Its an interesting time to be a Destiny player. Infosplosions are firing off left, right and center; everyone wants a piece of the action, cats and dogs are living together, LostSols got... well... lost somewhere, and all the while many more questions remain unasked or unanswered.
I've been following the forums and social media as ardently as any of us, from Youtubers like Datto and Byf, to a dozen or so twitch streams, to media outlets and our very own beloved feedback forum: Its all been taken into account.
So without further ado, here are 10 questions guardians want to ask:
[b]1. What is going on with Etheric Light?[/b]
Is this still a thing? Are they disappearing? Changing to a new material? Cashable for Exp? The live steam seemed to suggest that Year 1 weapons continue to have the reforge option so its plausible that some earlier year 1 gear can still be ascended to the year 1 cap of 170, but that seems an awful lot of effort for non-endgame gear, particularly when that 170 is so far off the Year 2 cap. Bringing us to...
[b]2. If 170 is the new metric for the year one max value (365), that must translate to the year one level cap of level 34 - So how do we jump to 280+ in 6 more levels?[/b]
Looking at it from the posed question, it doesn't make a lot of sense. The level 25 booster Bungie is providing to reach Taken King content suggests 25 is the starting level for Taken king, meaning the year 1 cap being associated with lvl 34 guardians is no longer accurate; rather, the year one damage and armour cap is now being treated as level 25 in the new system. If you can get stuck straight into Taken King with a fresh character boost, does any year 1 gear even matter? Some additional clarity is needed here. To expand on this question....
[b]3. Why are weapon balances needed months ago happening now, just in time for those weapons to be left behind anyway?[/b]
It seems strange to weaken some of our go-to year 1 arsenal 'now' when those weapons wont be coming with us. Ghorn is a prime example here given that there is (currently) no year 2 variant. The fact that year 2 gear is being touted as outstripping our strongest year 1 arsenal within a few hours surely renders many of the 2.0 changes mute – Other than some general pvp of course.
[b]4. Will there be Gold Chests on the Dreadnought? [/b]
The Dreadnought is the first major expansion to our free-roaming experience and what do all Patrol locations have? Golden Chests. Some members of the community will roll their eyes – which is understandable given how unimpressive most gold chests rewards were – but there is a precedent here and even an expectation to have these to hunt down.
[b]5. Will there ever be a Legendary Blueprint collection?[/b]
This one is close to my heart as I'm hugely attached to my Y-09 Longbow Synthesis! The Vault expansion allows us Guardians to keep hold of precious memories and favourite guns, but we all know these guns will get a lot less play by TTK design, so will there ever be a legendary blueprint collection? It would be excellent to let guardians triple set their one-off favourites and, maybe one day, create a whole range of updated year 2 (or years beyond) variants off old classics for long time players to access.
[b]6. Why do we only get a 200 Legendary Mark wallet for our account when the current cap is 400 per character or 1,200 for all 3 combined?[/b]
The only time I really 'made a face' at the livestream and exclaimed 'really?' during the first twitch reveal was when looking at and talking about the new Legendary Marks System. Account shared? YES! No weekly cap on earnings? YES! 200 Wallet size! YE-wait, what? Currently a player will have 200 crucible marks and 200 vanguard marks as a cap per character, so a total of 400 per character or up to 1,200 for 3 characters. It seems strange to just change the icon next to the mark display and keep the same 200 cap attached to that. Currently, players regularly binge on activities and not have to worry too much about wasted earnings. This changes with all the monitoring and dipping into the tower players will have to do due to such a tiny cap (filled by THREE characters no less) which is a serious interruption of fun. A lot of us feel this wallet size needs a quick reassessment and increase.
[b]7. So that sword, lets talk about that. [/b]
We've seen it in gameplay footage, we saw it in the vault, you danced with it on your back – I think it's time to talk about it – wadaya say? ;) The idea of diving in front of some huge beam attack and blocking with that thing to save your fireteam is seriously cool.
[b]8. Will there be a 4th character slot revealed for the TTK to give valued to that lvl 25 booster that Veteran players don't need?[/b]
I feel pretty strongly about this one – We should have a 4th character slot. Its not even completely about the lvl 25 booster (wasted though it is on 3 character players), or that its something expected of an MMO experience, its about wanting the chance to experience the entirety of new destiny from start to finish – particularly with friends and players new to the game! I shouldnt have to be in a position where I have to delete my character and all the data and stats that go along with it to do this. A fourth character slot allows me to keep 1 of each character while having a 4th slot to really mess around and have fun with. Please consider this.
[b]9. Will any of these new systems or strike remixes lock out old content owners from content they have purchased the right to access?[/b]
A fairly evocative one here. Destiny has changed significantly from the first disc launch a year ago. Never the less, players who only own vanilla, or only own vanilla and 1 dlc, or only own vanilla and 2 dlcs – players who may not want to buy taken king immediately, will they be locked out of any content they deserve to be able to access? Expansions and DLC should always be sold on what it will GIVE you, not what it will TAKE AWAY if you don't upgrade. It has been a long-running injustice that game owners without the most up-to-date DLC lose access to some weekly challenges, even though the game they have paid for includes access to that content experience. If strikes are going to be taken away on top of the issues that exist with the single, mixed daily/weekly playlists, there is a very serious problem of fairness.
[b]10. Will current Endgame content: Raids, PoE and Trials of Osiris be coming with us to Year 2 Endgame?[/b]
I imagine Iron Banner will step up, as it always has – but what about the rest? Will there be year 2 variations of Raids, Osiris and Prison of Elders? In turn, that would mean year 2 versions of a lot of guns and armour? A new version of Corrective Measure would make me a happy Guardian ;) If some of this content isnt joining the new endgame – most likely the raids – then how seriously will desire to play them be impacted? Given the difference in Year 1 cap and Year 2 cap and the unknown speed at which players will hit level 40 through experience.
[b]BONUS QUESTION! Will there be any new Trophies/Achievements (Xbox or PS) to hunt down given that this is a disc release?[/b]
Those trophy/grimoire hunters among our ranks are looking forward to new Dead ghosts and grimoire to hunt down, but what about trophies?
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Of course, there are plenty of other questions, you need only look down the trending front page to know that; but the questions posed here present a good mix of regular customers and under-represented enquiries; So I'll stop the clock and declare 'End Turn' for this round.
Bungie, Guardians: your move.