Bungie Adds ‘Destiny’ Paid Level Boost, Price Is Half A Full Game
Destiny: The Taken King launched with a single “Spark of Light” character boost to bring new players up to Level 25 and allow them to play the new content with friends immediately. There were indications this would eventually become a microtransaction item, and that was borne out today with updates to the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store. However, the price is a gigantic headscratcher since these boosts are half the price of a full game or near the price that The Taken King can be purchased.
Level 25 Packs are now on sale for $29.99 for each of the three primary Destiny classes – Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks. These packs include a boost to Level 25 for a single class along with a subclass boost, plus Telemetries. The subclass boost can be used to fully level out a single subclass, and the Telemetries can be used to level up weapons faster.
Selling progress in a game is not new. For example, Blizzard sells a Level 100 Character Boost for World of Warcraft at a cost of $60. However, that’s to skip hundreds of hours of playtime and to bring a character up to the maximum level in the MMORPG.
In contrast, the time it currently takes to reach Level 25 in Destiny can be measured in a handful of hours. New players who pick up The Taken King need to only play through the original story campaign and they will reach level 20. Going through The Dark Below and/or the House of Wolves story campaigns will then take a player past level 25. Additionally, players can reach level 40 by the time they complete The Taken King main campaign and extra story content.
Using the boost on alternate characters also makes little sense, as these can be leveled up even faster once players complete the first character and are able to share gear.
The $30 price for the Level 25 Character Packs can only be described as baffling and insulting to the Destiny community that has supported Bungie through the ups and down the game has gone through since its initial launch. The Destiny: The Taken King Legendary Edition that came with all Year One and Year Two content launched at $60 and can be had for as little as $30 today.
Naturally, the reaction from the community has been less than positive.
“Leveling a subclass is one of the most annoying things in this game and it’s pretty hilarious that instead of making it more reasonable, Bungie is capitalizing on the fact and charging $25,” Reddit user worldwithpyramids wrote.
“I’m not against the idea of boosts of this nature on principle, but considering what Destiny is it’s ridiculously overpriced and feels insulting given the current state of content in the game. It really feels like more effort has gone into getting the cash shop stuff up and running than has gone into making a steady flow of live content,” added NeoGAF user Xander Cage.
“$30 just to get to level 25? I just… What? I’m not opposed to the basic idea here, but how the f*** is this worth $30? $5 would be fair, $10 would be pushing it. $30 is almost literally throwing away money for a few hours saved,” lamented WhiteRabbitEXE on NeoGAF.
When the issue of boosters previously came up for Destiny, it was through data miners that discovered boosts for the King’s Fall Raid. Creative Director Luke Smith was quick to deny that Bungie would ever sell consumables that buff King’s Fall drop rates. However, no mention was made of subclass boosting. Now it is clear why.
What do you think of the new paid Destiny class boosts? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Xbox Store]
