Developer Bungie has once again found itself in the position of having to apologize to Destiny 2 gamers. The issue, this time at least, revolves around the game’s latest expansion The Curse of Osiris and the way that the game has dealt with access to certain content.
Although the release of the new expansion should be a source of excitement, Curse of Osiris has been heavily criticized. The main point of contention is that with the release of The Curse of Osiris, Destiny 2 has now locked some of the content for players, particularly one of the end-game raids. This means it’s impossible to access certain parts of the game without owning the DLC. This is notable because the content was free to access before the release of the expansion. This is the second major controversy to hit Destiny 2 as the game was previously taken to task for “rigging” the XP system. Luckily, Bungie does seem to be hearing Destiny gamers complaints and is taking steps to address them.
On a blog post over at their official site, Bungie addressed the backlash. The developer attempted to explain why the changes were made in the first place and what is being done to fix them. The post states:
In other words, Bungie locked the content behind the DLC because Curse of Osiris raises the level cap and consequently the difficulty. Bungie wanted the Prestige Modes to be the hardest in the game and require the highest level cap. Without the increased level cap due to the expansion, the levels of all players wouldn’t be the same. Even though that does feel like a slap in the face to the gamers who have bought the game and now are being punished by having content taken away from them until they pay extra, Bungie thankfully sees the problem. Later in the post it was explained that changes are being implemented immediately to reverse the lock-outs.
The Destiny endgame features a variety of activities and playlists that we want to remain relevant to players as they grow more powerful. In Destiny 1, as your character grew more powerful throughout each expansion, some of our best content, like Vault of Glass, was left behind and lost its relevance for players. We wanted a better solution for Destiny 2, where all of our Endgame activities could stay relevant as each Expansion causes your Guardian to grow more and more powerful.
The following were our goals when we separated “Normal” and “Prestige” modes:
The Normal Leviathan Raid and Normal Nightfall would always stay at a Power level that was accessible to all players.
Prestige difficulty would always rise to the new Power cap. It could be the pinnacle of challenge, with the most prestigious rewards, but it therefore would require you to own the latest Expansion and be at the new Power cap.
Additionally, the game provides Seasonal, time-limited PvP playlists – Trials of The Nine and Iron Banner. These activities and their rewards are meant to evolve each Season, and they utilize new maps, so they would require you to own the latest content. To play the latest season of Iron Banner or Trials, and earn the new rewards, players would need to own Curse of Osiris.
The Prestige Levithan Raid is being brought back down to Power Level 300 which will lower the rewards but allow everyone access. The Trails of the Nine will only require Curse of Osiris, when it’s played on the map specific to the DLC. The same will hold true of Normal Nightfall. However, Prestige Nightfall will remain at the new 330 Level Cap and only players who have purchased Curse of Osiris will be able to access it.
It remains to be seen if this fix will satisfy all Destiny gamers. However, it does seem much more fair than what was initially instituted in the game. It allows gamers access to the modes they were enjoying before the release of the expansion. At the same time, Curse of Osiris owners get a little bit of special treatment for their purchase. Hopefully the second time will prove to be the charm and Destiny 2 will not have more issues that need addressing.
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Source: Bungie
