This is a compilation of many of the ideas for glimmer sinks submitted by the community as well as my own. I will be updating this every so often. I would like go on record saying that these are only the ideas I support, so if your idea isn't here I either haven't seen it or I thought it was too unbalanced. Now on to business, there's really not much of a use for glimmer at the moment. It is quite easy to hit the 25,000 max, and it feels like a waste to have it sitting there. I realize that glimmer sinks are not a high priority issue compared to what else is being worked on, but I'd like to record the communities ideas for future reference.
1. [b]Create a "faction" based on philanthropy.[/b] Rather than promoting political goals this faction lets you directly help the common people. After all they are the ones you're fighting for. The only way to level up this faction would be to donate glimmer and materials. Rather than give you weapons and armor this faction would reward you with cosmetic items like shaders and emblems, and consumable items like ammo syntheses or a bribe destiny item (see below)
2. [b]Vanguard funded objectives.[/b] So far guardians seem like henchmen for other factions rather than a force in their own right. The Vanguard are supposed to be the leaders of the guardians, but so far their purpose just seems to be preparing guardians to join a different faction. Allow The Vanguard to propose objectives (anything from putting a pool in the tower to establishing a beachhead on the moon) that could funded by guardians pledging glimmer and materials. This would make The Vanguard more awesome, give the community the feeling that they are having an impact on the world, and by seeing what does and does not get funded it would show you what the community is interested in.
3. [b]Add a bribe destiny mechanic.[/b] Allow players to purchase a consumable item from The Speaker that increases the drop chance of rare, legendary, and exotic items and materials. A lore friendly way of explaining the effect could be something like "The Traveler favors those who show their devotion. May its light shine upon you, and guide you to success". Feel free to make it ridiculously expensive to balance it out.
4.[b]Improve shopkeepers.[/b] So far only the Gunsmith, the Cryptarch, Eva Levante, and the Shipwright provide items that can be bought with glimmer, and their selection is pretty bad. All they ever seem to have is white and green level items. Expanding their selections to higher rarities would provide a glimmer sink, but may make it too easy to obtain high level items. Perhaps adding an investment/bribe mechanic would balance it out.They would only offer you higher level items after donating enough glimmer/materials, or by completing specific tasks for them. Resources must be very valuable considering humanity has only one city left. It makes sense that the shopkeepers would only offer higher level items to those who show their support in return.
5.[b]Commission a shader or emblem.[/b] Add the option to request a commission from Eva Levante for a substantial amount of glimmer. After a certain amount of time a random shader or emblem would be mailed to you. This would help diversify the shaders and emblems available to players, and would fix the fact that she really doesn’t have much to offer as a shopkeeper.
6.[b]Donate to a Faction.[/b] A guardian could donate a certain amount of glimmer to a faction to increase their reputation. If you want people to like you giving them money is a good start, and don't see why this option wasn't included in the first place. Though I would omit this option for event factions like the Iron Banner and the Queens Wrath.
7.[b]All or Nothing PvP Option.[/b] Either make a separate game mode or add an option to the existing ones where each guardian has to contribute glimmer to a pot. At the end of the game the winning team has the glimmer split between them, or in the case of the rumble mode the winner takes it all. On a side note, I think this would tie in great with the Iron Banner mode. They are all about being the best, and the best deserve a reward.
-Version 2 edit- The following ideas were pulled from similar posts. The original poster is cited at the end and deserves full credit.
8.[b]Increase Vault Capacity.[/b] A guardian could pay The Vanguard for more storage space in their vault. People like to collect things, and this seems like a pretty simple idea to add into the game. 5 to 10k seems like a reasonable amount for an additional slot. - Credit to CrimsonJawa for this idea
9.[b]Exotic Shaders from Xur.[/b] Include an exotic shader in Xur's weekly lineup. It could be purchased for 25k glimmer. -Credit to Poppa for this idea.
10.[b]Glimmer to Coins.[/b] A guardian could purchase strange coins for glimmer from either The Speaker or The Vanguard. 25k per coin would probably be expensive enough to still keep exotics reasonable difficult to obtain -Credit to TieaMiea for the idea.
11.[b]Temporary Ammo Buffs for PvP.[/b] You could purchase temporary buff from the Lord Shaxx or Arcite 99-40. For a semi-large glimmer fee you could start out with increased special or heavy ammo for 10 games. 10k to start out with increased special weapons ammo, and 20k to start out with a clip of heavy ammo. Note- these buffs only apply at the start of the match not every time you respawn. They would also not apply to tournaments or event type matches such as the Iron Banner. Honestly not sure how I feel about this one, but then again I stick mainly to PvE. - Credit goes to WREKTEM for this idea.
Side Notes-
[b]Increase Glimmer Cap.[/b] While not really a glimmer sink I thought that it deserved a mention. A higher glimmer cap would obviously allow guardians to carry more glimmer, and this would allow higher prices on any of the above ideas in order to keep them balanced.
[b]More Consumables.[/b] I have found several posts with guardians expressing their desire for a wider variety of consumables, but no specific ideas were mentioned. I approve of this idea, but it will remain in the Side Notes until someone comes up with something specific. The Halloween consumables were on the right track, but having more non-event consumables that could be found/bought at anytime would be nice. More consumables would require larger inventory space, and whether a consumable is restricted to PvE or PvP must also be considered.
[b]A Note to Bungie[/b] I've noticed that you guys have been getting a lot of hate on the forums, but I want you to know that you're doing great. MMOs are all about the long haul, and I know that with time you guys will make this into something amazing.
Have questions, comments, criticism, or ideas of your own? Post them below, and please - keep it constructive.
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Good ideas, all. I especially like the bribe and the commission ideas