Destiny 2 Is Making Another Big Change To The Eververse Store

Destiny 2‘s Eververse Store has caused some derision since the game’s release almost two years ago. Most of the items in the premium currency shop, which includes cosmetic items you can purchase with real money, can be earned by playing, but the most efficient way to get many of them was to take part in a convoluted scheme of spending money and converting in-game currencies. Starting in September, though, that’ll no longer be the case.

In a new post on the Bungie blog, game director Luke Smith detailed how the developer intends to change the Eververse Store starting on September 17 with the release of the game’s next expansion, Shadowkeep. One significant change deals with Bright Dust, one of the currencies used in the Eververse Store, which you can earn as you play. Because of the way the Eververse Store is set up, some items are purchased with Silver–the premium currency you purchase with real money–and others with Bright Dust. As Smith details in the blog, the best way to get Bright Dust right now is to buy items in the Eververse Store and “dismantle” them, which gives you Bright Dust in return–which you can then spend on new stuff in the store.

That results in players spending money on stuff they don’t want, so they can potentially unlock stuff that they do. Bungie doesn’t want that, so starting with Shadowkeep, Bright Dust will stop coming from Eververse items; instead, it’ll only be a currency you earn in-game for playing. You’ll still spend your Bright Dust in the Eververse Store on cosmetic items, but the difference is, you won’t have the incentive to spend money on Silver, to get Bright Dust, to unlock the items you want.

You also will no longer have to spend Bright Dust to regain items you previously purchased. As it stands now, reclaiming Eververse items from your “Collections,” the big database of everything you’ve unlocked in the game, requires Bright Dust. That won’t be the case going forward; you’ll instead re-buy your previously unlocked gear with Legendary Shards and Glimmer, the currencies you earn as you play.

Another change comes with some of the items you can buy at Eververse. The store’s current version of cosmetic armor pieces, which you earn in-game from random drops or purchase with Bright Dust, is going away–and that’ll make it easier to get spiffy premium clothes for your Guardian.

Right now, Eververse armor includes various perks, just like armor you earn in-game. But as Smith noted, Bungie has worked to make Eververse armor perks kind of, well, bad. That’s to avoid a pay-to-win system, where if you were willing to put up real cash, you could unlock better armor than other players earn just for playing. As a result, a lot of the armor in the Eververse Store gets ignored. Starting in September, Eververse armor will instead get changed to “ornaments,” or items that alter the look of other items. When you get an Eververse armor ornament in Shadowkeep, it will just change the look of the existing armor you’re already using. You’ll keep the perks and mods of the armor you got for playing while transforming its appearance to that of the Eververse item.

Those changes fit with a recent overhaul to the Eververse Store that came with Destiny 2’s last content update, the Season of Opulence. Bungie changed the store to offer a lot more one-off items for purchase with both Silver and Bright Dust, streamlining the process of buying the things you want, and lessening the game’s reliance on Bright Engrams, which are a bit like loot boxes.

It sounds like the changes coming in September will further separate Silver and Bright Dust items, so there’s less overlap between them. That should make Bright Dust items a lot easier to earn just by playing while making real-money purchases a bigger part in acquiring premium cosmetic items.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-2-is-making-another-big-change-to-the-ever/1100-6467905/