Highlights
- Destiny 2's popularity has declined due to issues with Lightfall's delivery and a lack of focus on PvP modes, along with excessive microtransactions.
- Players are criticizing the Eververse Shop for time-limited cosmetic items tied to real money and a lack of free ritual armor sets.
- While the availability of the Ego Malign Shader for Bright Dust is a step in the right direction, it may not be enough to fully address the microtransaction problem.
Destiny 2's popularity has been dwindling for the past six months or so due to the many issues with Lightfall's delivery and the community-wide morale decline that followed, with players lamenting a lack of focus on PvP modes and an excessive amount of microtransactions, among other things. Microtransactions in Destiny 2 have indeed started to become a problem lately, and the main reason is that Bungie increased the price of season passes while also adding multiple real-money-exclusive items in the Eververse Store. Among these are Event Cards and crossover armor sets that are only available for Silver rather than in-game currency Bright Dust, and while Destiny 2 just addressed part of these issues, it might be too little too late.
Event Cards have been particularly criticized due to the stale nature of their associated events, with them often offering little reason for Destiny 2 players to play them and farm for loot, so the idea of time-limited cosmetic items that are tied to event completion and are exclusively available for real money doesn't sit right with many. This is not the sole issue with the current state of Destiny 2's Eververse shop, as Bungie announced it's no longer making yearly free ritual armor sets amidst increasing paid cosmetics. However, one of the community's biggest grips is seemingly a thing of the past now thanks to this week's Bright Dust store offering the Ego Malign Shader.
Destiny 2's Paid Eververse Shaders Going Free is a Good But Late Change
One of the reasons why Event Cards in Destiny 2 are far from popular is that they pack exclusive Shaders that players can't get unless they are willing to both complete in-game challenges and pay real money for this Silver purchase. After the first iteration of this, Bungie then started selling Shader bundles in the Eververse store, with the offering this time being around $10 for a unique Shader, an Exotic weapon ornament, and a Ghost Projection all sharing a certain theme.
The first of its kind was the Bad Ahamkara Bundle, which contained a bone-texture Shader called Ego Malign that was immediately liked by many players, but enthusiasm rapidly waned once Guardians realized it was exclusive to the Silver portion of the Eververse store. This seemed to be a new pattern for Bungie that added fuel to the fire when Destiny 2's Season of the Deep introduced not one, but three more Silver-exclusive bundles containing new Shaders as well as Exotic ornaments and more Ghost Projections.
However, with the weekly reset that came after Destiny 2's Solstice event, Ego Malign became available in the Eververse's Bright Dust store, meaning players who have earned at least some of this free in-game currency can get this once Silver-exclusive Shader. The problem is that this was not truly advertised anywhere, and although it could appease some players due to the precedent it sets, the storm that has been brewing since Lightfall can hardly be quelled all of a sudden. And yet, this means that also the three Silver bundle Shaders from Season of the Deep will become available for Bright Dust at some point.
This doesn't mean that Destiny 2's microtransaction problem has been solved, but it's a good step in the right direction for Bungie, and an act of good faith to restore some confidence in the game. Whether this truly helps ahead of The Final Shape's big finale of the Light and Darkness saga remains to be seen, but there's a chance that the studio could win some players back with the upcoming showcase at the end of August. For now, the Ego Malign Shader popping up in the Bright Dust store is good news, and that's something players have been in dire need of.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
