There have to be an nearly erotic thrill to eliminating a whole forex on the click on of a button. That is what’s going to occur in Future 2 on the finish of November when Season 23 launches. Bungie right now introduced that it will likely be fully deprecating Legendary Shards, that are a fabric used to pay for all kinds of things within the sport. In contrast to earlier materials deprecations, the studio additionally mentioned that it’s going to not offer something by means of compensation. Legendary Shards are simply going to be gone.
The timing is a shock, however Bungie’s rationale isn’t: The Legendary Shards financial system is at present in shambles. Checking my steadiness, I’ve simply over 13k after many 1,000s of hours within the sport. That is sufficient to have the ability to pay for engram decoding and weapon masterworking with out a lot fear. However previously I’ve dipped as little as a few hundred, notably when Trials and Iron Banner weapons had been exorbitant to focus utilizing Shards. Nonetheless, one in every of my clan mates has one way or the other managed to amass a staggering 186k (largely as a result of he is a cheapskate who, not like me, would not masterwork each gun he owns).
The issue, although, is new gamers, who’ve little manner of catching up. The first means to amass Shards is from dismantling Legendary high quality gear, with a return charge of 4 shards per merchandise destroyed. With out grinding for 100s of hours it is close to inconceivable to accrue a cushty steadiness as a result of Bungie has been making an attempt to set costs that work for each forms of gamers.
“Some gamers have greater than they might ever be capable of spend, whereas others wrestle to earn sufficient to interact with the programs that require Shards as a price,” mentioned a spokesperson for the Future 2 financial system group within the This Week at Bungie weblog. “This typically made it laborious to search out Legendary Shard prices that might really feel impactful to gamers, whereas additionally guaranteeing that the content material that did require Legendary Shards may very well be loved by all gamers, regardless of how lengthy, or how a lot they play.”
Issues weren’t helped by varied exploits down the years that enabled gamers to rack up a mountain of Shards earlier than the loopholes had been patched. Typically these exploits concerned a vendor or the gathering supervisor providing a bit of drugs that broke right down to an incorrectly excessive quantity of Shards, enabling an infinite loop (in the event you may deal with the tedium of doing it).
Bungie did at the least specific some sympathy for the bankrupted Shard barons: “As a lot as we all know how unhealthy it feels to have currencies that you’ve got amassed over a protracted time frame wiped away, please know that we do not make the choice to take away them evenly. We really imagine their removing is in one of the best curiosity of each the sport and the gamers.”
Up to now, I have not seen a ton of pushback, which suggests the playerbase understood there was an issue with the financial system. The Reddit thread accompanying right now’s weblog is filled with folks swapping concepts for the best way to dump their Shard 401k. The most effective strategies are stocking up on Raid Banners from Suraya Hawthorne or buying and selling Shards on the Cryptarch’s Supplies Alternate. As issues stand, you should buy a single Enhancement Core for 30 Legendary Shards, which is clearly daylight theft, however higher than deletion. The Cyrptarch additionally presents Ascendant Alloys and Enhancement Prisms for an obscene 400 Shards every, however these are on a weekly lockout.
Staying with regards to supplies, I am going to wrap up by noting I love one other change introduced within the weblog. From September 19, the drop charge for Essence of the Oversoul will likely be massively buffed. It is solely discovered by finishing encounters within the reprised Crota’s Finish raid, and it is wanted to amass the unique autorifle Necrochasm. Along with extra assured Essence from clearing the raid every week, Bungie is including an opportunity for a fortunate drop of all of the remaining Essence you want for the gun and its catalyst.
Between that change, and likewise swapping this week’s Nightfall reward after gamers complained it wasn’t one of many new weapons, it does really feel just like the studio is making an attempt to reply a lot faster to suggestions. Little question in response to the breakdown in neighborhood relations that occurred in August, about which I spoke to sport director Joe Blackburn a couple of weeks in the past.