Bungie apologizes for Taken King controversy, CE items to be sold separate
- Thread starter LiK
- Start date
Pretty much. The apology sounded like a "sorry if you were offended."
Lalalandia
Member
So nary a word on £40 = $65?
As expected Bungie chose to answer the easy question and offer to sell us emotes and tat for $20?
Fair play to Luke Smith fo saying 'sorry', shame on Bungie for dodging the value question again.
As expected Bungie chose to answer the easy question and offer to sell us emotes and tat for $20?
Fair play to Luke Smith fo saying 'sorry', shame on Bungie for dodging the value question again.
nobodyshero
Banned
The $60 upgrade, which includes both current expansions and the Taken King. There does not appear to be an option to get just the Taken King and skip the current expansions; Bungie wants to get everyone on the same content base when TTK launches.
From the product page:
The $40 is only available if you have both the current expansions.
-Sigh-
They are just keep providing more reasons why they are scumbags rather than justifying the sale of the items.
Here is $20 worth of crap you we're complaining about.
There shouldn't be limited edition items for a re-release compilation of the game in the first place.
But people are going to buy this up and say: "Well it's okay now, because they gave you the option to buy it separately."
I don't know what's worse, the Bungie being a piece of shit company, or the fans that will pay them blindly for their poor content only to get screwed over time and time again. It's like a bad relationship you can't get out of because you feel too invested into.
Hell Call of Duty is a better investment compared to Destiny, at least then you are getting a complete story, a complete game, and basic FPS gameplay. And that's saying a lot as I give that game franchise a lot of crap to no end.
They are just keep providing more reasons why they are scumbags rather than justifying the sale of the items.
Here is $20 worth of crap you we're complaining about.
There shouldn't be limited edition items for a re-release compilation of the game in the first place.
But people are going to buy this up and say: "Well it's okay now, because they gave you the option to buy it separately."
I don't know what's worse, the Bungie being a piece of shit company, or the fans that will pay them blindly for their poor content only to get screwed over time and time again. It's like a bad relationship you can't get out of because you feel too invested into.
Hell Call of Duty is a better investment compared to Destiny, at least then you are getting a complete story, a complete game, and basic FPS gameplay. And that's saying a lot as I give that game franchise a lot of crap to no end.
Is selling that stuff for $20 really their idea of a solution?
Jeezus...
It's great they made them separate from the collector's edition but $20 for some miscellaneous bullshit like shaders and emotes is ridiculous.
One step forward and two steps back seems to be the running tradition for Destiny so I can't say I'm surprised but the DLC practices for this game should be a case study for other devs and publishers on what NOT to do with downloadable content.
It's great they made them separate from the collector's edition but $20 for some miscellaneous bullshit like shaders and emotes is ridiculous.
One step forward and two steps back seems to be the running tradition for Destiny so I can't say I'm surprised but the DLC practices for this game should be a case study for other devs and publishers on what NOT to do with downloadable content.
You either buy it digital at $40.00 USD or go to your local game store and buy one of the packages at $59.99 or $79.99 USD
You're talking to its publisher that sells each hero for $10 in other games (Blizzard).
How?
Maybe because the game didn't have enough content or a proper story at launch so giving content for free to make up for it instead of charging ridiculous prices (155$ total until now if you want to get everything that it just in the game not the physical stuff) will go more in line with your statement about "we care about our loyal fans". Do you actually believe that what they offered now is really worth 155$? if they truly cared about their loyal fans they wouldn't have charged more than 100% for the amount of content they're offering now. They're just taking advantage of the idea that Destiny focus heavily on MP component so if you want to get better and be like everyone else you better pay us 155$.
mightynine
Member
I wonder if this is when the idea of "seasons" in video games finally dies. It just sounds like a complete mess.
gutter_trash
Banned
look man, I liked Luke too when listening to the 1up podcasts over a generation and half ago back in the day,
but he has been seduced by the Dark Side of the Force and hope for him has been lost a long long time ago
chromatic9
Member
Seemed a bit odd to reference the eurogamer interview.
Came across to me like - after ignoring all the fans backlash I happen to go over the eurogamer interview... Why not just directly say to fans hey we hear your complaints and we're doing this and this.
NullPointer
Member
Compared to the alternatives it may look like the best solution, but its one that doesn't do them any favors.
My optimistic take is that Bungie/Activision exist in a controlled bubble when it comes to this game. They look at their no doubt vast collections of metrics on user behavior but they might be missing the forest for the trees, even if they held the best of intentions for the future of the game and its community.
The Taken King legendary edition at $60 gets all fucked up when you compare it to the current legendary edition, which is the base game and the first two expansions for the same $60. What is $20 worth then?
If The Taken King by itself is $40, then $20 is worth Destiny+Dark Below+House of Wolves AND $20 is separately worth shaders+emotes+class items. The value proposition just doesn't make sense from any way you look at it.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
As he states in his apology, if you know him, you know he is being sarcastic.
When presented as a raw transcript, all of that is lost, and it looks like he's being an asshole. The fact that the EG guy had to try to defend Luke in a tweet after the fact tells you that even he knew that it was meant as sarcasm.
I guess the net "positive" for that piece of bad reporting is that everyone has a new option for spending money on TTK. lol
But what if it's not poor content to the fans of the game?
I don't even know where people get off saying $40 is too much for a "major expansion" when they haven't even revealed all of the game yet. Just the little bit of stuff we do know is way more than the last two expansions. Activision fucked up by calling those expansions though, they were DLC chapters/episodes, whatever, but labeling them expansions was a huge PR mistake.
Mike Works
Member
I've been sitting at my desk for the past five minutes trying to mentally construct a detailed response to a $20 emote/shader bundle, but all my mind keeps coming back to is, "Fuck off."
I can't think of anything more justifiably elaborate than fuck off. It's not a need for succinctness, nor can I attribute it to malaise on my part.
There's just nothing better to say to this than fuck off.
If this whole shader package had just come out of the blue, then perhaps something softer would be warranted. Perhaps something more incredulous, but less condemning. Why? Because perhaps it would've just been a mistake.
I mean, it is a mistake of course. They've built up to this apology over the past few days, and spent the latter half of it asking for an exorbitant amount of money. It's almost unfathomable, if it weren't for this industry, if it weren't for this publisher, if it weren't for the prior entries of these updates.
I appreciate that Bungie doesn't sell DLC to it's quasi-MMO, past marrow-weak expansion packs. But then what's this?
There's apparently a shader and emblem you can wear in this new expansion that tells everyone that you were a player from the very beginning, that you supported Bungie and Activision throughout Destiny's inaugural year.
I don't know why anyone would want to wear it.
I can't think of anything more justifiably elaborate than fuck off. It's not a need for succinctness, nor can I attribute it to malaise on my part.
There's just nothing better to say to this than fuck off.
If this whole shader package had just come out of the blue, then perhaps something softer would be warranted. Perhaps something more incredulous, but less condemning. Why? Because perhaps it would've just been a mistake.
I mean, it is a mistake of course. They've built up to this apology over the past few days, and spent the latter half of it asking for an exorbitant amount of money. It's almost unfathomable, if it weren't for this industry, if it weren't for this publisher, if it weren't for the prior entries of these updates.
I appreciate that Bungie doesn't sell DLC to it's quasi-MMO, past marrow-weak expansion packs. But then what's this?
There's apparently a shader and emblem you can wear in this new expansion that tells everyone that you were a player from the very beginning, that you supported Bungie and Activision throughout Destiny's inaugural year.
I don't know why anyone would want to wear it.
Wolves Evolve
Member
Jack Scofield
Member
If I just have the base game of Destiny (with no expansions) and want to fully catch up, is the only way to do so by purchasing the new, physical $60 edition? I don't need two copies of the game. Will they be selling a bundle of all the expansions digitally?
NullPointer
Member
Yeah, I think that chapter/episode terminology would have worked out much better for them.
super-famicom
Member
Not sure my opinion on Bungie could get much lower at the moment. I can't think of a single other dev my opinion of dropped as quickly and as far as Bungie in the last 12 months. Both the quality of their content and their delivery of value to the consumer is gross at this point. Joining Activision has not been kind to them, except for their wallets, of course.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Which, funnily enough, are 20 bucks a pop.
mightynine
Member
Hot damn, a Mike Works appearance. This is a thread now!
nobodyshero
Banned
I don't think 9 cosmetic items will make that big a difference to change people's minds either way.
If none of this Collectors Edition talk ever happened, and none of us knew about the existence of these nine items, and then tomorrow they randomly showed up at the post office for every Destiny player, it would do absolutely nothing to change peoples minds about the big picture complaints.
And the money-to-value thing is such a weird subject to me. On one hand, playing through all the content didn't take nearly as long as I'd hoped. On the other hand, I've spent more time playing Destiny than I have a LOT of other game that I paid full price for, so by that metric, yeah, I probably got my current $100 investment's worth.
How much can I justifiably complain if I'm still playing the game dozens of hours later? At that point, how much difference would be made if the campaign was double the length or not?
sturgboski
Member
So the CE digital content is costed out at half the price of TTK. Or, equivalent to either TDB or HoW. Yep, still a pretty shitty move. It really reads as "sorry you were offended, pay me a lot of money for this."
I mean think about it: if you bought the CE you would have gotten Destiny+TDB+HoW+TKK+digital CE goodies and physical CE goodies for $80. For $60 players since launch get TKK and digital goodies. This is still really shafting the loyal fanbase.
You want to do something right, look at what WB is doing right now with their controversy over a shit job on Batman for PC. Or hell, even Arenanet with Guild Wars 2 expansion. This is pretty much Bungie having their cake and eating it to while still sticking it to the loyal players.
You're ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
I mean think about it: if you bought the CE you would have gotten Destiny+TDB+HoW+TKK+digital CE goodies and physical CE goodies for $80. For $60 players since launch get TKK and digital goodies. This is still really shafting the loyal fanbase.
You want to do something right, look at what WB is doing right now with their controversy over a shit job on Batman for PC. Or hell, even Arenanet with Guild Wars 2 expansion. This is pretty much Bungie having their cake and eating it to while still sticking it to the loyal players.
You're ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Here's the thing about sarcasm. If you have even a lick of sense you know you tailor it and use it with the people who know you. He was out there to do a fucking job, not pal around. His job was talking about the game and providing clarity to Bungie's message, nothing more.
There's a time and a place for everything and if he isn't smart enough to tailor when he should turn his sense of humor on and off then he isn't smart enough to do public facing interviews. It's that simple.
CreateNowSleepLater
Member
Christ. You did work there at some point. Relax dude.
Dreams-Visions
Member
PedroLumpy
Member
Well I suppose that technically does address the complaint of having to rebuy content to get that extra stuff.
Still a shitty deal though.
Still a shitty deal though.
Gotta get dem clicks somehow.
thelastcrusader
Banned
Still looks like an asshat to me! In fact, an even bigger one now.
SmackAttack
Member
What happened to video games, man? I haven't cared about or played Destiny in months but this sucks for anyone still interested. Damn shame what things have come to.
You know I never clicked the link in the OP but I just knew fuck all it was Luke Fucking Smith. Use to like it then it like dawned how snake oil that guy is.
I use to smile and be happy when he would make all his arrogant statements on the podcast about his Scarab Lord title, but man I wish someone could correct him and make him an actual polite person again without all the arrogance.
I use to smile and be happy when he would make all his arrogant statements on the podcast about his Scarab Lord title, but man I wish someone could correct him and make him an actual polite person again without all the arrogance.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I've never actually seem a company be this bad at PR
It's really impressive
It's really impressive
Muskieratboi
Member
Look. I love Destiny (though I have issues with the content, I don't have issues with the gameplay or the world).
I'm going to get the Collector's edition for TTK, That I know. (I'm like, one of the rare few Aussies who have a Dinklebot, and that's not changing.)
All I'm asking for, so I get the best value out of the game, is the ability to introduce a new player to the game by giving them the Base disc and TDB and HOW Codes.
As long as you keep them seperate in the box, and don't put everything in some monolithic single code, I have no complaints.
Fuck, you could use that as a god-damn SELLING POINT.
"Been with us since Day 1? Buy the physical edition of The Taken King, Take the TTK code for yourself, and then give the disc and season pass codes to a friend as a gift, to start them on the path to Legend!"
People would EAT THAT SHIT UP, and it would be a FANTASTIC incentive and way to get players to get their friends into the game!
I'm going to get the Collector's edition for TTK, That I know. (I'm like, one of the rare few Aussies who have a Dinklebot, and that's not changing.)
All I'm asking for, so I get the best value out of the game, is the ability to introduce a new player to the game by giving them the Base disc and TDB and HOW Codes.
As long as you keep them seperate in the box, and don't put everything in some monolithic single code, I have no complaints.
Fuck, you could use that as a god-damn SELLING POINT.
"Been with us since Day 1? Buy the physical edition of The Taken King, Take the TTK code for yourself, and then give the disc and season pass codes to a friend as a gift, to start them on the path to Legend!"
People would EAT THAT SHIT UP, and it would be a FANTASTIC incentive and way to get players to get their friends into the game!
Right, can someone tell me if I've got this straight.
You can now buy:
Digital:
Taken King DLC - $40
CE DLC - $20
Digital CE (Taken King DLC + CE DLC) - $80
Physical:
Legendary Disc (Destiny with Dark Below, House Of Wolves and Taken King DLCs) - $60
CE (Destiny with three DLCs + CE DLC + art books and shit) - $80
So you're overpaying by $20 is you buy the digital CE, and you don't get all the physical CE additions?What is the point of the digital CE edition, and do they give you anything if you've already bought it in light of the stand alone $20 CE DLC?
You can now buy:
Digital:
Taken King DLC - $40
CE DLC - $20
Digital CE (Taken King DLC + CE DLC) - $80
Physical:
Legendary Disc (Destiny with Dark Below, House Of Wolves and Taken King DLCs) - $60
CE (Destiny with three DLCs + CE DLC + art books and shit) - $80
So you're overpaying by $20 is you buy the digital CE, and you don't get all the physical CE additions?What is the point of the digital CE edition, and do they give you anything if you've already bought it in light of the stand alone $20 CE DLC?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
They can't win. Either devs are robot automatons who are emotionless PR spouting mouthpieces, or they are too personal and shouldn't be palling around.
I mean, all it would take is some context. "As Smith playfully suggested to me in a sarcastic tone, "Would you throw money at the screen if I showed you the new emotes?"" and it'd be fine. That or just record the interview and post it as video.
For me, this saga is amusing because I find myself defending Luke Smith but also hating the practices being put in place by Bungie/Activision. Go figure. lol
Thanks for this! I heard the expansions weren't great... So I'll probably skip all this unfortunately.
CreateNowSleepLater
Member
I'd love to know what happened with this game really. Some were impressed but HoW but I wasn't. Taking out the Raid was a nasty move especially since they knew people had already bought the content.
Why did Joe leave? Why did they gut the entire story and ship with barely a narrative? The funny part is these expansions don't expand on the main narrative at all, they are essentially side quests. Wouldn't Crota rising gain attention from the speaker? Why is nothing tied together AT ALL.
They don't even have Marty anymore. Face it, they sold out.
Why did Joe leave? Why did they gut the entire story and ship with barely a narrative? The funny part is these expansions don't expand on the main narrative at all, they are essentially side quests. Wouldn't Crota rising gain attention from the speaker? Why is nothing tied together AT ALL.
They don't even have Marty anymore. Face it, they sold out.
lol how do you even get that?