Nickeled and Quartered
I was browsing /r/GameDeals and came across a post about Destiny 2. I think this is one of the first times I have experienced a game sale in which I walked away more confused than I started.
The short version is that Destiny 2: Complete Collection is $40. This includes the base game, the “expansion pass” that contains the first two expansions, the third large expansion “Forsaken,” a character boost, and then the “Annual Pass” which covers three additional expansions (Winter 2018, Spring 2019, Summer 2019).
That’s fairly straight-forward, I guess. The issue is that in September, parts of Destiny 2 are going F2P. Specifically, the base game, the first two expansions, and a portion of Forsaken, e.g. the patrol areas, but not the raids and more formal missions. Or something. Also, it’s leaving the Blizzard launcher and going to Steam instead.
Having the base game, as I do from an earlier Humble Bundle, doesn’t appear to be relevant to the primary deal. But what about when it goes on Steam? When there is a Steam bundle, you typically get a discount for pieces you already own. Now, the base game and the first few DLC will be F2P so maybe future Steam deals won’t take those pieces into account.
In this midst of this pondering, it dawned on me how completely unnecessary all of this was. This was a $60 game that had two paid DLCs, one major expansion, and three additional DLCs. On top of a cash shop. Why not just have a fucking monthly subscription and call it a day?
None of this is news, but sometimes it is good to be reminded how far into the weeds the developers are willing to go to monetize every inch of available space.
Posted on June 10, 2019, in Miscellany and tagged Destiny 2, DLC, Nickel and Dimed, Sales, Steam. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
In An Age 
It’s a struggling game that won’t be saved by Steam; just wait a few months and it will be 66% off the whole bundle, most likely for $10.
Of course if you want to play the stuff you don’t own NOW, well, buy away. Otherwise waiting is always better, right?
The ‘deals’ they are doing now prior to Steam are the last-grasp cash-ins prior to the Steam monster setting the baseline for everyone else to follow.
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Oh, for sure. What’s interesting is how the base experience is going F2P but not the expansions, and also how future expansions are being touted as “standalone,” e.g. you don’t have to own all the preceding ones. In which case… why would you buy them? Story content? Legendary items? The model suddenly seems comparable to Guild Wars 2.
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“Why not just have a fucking monthly subscription and call it a day?”
Because gamers won’t pay that subscription?
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Console gamers are already used to a subscription in the form of Gold and PS+ just to play online. Now, it’s true that they will likely balk at managing a half dozen subscriptions if they end up playing Destiny 2 and CoD and whatever else, but still. Although, I suppose the suits have a vested interest in getting all the subscription dollars locked up at the very beginning via “one-time” purchases instead of letting people play the expansion for a week and then unsub.
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I don’t know. From my perspective, online games tried the subscription route first in the last generation, and only switched when it was clear that it did not work.
So for this generation, the suits simply started with the new payment models, rather than trying the failed subscription model again.
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