As much as I play Destiny, I realize there are big, glaring flaws in the game. The story is a letdown, to say the least, the Cryptarch and his trolling of turning Legendary loot into blues is frustrating, and the worlds aren’t quite as big as I expected. But Destiny has this sort of addictive gameplay that keeps me coming back for more. When thinking about why, I came up with only one answer…
To get better gear. If I get better gear, I’ll get more Light, which will level me up past the soft cap of 20, and eventually I’ll be able to experience the main course of the game — raids.
You need to be level 26 — only manageable by getting enough gear with Light on it — in order to experience what everyone is calling the best content in Destiny. To do that requires time, devotion, patience, and not throwing your controller at the TV when every Purple gets turned into Blue, and every blue gets turned into Green.
And this is where I applaud Bungie, because they resisted the urge to put microtransactions in Destiny.
It would have been an easy choice for Bungie to give a pay option to unlock content quicker. We’ve seen it before. BioWare and EA had microtransactions in the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer and will also have them in Dragon Age Inquisition. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare also has microtransactions, allowing you to get in-game currency to unlock new packs and character content. Forza 5 had them to unlock cars quicker instead of grinding and saving money for them; Forza 5 has since removed microtransactions, and they are nowhere to be found in Forza Horizon 2.
Usually a developer or publisher will have microtransaction at launch, and after enough outcry from the community, remove them. Destiny embraces the grind. You’re given nothing, and you have to earn everything. Even then, when you earn something, it probably won’t be what you expected. But when you finally get an Exotic or Legendary, boy is it worth the effort. At least, that’s what I’m told; I still haven’t gotten anything good enough to get me past 22.
So embrace the grind, and be thankful there’s no microtransactions for people to pay their way into the Vault of Glass.
You can follow Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ.
