Destiny’s new level packs go beyond price gouging

I really should stop playing with fire. Some eight weeks ago, I said Destiny can have microtransactions without ending the world. I still wholeheartedly believe this; nearly any game can have fair, healthy microtransactions. Neither they nor DLC are inherently bad. Still, even then I knew what I was saying: you could put a Faberge egg in a bull’s pen and it might see fit to leave the thing intact rather than utterly destroy it. You could, and it might. Destiny could, and it might have, had its creators—either Bungie, Activision or, horror of horrors, both—not decided to charge players $30 to buy level 25.

Indeed, Destiny’s latest microtransaction is the ability to instantly boost one character to level 25 and fill out one subclass’ skill tree. This should sound familiar: a similar feature, the consumable Spark of Light, was included free with copies of The Taken King expansion, intended as a way to let new players dive right into The Taken King’s level 25-plus content and for veterans to instantly bring alternate characters up to speed. Now it costs $30. So either the once-$40 Taken King expansion is actually only worth $10 and I have severely neglected its most valuable feature, or this is ridiculous. And I did say in my review that The Taken King is what Destiny should have always been, so I guess this is just ridiculous.

What's the worst that could happen?

I just had to say the worst microtransaction which could conceivably come to Destiny is paid weapon reforging, an off-the-cuff hypothetical which, for now, is nothing more than the stuff of nightmares. That wasn’t a challenge, Activision, Bungie; don’t shoot yourselves on my account. For god’s sake don’t charge people $30 to not play your game, which is exactly what these level packs have on offer.

“Step right up and get your hands on the privilege of not playing Destiny! Only $30!” Not the best sales pitch, I have to say, though not playing Destiny is sounding better and better. Still, if I were Destiny, I might be a smidgen offended, assuming I could hear anything over the drawer I insist on slamming my head in.

So, yes, for $30 you can now boost a character to level 25.  But what does that really get you? Three hours of free time, I suppose, since that’s about how long it takes to get those levels normally. But really, who plays their own games anymore? Sure, you could hit level 25 in under two hours without trying and max out your first subclass well before the third hour ends, or you could pay $30.

Assuming we are the laziest, most frivolous being to ever draw breath and we do buy one of these level packs, what can we even do? You can’t do a thing at level 25 in Destiny. You can’t raid, you can’t do any worthwhile strikes, let alone Nightfalls, and you certainly can’t compete in the Iron Banner or Trials of Osiris. All you can do, Bungie is quick to remind, is start The Taken King content. That sounds to me like a tacit admission that all the content before The Taken King—originally sold for around $100 total, mind you—is not worth playing in the slightest. In fact, it’s apparently so bad that you’re better off paying $30 just to avoid it, like taking a cab to avoid walking through that part of town.

It’s worth remembering that level packs are nothing new. World of Warcraft is the most obvious predecessor; Blizzard started selling $60 boosts to level 90 ages ago. The key difference between WoW’s packs and Destiny’s is the usefulness of the shortcut. WoW’s level 90 boosts get you the highest level possible—which normally takes at least a few dozen hours to obtain—and a starting kit of gear and gold. From there, you can do virtually everything in the game once you’re properly outfitted. All Destiny has done is throw out three hours of grinding, after which you invariably dive into another three hours of grinding to reach level 40. Only then does the game actually open up.

The way I see it, there are two markets for level packs: veterans who don’t want to grind their new character, and newcomers who don’t want to bother with original or vanilla content. The latter camp I can’t begin to understand. It would seem to me that playing the game you buy is something to look forward to, not hush with a few bills. Call me old fashioned.

Devoted veterans looking to explore new characters, but avoid the grind, I can at least sympathize with. However, even they won’t have any of what Destiny has come up with simply because the price is so absurdly high. Even a boost to level 40, complete with three maxed subclasses, wouldn’t be worth $30. Considering we aren’t actually getting content, I’d give it $5 at a freakish maximum. These paltry boosts to 25 shouldn’t run more than a buck. Hell, they should be earnable in-game. Buyable Sparks of Light would provide a powerful incentive to try new classes, and a great way to put old currencies (such as long-defunct raid materials) to good use. But no, $30, cash up front.

This is something I and countless others have talked about before, this idea of protecting the dollar, particularly when dealing with digital content. Sure, these level packs don’t directly affect the game. Bungie and Activision aren’t selling power, they’re just selling time, albeit at a disgusting rate. And sure, people have to choose to buy them. They may overprice the things, but Bungie and Activision can’t force people to buy in, to their immense disappointment, I’m sure.

But that doesn’t really matter. Price gouging is price gouging. Destiny and its players have a problem even if a single $30 level pack isn’t sold, because Bungie and Activision were conceited and stupid enough to sell the things for $30. People overpaying is only half of the problem. Somebody also has to oversell them, which is problem enough considering Destiny has plenty of DLC waiting in the wings.

Buyers should only accept fair prices, just as producers should set them. It’s stupid to overpay, but it’s unethical to charge more than your product is worth. Destiny’s latest microtransaction isn’t worth a damn thing. And after this, I’m hard-pressed to say Destiny is.