Destiny developer Luke Smith has said that Bungie will not be repeating the mistakes it made with The Dark Below‘s reward economy. In response to comments on NeoGAF regarding the upcoming expansion, House of Wolves, Smith said the loot system will continue to improve based on player feedback. He wrote:
Nothing specific to announce at this time, but the mistakes we made with the DLC1 (The Dark Below) reward economy will not be repeated.
Mistakes like:
- Vendor gear invalidating the effort of VOG Raiders
- Upgrading an Exotic reseting its talents
Our philosophy about rewards/loot continue to evolve as we see how players play and react.
We will continue to improve acquisition stories and frequency, lessen the grind and get players to the fun parts of their arsenal faster.
With reference to Crota’s End drop rates and Vault of Glass drop rates, Smith said:
On CE drop rates vs. VOG:
The Forever 29 meme was a killer for us.
We sat down and talked about the rewards for VoG and the rates vs. CE and ended up with the following:
- increase drop rates globally in CE: we wanted dedicated players to be around 32 or real close by the time Hard mode came out.
- increase the variability of perks that a given piece can roll.
the goal here: players would reach 32 easier than 30, but would have more customization and options to build the perfect set (in terms of stats, perks, weapon affinities)
Smith said that this wouldn’t work as well with the Shard economy as Shards are a “barrier between you and equipping a sweet new piece of gear.” Bungie wants players to experience fewer barriers to equipping upgrades. “Removing the barrier between that new drop you’re excited to get and actually being able to equip it as a member of your arsenal are something we will do going forward,” he said.
Are Destiny players happy to hear this?
[Source: NeoGAF]
