Yep here we go, quick disclaimer however, I'm not going to blindly say all things were done with good merit. But I am stating the reasons whether they fully justify an action or not as well as the actual plus sides these decisions have seen to the game. [b]DLC Pricing and Collector madness[/b] [spoiler][b]The controversy:[/b] Announced with the insane idea of having the early additions to the game necessary for the collectors' editions. Digital Collector edition items adding 20 USD to just the Legendary edition and a supply limited physical edition for the same price. [b]The Solution:[/b] Following huge backlash and the infamous Luke Smith interview with Eurogamer (Which Luke himself apologized as the tone of the interview was poorly conveyed as stated by both the interviewer and the interviewee in large-part due to the Destiny community's lacking exposure to lukems and his sarcastic flairs.) all wrapped up Deej announced that the Collectors' digital content will be made available as an add-on to your pre-order selection at the same 20 USD as previously announced. [b]The Defense:[/b] These are "Collectors' items", that in itself adds a premium, then there's the part where Emotes and some of the class items have full animations and everything outside of the Shaders includes it's own unique design and people spend time on these things, 2.22 USD per-item with this in mind adding in the Collectors' title and compare that to just the stock basic skin alteration from Evolve for 3 USD per-skin which didn't include anything other than a simple repaint! Besides, all Class items will have the capability to carry unique EXP boosts to different items. It's just cosmetic really and cosmetics being the collectors' item is much more meaningful than an OP weapon as then we get the whole madness from Vex 1.0.[/spoiler] [b]Disc-locked content[/b] [spoiler][b]The Controversy:[/b] You'd better damn well know this one, especially if you opened the spoiler. Ain't nobody pissed off about the idea of anyone charging for what you own. [b]The Defense:[/b] As we all know, the story had some major overhauls about the time four critical devs pertaining to this aspect of Destiny had left. This quite possibly left many of the events coded into the pre-alpha version of the game to also need a complete overhaul. Then there's that part everyone forgets to mention that the locations themselves were grossly incomplete, if you fell off the map in Rasputin's bunker or The Terminus there was no death wall (not to mention the visual overhaul of The Terminus), companies with a plan for a certain asset may and often do place items into the disc to lower the cost of a future patch/download as each costs money to push, especially when dealing with Microsoft and Sony. When HoW hit all of these locations got the coding devs had been tossing in since TDB as well as context & lore support. We also have on-disc versions of Trials weapons using old models and different perk loadouts and Queen's Rare quality gear that will never see the light of day. Because Bungie used the time prior (and following in the case of the Queen's Emissary) to the release of these bits to overhaul how these events work along with the how, what, and why of the impact these entities have in the story of Destiny's universe. Instead of always playing on The Burning Shrine Trials now take place at one random map, instead of Queen's missions being paltry daily Heroics we have the Pack of Wolves, The Myriad, and history on the Reef Wars. And in one of the biggest cases, instead of a HoW Raid, we have the Prison of Elders (No matter what one may say, variety is welcomed in the end-game of any MMO-lite. Sure, Bungie & Activision may not have cut all of this for the good nature of finishing a product, but at least they're keeping it updated and using the lessons learned from previous encounters (see VoG vs Crota) to enhance the encounters we face moving forward. It's also worth noting that even the 343 Vesta Dynasty has gotten a complete visual overhaul since its original datamine and it's not unlikely that the FoAF isn't a final product either.[/spoiler] [b]The Taken King's USD pricing (No excusing the Euro price, but for those across the pond try Amazon!)[/b] [spoiler]The controversy: It's 2/3rds of the base game! The Defense: Aye, but it's also slated just content wise to be double that of HoW (20 USD), but including additional Achievements, more characters, and even a full blown Story I quote Gamespot "As the level drew to a close, I recognized Bungie's efforts to improve the story and the world. The demo I played made me very optimistic for the future of Destiny's narrative." (I'll link the article below). There are many articles saying the same thing, I know I saw a Eurogamer article I paraphrase as saying: "This is the storytelling players will recognize from Bungie's Halo 3 days." as a conclusion. Anywho, moving on from that the universe is also seeing some enrichment as Suros, Hakke, and Omolon of the City's Foundries actually have relevance and identity with their new and incredibly distinct weapons. No more are the days of slight reskins with different stats. Your weapons will have personality even if they are still of the same class. An M16 and an AK-47 aren't too different when you're not feeling the kick outside of the performance difference as will be the case comparing the Hakke Auto and your old Shadow Price. So yeah, if 40 USD means double HoW's content with a greater emphasis on narrative while also adding in features that do cost money included in the 40 USD package with so many more unannounced details? I'll hold my breath a while longer but I find myself a little optimistic.[/spoiler] Promised link from above segment: [spoiler]http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-the-taken-king-s-story-soars-to-new-height/1100-6428332/[/spoiler] [b]Laurea Prima[/b] [spoiler]The controversy: THAT'S ALL BUNGIE? REALLY! The Answer: No, we also get the Shader, Emblem, and Sparrow from the year one package that will make DO shaders blush, your Tumbler falter, and two Emblems that only Year one players will ever have out of the ten year franchise. In eight years you'll remember the loot-cave with these emblems even if you don't wear them. [/spoiler] [b]Destiny isn't what it could have been/Destiny is dead[/b] [spoiler]Aye, and as a lad who believed the hype and dropped 150 USD for the Ghost Edition you better [u]believe[/u] I was disappointed. But looking back I'm not discontent either, hence the post. Regardless however games will fade in popularity and anyone who's ever played a game similar to Destiny on PC will tell you that right between big updates and expansions always comes with it's own population lull making the game "die" to some extent when comparing the release population to that of later down the line after other games players have left for have been released. But many those same guys putting their controllers down will be on the Forums and Social Media with increasing regularity, hence some of you reading this post. Doesn't mean Destiny is truly dead nor dying than the same way you live, breathe, and reach a point of cellular degeneration and die of old age, only in this case Destiny keeps getting boost of cellular growth every year and sees a decline until the next September in the most common circumstance.[/spoiler] Did I miss something? Let me know and I'll reply to you and edit to OP after an intelligent discussion/debate, if you stump me on a given topic I will also add that into the OP for the increased perspective. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go grab some popcorn for the party (hmmm, Kettlecorn, Butter, or Salt?). I'll also add that I want to see things improve in-game just as much as anyone, and welcome both the saltiest of feedback as well as the most reserved. Even if it means biting the bullet. Pre-post note: I understand if a player is going through burnout, I myself just took a good break myself. It's common in games with even the most minute affiliation with an MMO-lite aspect. Just go play something else for a while and completely forget about Destiny, I think if you do come back the best time is on yours otherwise you'll just burnout again otherwise. Me? I'm feeling mid-Dec, minus the dread of re-leveling Exotics and farming the mats to do so post TDB.