Bungie updates Destiny 2's microtransaction system, adds Prismatic Matrixes (package gachas)

Nirolak · May 4, 2018

I know a lot of people are very big on discussing changes to this kind of stuff.

The short version is that they added Package Gacha so you can get more items and less dupes (...and have an incentive to burst spend to get a guaranteed item).

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Prismatic Matrix

In the January Development Update, we spoke of shifting the balance of vanity content in favor of activity rewards, rather than purely through Eververse. We first addressed this balance by adding vanity rewards to Crucible, Nightfall, strike, and raid activities. To further improve the overall Eververse experience, a new feature we're calling the Prismatic Matrix will debut in Season 3. This feature has been developed with three key goals in mind:

Give players more control over how they earn Eververse items
Offer a more predictable path each week that guarantees access to specific items
Drop fewer duplicate items

At release, the Prismatic Matrix will feature 10 Eververse items from Season 3 each week it is active. Each item within the Prismatic Matrix is on a knockout list, which means every player is guaranteed to receive all featured items for a given week by the tenth activation. Earning items via Bright Engrams, Bright Dust, or previous Matrix activations will also knock rewards off the list. In turn, each activation guarantees players an item that they have never previously acquired.

With your first well-rested level-up each week, you'll earn a Prismatic Facet, allowing one free use of the Prismatic Matrix. Prismatic Facets stack up to 3, so make sure to have proper inventory space before earning a rank-up on a given week. Players can also purchase more activations for 200 Silver each.

Outside of the Prismatic Matrix, players may continue to earn Bright Engrams each time they level up, and they can still purchase these engrams if they want a chance to get everything from the Season 3 catalog. Additionally, we're increasing the number of items available from Tess each week with Bright Dust, from 14 to 18 items.

We want to continue experimenting and evolving Eververse to improve player experience, and give more paths to earn Eververse rewards. Please give us your feedback once Season 3 begins, as we're dedicated to improving these systems moving forward.

Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/46825

Sou Da · May 4, 2018

Nirolak said:
The short version is that they added Package Gacha so you can get more items and less dupes

Shocked this isn't a thing in other AAA games.

Aokiji · May 4, 2018

New ways to buy MTX, just what this game needed

Nirolak · May 4, 2018

Sou Da said:
Shocked this isn't a thing in other AAA games.

It kind of is. Overwatch has it per item category/rarity, and Hearthstone has it for Legendary cards, though I guess we could argue those two aren't AAA.

Companies have generally realized that more generous lootboxes result in more spending though, which is why you see adjustments in that direction. People don't like buying when they feel they get near zero value (a dupe) instead of good value (the item they've been chasing).

Hyun Sai · May 4, 2018

Misunderstood

Ketch · May 4, 2018

Is this the new mechanic that's never been in an FPS before? Gacha cubes?

Temperance · May 4, 2018

How much is 200 silver in cash again?

People have spent more before this system and not gotten their desired items so this is a positive change?

Calibro · May 4, 2018

Oh Bungie... Looking forward to that Jim Sterling video though!

Imitation Of Life · May 4, 2018

Temperance said:
How much is 200 silver in cash again?

People have spent more before this system and not gotten their desired items so this is a positive change?

$2 I think.

Deleted member 6573 · May 4, 2018

irishonion · May 4, 2018

Temperance said:
How much is 200 silver in cash again?

People have spent more before this system and not gotten their desired items so this is a positive change?

Yes. It was all Rng to get what you want. You could buy 50 bucks in silver, and still not get enough dust (the premium currency) to buy a expensive emote.

I'm curious to see how this plays out when in practice. They have already slowly started making a concerted effort to move away from the eververse. This sounds like a better way to play for the cosmetics you want.

bluexy · May 4, 2018

Err, I must be misreading but how does it lead to "more"? If I'm reading it right, your prism is made of items you haven't already acquired, resetting each week. That way, you don't get as many duplicates. But I don't see where you otherwise get an increased rate of acquisition or even necessarily a quality increase given most people won't open the prism 10 times in a week. Am I misunderstanding? Not to mention you only get one free facet each week and the rest are premium, so really its benefits will only be felt by those spending cash week-to-week ~ as much as 1800 silver.

I guess if you save up 10 facets over 10 weeks, that's a guaranteed exotic from the cash shop you'd otherwise never have gotten. But logging in each week to get a level up just so you might get a guaranteed exotic 10 weeks in seems like a total garbage system. I mean, congratulations to folk who love spending cash on microtransactions I guess. But for the casual player this is just more garbage.

Edit: Nevermind. You can't even save up 10 to ensure you get something you want. It caps at 3. Meaning you could have a 30% (if all items have equal odds in the prism) max in a given week if you save up for three weeks. Ugh, this is so arbitrarily and unnecessarily complex for such an unrewarding system.

Rickenslacker · May 4, 2018

Calibro said:
Oh Bungie... Looking forward to that Jim Sterling video though!

This is an improvement from the present system though.

Mifec · May 4, 2018

So they're going the DOTA2 way, k.

Jaded Alyx · May 4, 2018

Matrixes?

Matrices?

EloquentM · May 4, 2018

Good step forward towards finding a balance. Spin away anyway.

hydrophilic attack · May 4, 2018

can't wait until this shit is outlawed in the EU

GameShrink · May 4, 2018

Rickenslacker said:
This is an improvement from the present system though.

The present system is an outrage in a $60 game, as are all additional fees.

The CEO of Destiny's publisher makes $30 million a year. These microtransactions exist so he can make $35 million next year.

EloquentM · May 4, 2018

hydrophilic attack said:
can't wait until this shit is outlawed in the EU

This isn't a traditional random lootbox though. Rewards change per week and you have the ability to grind for what you want without having to pay.

SimpleCRIPPLE · May 4, 2018

Isn't it still random, just with a smaller pool of items and no dupes so eventually you'll get them all?

Katarn343 · May 4, 2018

Low-key reminds me of Auntie Dot from Halo: Reach.

EloquentM · May 4, 2018

SimpleCRIPPLE said:
Isn't it still random, just with a smaller pool of items and no dupes so eventually you'll get them all.

Correct—it's a way to make cosmetic acquisition more direct, and abundant while minimizing the necessity to buy items outright with dust or buy lootboxes

Edit: but the weekly lineup changes. It's probably random and not handpicked

.exe · May 4, 2018

So you get one sure fire chance per week to get one of the items in that list, or you can save up to three of them from previous weeks for a maximum of four activations in one week.

I don't see how this fixes or addresses players' issues with cosmetic content that was previously earned being shifted into the Eververse. This is like getting a free key each week for a new type of loot box. Like, thanks, but we're still spinning the slots for cosmetics rather than earning them.

I'd rather have seen more Strike/Nightfall/Raid -specific loot like they added recently.

EloquentM said:
This isn't a traditional random lootbox though. Rewards change per week and you have the ability to grind for what you want without having to pay.

If you can pay real money for a chance to spin a slot machine's wheels, it won't fly in Belgium at least. In the Netherlands, it'll be fine, but it's also frowned upon in their report and supported by solid (risk) analysis; doubt devs will respond to that though.

ZeoVGM · May 4, 2018

If Bungie has no choice but to include Eververse, this seems like a really positive change. I could see this working out alright.

It should be taken out completely though.

blamite · May 4, 2018

SimpleCRIPPLE said:
Isn't it still random, just with a smaller pool of items and no dupes so eventually you'll get them all.

Basically as you get items for free by playing you'll knock them off the grid and use the matrix items to guarantee you can get subtribe you want. OP mentions burst spending, which is an option, bit also by the end of the season someone who's played a decent amount will have their matrix mostly filled in and can use the free weekly unlock token to get the last couple items for free.

irishonion · May 4, 2018

ZeoVGM said:
If Bungie has no choice but to include Eververse, this seems like a really positive change. I could see this working out alright.

It should be taken out completely though.

Yea, it's not going away, I think they will still be open for suggestions as stated by them with announcement of this. As this still doesn't sound anywhere near perfect.

Think they are looking for some sort of middle ground between where it was at launch(damn near predatory) and where it's beneficial for players.

Lord Brady · May 4, 2018

Or just let people buy the items they want instead of continuing to rely on gambling. Wait, I mean this is sooooooooo magnanimous of them!

EloquentM · May 4, 2018

daxy said:
So you get one sure fire chance per week to get one of the items in that list, or you can save up to three of them from previous weeks for a maximum of four activations in one week.

I don't see how this fixes or addresses players' issues with cosmetic content that was previously earned being shifted into the Eververse. This is like getting a free key each week for a new type of loot box. Like, thanks, but we're still spinning the slots for cosmetics rather than earning them.

I'd rather have seen more Strike/Nightfall/Raid -specific loot like they added recently.

Hopefully it's not a random drop of the items listed per week and it allows you to choose which item you want. They stated they wanted to give players more choice in cosmetics.

From the article it seems one of the 10 randomly per unlock though

ApeEscaper · May 4, 2018

Oh my God make it stop

Novel Mike · May 4, 2018

I don't care if this is a 'better' system then what currently exists, its still shit. Destiny already has paid DLC it shouldn't have micro-transactions on top of that. Either have free dlc and use the micro-transactions to support the cost of that development or have paid DLC and make all these cosmetics free and earn them in game.

I mean really if the game just HAS to have micro-transactions (it doesn't, its just pure greed) then just stop with all the bullshit randomness to all of it and just let people buy the emotes or anything else they want. The RNG of it all is just to get players to spend more money on things they don't want, it doesn't benefit players in any way at all.

Iron · May 4, 2018

Katarn343 said:
Low-key reminds me of Auntie Dot from Halo: Reach.

How can that be "low-key"? It either reminds you of it or it doesn't. If it's just you involved in the reminding, what does low-key even mean here?

Keikaku · May 4, 2018

bluexy · May 4, 2018

Just looking at the comments here should make clear to everyone what this Prismatic Matrices system is really about -- confusing and manipulating folk into participating in just another layer of gamified microtransactions.

Vimes · May 4, 2018

My absolute least favorite parts of D2 involve being anywhere near Tess. And I have a lot of less-than-favorite parts of D2.

Novel Mike said:
I don't care if this is a 'better' system then what currently exists, its still shit. Destiny already has paid DLC it shouldn't have micro-transactions on top of that. Either have free dlc and use the micro-transactions to support the cost of that development or have paid DLC and make all these cosmetics free and earn them in game.

I mean really if the game just HAS to have micro-transactions (it doesn't, its just pure greed) then just stop with all the bullshit randomness to all of it and just let people buy the emotes or anything else they want. The RNG of it all is just to get players to spend more money on things they don't want, it doesn't benefit players in any way at all.

All of this, yeah.

Imitation Of Life · May 4, 2018

What's so hard about just letting people buy whatever piece of digital shit they want?

Novel Mike · May 4, 2018

Imitation Of Life said:
What's so hard about just letting people buy whatever piece of digital shit they want?

It's all greed, there is no benefit to these types of systems outside of just creating a system where players don't get exactly what they want and so they have to spend more money. I do not understand how anyone can even attempt to defend this shit anymore.

Zelas · May 4, 2018

daxy said:
If you can pay real money for a chance to spin a slot machine's wheels, it won't fly in Belgium at least. In the Netherlands, it'll be fine, but it's also frowned upon in their report and supported by solid (risk) analysis; doubt devs will respond to that though.

Too bad for Belgium then.

LJKO · May 4, 2018

bluexy said:
Just looking at the comments here should make clear to everyone what this Prismatic Matrices system is really about -- confusing and manipulating folk into participating in just another layer of gamified microtransactions.

Dodgerfan74 · May 4, 2018

Imitation Of Life said:
What's so hard about just letting people buy whatever piece of digital shit they want?

GameShrink said:
The CEO of Destiny's publisher makes $30 million a year. These microtransactions exist so he can make $35 million next year.

hydrophilic attack · May 4, 2018

daxy said:
If you can pay real money for a chance to spin a slot machine's wheels, it won't fly in Belgium at least. In the Netherlands, it'll be fine, but it's also frowned upon in their report and supported by solid (risk) analysis; doubt devs will respond to that though.

I don't think the European Union will allow a situation where different rules apply in different countries for very long. Eventually, we will see the EC push for common regulation for the entire inner market

Quample · May 4, 2018

Looks like a hypercube of bullshit.

Bungie have transcended into the 4th dimension of microtransactions. To truly grasp it, you must treat time as an object.

Kouriozan · May 4, 2018

Aokiji said:
New ways to buy MTX, just what this game needed

The base game should be F2P at this point, they'd have a much wider reach.

Deleted member 40133 · May 4, 2018

Aquamarine said:
2005: The future of gaming looks incredibly bright. I can't wait to see how the industry evolves!

2018: Please buy our Prismatic Matrixes

At this point just stick to games made by console holders. Jim sterling brought up this point and he's right. There's intrinsic value in a game for console holders in just advertising the console and selling console units. Just pure publishers make all their money off of the game obviously, so they're going to squeeze that. Console holders have subscriptions as well as Console profit

Stalker · May 4, 2018

I never understood the D2 MTX hate.

All cosmetic
You get a roll at the store every time you level up post max level
You can dismantle store items you don't want to purchase ones you do
Now you have the primatic matrix which gives you one additional item free every week and the ability to purchase them from a MUCH more limited pool. $20 will gaurentee you get the item if it's in the pool but will also give you loads of bright dust so you can purchase additional content you want when it's on the store front.

Pirsmatic Matrix will always reward unqiue content too.

Cort · May 4, 2018

It just seems like Bungie can't get out of its own way

.exe · May 4, 2018

hydrophilic attack said:
I don't think the European Union will allow a situation where different rules apply in different countries for very long. Eventually, we will see the EC push for common regulation for the entire inner market

You're absolutely right. It's a matter of time.

IIFloodyII · May 4, 2018

Seems better than the current system, but yeah, Eververse can still fuck off.

.exe · May 4, 2018

Stalker said:
You can dismantle store items you don't want to purchase ones you do
Now you have the primatic matrix which gives you one additional item free every week and the ability to purchase them from a MUCH more limited pool.

These two contradict each other though. If you don't dismantle stuff, you'll have better odds at getting stuff you want or do not yet have through prismatic matrices. If anything, this new system disincentivizes dismantling. I don't know if this was planned this way, but it sure is clever.

edit: see posts below/ next page

edit 2: confirmation

Hold on, so the system knows that i've gotten a certain ship before, Even if i've deleted it?

dmg04/Bungie rep said:
Yes

https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyThe..._week_at_bungie_5032018/dyfu005/?context=1000

Liquid Snake · May 4, 2018

Novel Mike said:
I don't care if this is a 'better' system then what currently exists, its still shit. Destiny already has paid DLC it shouldn't have micro-transactions on top of that. Either have free dlc and use the micro-transactions to support the cost of that development or have paid DLC and make all these cosmetics free and earn them in game.

I mean really if the game just HAS to have micro-transactions (it doesn't, its just pure greed) then just stop with all the bullshit randomness to all of it and just let people buy the emotes or anything else they want. The RNG of it all is just to get players to spend more money on things they don't want, it doesn't benefit players in any way at all.

Thank you.

Stalker · May 4, 2018

daxy said:
These two contradict each other though. If you don't dismantle stuff, you'll have better odds at getting stuff you want or do not yet have through prismatic matrices. If anything, this new system disincentivizes dismantling.

No?

"With each activation gaurenteeing and item never previously acquired from eververse stock"

Bungie updates Destiny 2's microtransaction system, adds Prismatic Matrixes (package gachas)

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