‘Destiny’ Players Promised ‘Something Better’ After ‘The Taken King’ Interview Debacle

The Destiny community is still raging after a Eurogamer interview with Lead Designer Luke Smith went sideways for Bungie. Fans are livid over how the Collector’s Editions of The Taken King expansion asks existing PlayStation and Xbox players to repurchase content to get exclusive new items and Smith’s attitude toward those concerns. Community Manager David “Deej” Dague has stepped in to try and calm the waters with a promise of “something better” for year-one players.

As reported yesterday, Destiny fans have been complaining in forums and even via a Change.org petition about how the Collector’s Editions for the game were being marketed. Smith’s answers to these complaints in the Eurogamer interview came across as flippant and disrespectful to fans of the game.

This created an immediate firestorm as the official Bungie forums, Destiny subreddit, NeoGAF, and others where Destiny players are active, blew up. The awareness of the issues with the Collector’s Editions spread to more people who had been unaware of them due to the flood of E3 news. Smith’s attitude also caused some longtime Bungie fans to cast a wary gaze at the studio.

This necessitated Dague stepping in to do the job of managing the community. The results are mixed, but he does promise more details during the Bungie Weekly Update on Thursday, along with “something better” for year-one players.

“I’m catching up on a lot of conversation about The Taken King. Please know that we’re reading this feedback and taking it as seriously — as we always do. Destiny is a great game because we worked together to make it that way over the course of the past year. That partnership has not changed,” Dague wrote in the Destinysubreddit thread on the issue that has nearly 6,000 comments.

“I understand that you want me to go on record right now with something that will address the disappointment that’s being expressed here,” he continued. “I’m going to differ to the Bungie Weekly Update, in which we’ll talk more about the things we’re doing to celebrate the year-one Guardians who helped us build this community. I’ll also revisit our goals in offering different versions of The Taken King. Ever heard the old adage about trying to please everyone?”

Dague’s message stumbled in a Bungie forum post where he apparently extolled the virtues of people buying the Destiny Collector’s Edition to resell on eBay at a higher price before getting to the heart of the matter.

“The Collector’s Edition is mostly sold out, so the people who found that stuff valuable jumped at the chance. You’ll likely see it sold on ebay for much more than what we’re asking,” he explained. “But that’s not the point. Right?”

“The real conversation here is: What are we doing to honor you, the players who have been bound to Destiny in this first year of action and adventure? I’m glad you asked. I’m going to answer in the Bungie Weekly Update.”

The messaging became a little clearer in a response to Forbes about the issue.

“Year One players won’t get the same perks as people who buy a collector’s edition,” he told Forbes. “They’ll get something better. Tune into the Weekly Update for more.”

Destiny players that have gone through the trials and tribulations of the first year of Destiny, have reached light level 30, or purchased the first two expansions will receive a new sparrow, armor shader, and emblem as part of a “VIP Reward.” Now it sounds like they’ll get a little more, but still not the same emotes, shaders, and class items that are in the Collector’s Editions.

This is yet another public relations mess for Bungie that has had more than a handful since the game’s launch. Players keep sticking around because the game as many virtues as it does pitfalls. However, not clearly communicating the contents of The Taken King expansion to justify the $40 starting price and then releasing a version of the expansion that asks users to rebuy content they already own has not been a good look for Bungie or its publisher, Activision.

What do you think of Bungie’s response to the controversy with The Taken King so far? Sound off in the comments below.

[Images via Bungie]