Bungie Announces Some Subtle, But Necessary Changes To Destiny 2

In a recent blog post, Bungie laid out some sudden and big changes coming to Destiny 2. In addition to a reworked loot drop system, updates to the Crucible, and an expanded scope to recently added Masterwork items, the developers also included mentions of several changes that affect the quality of life for the game, which many fans have been clamoring to see for quite some time.

During the last few months, many fans online have been outspoken about several design decisions and practices that have been occurred in-game. In addition to expressing outrage over Bungie altering experience gains for players without notice, the more dedicated players found that the Eververse--the in-game microtransaction store--featured many items that were otherwise difficult to find on your own. While players were rewarded with Bright Engrams--special Engrams that yield items from the Eververse--these rewards are few and far between, and rarely yield the more high-end items.

Game director Christopher Barrett detailed a very specific road map of upcoming features in the blog post, which also highlighted a number of points that touched upon several annoyances that many of the hardcore players had. For example, players will be able to select multiple emotes for their character, and also more space will be added to the vault. Here's several of the highlights below:

• Weapon and Ability Balance Pass: Sandbox adjustments based on player feedback and data from the live game. The Sandbox team will share specific changes as we lead up to Season 3.
• Exotic Weapon and Armor Balance Pass: Exotic weapons and armor are receiving a comprehensive design pass to ensure they stand out from the rest of the gear and offer new, exciting, powerful ways to play.
• Seasonal Reputation: Specific vendors will now display a Seasonal ranking. Earning reputation will unlock unique Seasonal rewards and will reset each Season.
• Improved Iron Banner and Faction Rallies: In addition to the changes that you will see when Iron Banner and Faction Rallies return this month, we will continue iterating on these to make them unique, exciting experiences that you all look forward to.
• Playlist Repetition Reduction: This feature solves the problem of experiencing the same playlist entry multiple times in consecutive or frequent succession for both Crucible and Strikes.
• End Game Player Pursuits: We agree with your feedback on the imbalance between Achievement and Bright Engram rewards, and we will be making adjustments to shift more rewards into specific endgame pursuits instead of generic XP grinding for Bright Engrams. We are excited to share the details as soon as we have them worked out.
• Multi-Emote: When multi-emote launches, you will be able to choose which emote you have equipped to each of your four emote slots.
• Vault Changes: We are targeting an additional 50 slots to player vaults. We don’t believe just adding more space is a complete solution and are actively working on other changes to reduce load on your vault space. We are adding an Exotic accessory tab to Vault collections so you will no longer need to spend Vault space on Exotic Ships, Sparrows, and Ghosts.
• PC Clan Chat: In addition to the Tower chat that is targeted for February, we are adding clan chat to the PC version of the game.
• Heroic Strike Changes: We’ll be introducing modifiers to add more gameplay variety to the experience.

For more info on Destiny 2 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4--such as the changes to microtransactions, the next Faction Rally, masterwork items, and just what is free and paid for content in-game, keep up with GameSpot as we continue our coverage.