out a detailed list of fixes below:

Vanity and Accessory (Ships, Ghosts & Sparrows) Changes

We will be adding a Transmogrification feature to Destiny 2.

• This will allow players to turn their Armor into Universal Ornaments.
• We plan to allow players to do this with in-game effort OR Silver.
• This feature is in early development and is expected sometime during Year 4.

Each Season we will deliver an aspirational pursuit for armor. We haven’t done this consistently in Destiny 2.

• This armor will come from activities, not the Season Pass nor Eververse.
• As an example: We removed the Eververse Armor from Season 11 and itemized it into an aspirational activity, because this is the right thing to do for the game.

We are improving the rewards for Aspirational Activities (Raids, Trials, Dungeons)

• Going forward, Aspirational Activities will reward players with power, items, and vanity.
• When we build an Aspirational Activity it will have at least one accessory to pursue.
• The team is working on Adept Weapons for Trials of Osiris.
• Trials will get new Armor (aka not reprisal), accessories, and weapons in Season 13.
• Trials will get new Armor every year.
• Destiny’s next Raid will have brand new Armor, Weapons, and Exotic Accessories to pursue (no spoilers).

Beginning in Season 12, we will no longer be selling ships, ghost shells, sparrows, or armor ornaments in Eververse that are visually based on themes from Aspirational Activities.

• We are not planning on changing existing items as that is time we could be spending on itemizing the future.

Core Playlist Rewards changes (Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible)

We are adding a new set of Armor for the core playlists (Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible).

• This armor shares a set of new geometry, with decals and shaders specific to the activity.
• We will create new sets like this each Year (e.g., Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, etc.)
• This set will arrive alongside the next Expansion.

Starting in Season 12, we are adding a new Pursuit Weapon each Season.

• This weapon can be earned by playing your preferred Core playlist.
• This weapon will have activity-specific Legendary Skins that can be unlocked in each playlist.

We will no longer be selling new Legendary Weapon Ornaments in Eververse

Dust and Engrams

We are making it easier for you to earn Bright Dust.

• We will be moving away from character-specific ways to earn Bright Dust and more toward Account-specific paths.
• This change is geared toward giving one-character players significantly more Bright Dust than they earn today.

We’re updating the Bright Engram to be more relevant than it is today.

• The earned Bright Engram in the Season Pass will be updated to include various Year 3 Eververse items previously sold for Silver and Bright Dust. And going forward, that Bright Engram will update each Season to include Eververse items from 3+ seasons prior.

Armor and Ornaments

I love that they led with transmogrification. At some point in Year 4, which is a long way off, Guardians will be able to turn existing armor into universal ornaments. Finally, I will be able to use my favorite armor in the game, the Woven Firesmith Black Armory Hunter armor, as an ornament. Ada-1 forever, Guardians. Making this a reality will either require me to work for it in-game or spend Silver. Invest your time or your money, Guardian.

Bungie will also introduce new armor each season that Guardians can earn from aspirational activities in the game, moving it away from the season pass and Eververse. This change will begin in Season 11, which is the next season for those that maybe stepped away from the game and lost track. For you, the player, this means that you’ll be able to earn armor each season instead of contemplate grinding for it in the season pass or spending your hard-earned money on it in Eververse.

Staying on the topic of armor, each year there will be new armor introduced for the core playlists in the game, including Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible. Keep in mind this is a once a year thing, so you’ll get a new set for each activity starting in Year 4, and then again in Year 5.

Ships, Ghosts, and Sparrows

Players will be happy to know that Bungie will be filling the game with Ships, Ghosts, and Sparrows that players can earn in the activities they play. Expect to find more of these things in activities like Raids, Trials, and even dungeons that are introduced. In a nutshell, you might actually have a reason to grind through some of these activities for more than a month after they’re released.

Big guns

Moving to weapons, starting in Season 12 (about four months away) there will be a new pursuit weapon each season. This, however, will be earned in your preferred playlist. If you don’t want to grind Strikes for it, you can grab it in Gambit, or in Crucible. The choice is yours. This weapon will also have activity-specific skins, meaning you get to rock the skin that you earned in your playlist of choice.

About Bright Dust

Finally, Luke Smith touched on Bright Dust and Bright Engrams, informing players that they would move away from character-specific ways to earn Bright Dust and make the process account based. This will give one-character players more Bright Dust, so basically everyone since nobody has time to grind three these days.

The Bright Engram is getting a few tweaks as well. It will now include Year 3 Eververse items that were sold for both Silver and Bright Dust. This means that if you don’t want to buy that nifty emote for real cash, you can wait it out and possibly get it to drop from a Bright Engram in the season pass.

Returning to the Tower

Now, there are two things worth noting if you read between the lines this week. First is that Bungie talks about Year 4 of Destiny 2 several times, which heavily suggests (if not confirms) there will be no Destiny 3 this year. Unless of course they are calling it Year 4 to keep Destiny 3 a secret for a big reveal in the future. My money is on Destiny 2 continuing into Year 4, though. I don’t think any of us are surprised.

Secondly, there is also mention that the core playlists will have revamped rewards. New rewards will be introduced at the beginning of each year. Smith then states that these core playlists will get their revamped rewards alongside the next expansion. By saying core rewards will be updated at the start of each year, then saying this initiative will launch with the next expansion, it connects the next expansion with the launch of Year 4. This suggests the next expansion for the game will kick off in early September, which will be the start of Year 4.

Overall, I like what I’m hearing. If Bungie pulls off what they aim to, they are killing two birds with one stone. Eververse is OP, while gameplay rewards have been nerfed into the ground. By dialing back on Eververse and allowing players to earn more rewards, they address two concerns and shift the balance back the way it should have been all along.

Join me next Thursday when we dive into the next TWAB and do this all again. Until then, though, check out our Destiny 2 strategy guide. You’ll be glad you did.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.