After unveiling the Collector’s Edition for upcoming Destiny expansion The Taken King, long-time fans of the shooter took umbrage with Bungie’s pricing plan and how it purportedly shunted those ardent players who have been battling The Darkness since day one.
Priced at $80 in the States, the premium package opens up a wealth of in-game content new emotes and cosmetic items, while the standard asking price for the content pack has been slated at $40 – a bridge too far, in the eyes of the Destiny faithful.
In response, Bungie Community Manager David “Deej” Dague has offered an extensive response to the criticism levelled at the pricing plan, and you can check out the detailed blog post via the studio’s official forum. Here, we trimmed down to the core of Dague’s candid explanation.
“I’m catching up on a lot of conversation about The Taken King,” Deej wrote. “Please know that we’re reading this feedback and taking it as seriously – as we always do. Destiny is a great game because we worked together to make it that way over the course of the past year. That partnership has not changed.
“The real conversation here is: What are we doing to honour you, the players who have been bound to Destiny in this first year of action and adventure? I’m glad you asked. I’m going to answer in the Bungie Weekly Update. Please stay tuned.”
Alas, this isn’t the first time that questions have been asked about the value-for-money ratio in Destiny‘s post-launch content. What makes this situation all the more problematic is that The Taken King will split the user base in some respects, wherein a select few will get the exclusive items included in the Collector’s Edition and the remaining Guardians being treated to “something better.” While this doesn’t necessary impact the game long-term, it’s crucial for Bungie to ensure that skewing content in this manner doesn’t instil an underlying pay-to-win mentality.
The Taken King will launch for Destiny players on September 15.
