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[Jigsaah]

So I haven't really been into Destiny 2 since the ShadowKeep DLC. I decided on a whim yesterday to download D2 on Steam. I have all the expansions with the exception of Beyond Light. I decided to purchase The Witch Queen when it was on sale.

So I login today, and I'm immediately tossed into what I thought was the Witch Queen DLC campaign. I go and do this mission following some ghouls and exploring Emperor Calus' now defunct palace. I finish the mission and am given a cutscene with his daughter, Ikora, that awoken Prince and Zavala. Then I'm on some type of hub ship...completely devoid of other players. I'm directed to speak to "H.E.L.M." for the next quest. So I got to this...artifact to get the next quest and am immediately made aware that I don't have necessary DLC or Season Content to do the next quest.

So you're telling me, the first thing that is done to a returning player is to introduce him to a paywall...even though I purchased the Witch Queen DLC. I literally have no fuckin clue how to even access the campaign. There's so many indicators on the directory I don't know which way is up. There some Haunted event going on this season...which I need to pay for. There's the 30th anniversay event, which I have to pay for. I was beyond frustrated at this point.

I decided to give it another shot and go where the green diamond marker was on Europa. There seemed to be a quest there. I go to the quest location...am told to do some event that wasn't like a bounty or live event like what I'm used to. It had narrative so that's how I knew it wasn't a live event where the sky darkens...etc. Only after completing this "event" was I able to access the marker where this quest was. To my surprise it was unaccessible why? Because I don't have the Beyond Light DLC.

WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I JUST ACCESS THE WITCH QUEEN DLC AND GO FROM THERE? I checked the quest log from the directory and literally have no quests listed for the Witch Queen. I gave up at this point and just closed out of D2.

Hence the title of this thread. What has D2 become. Why is it microtransaction and DLC hell at this point?

 

[hangdang69]

A boring grindfest. I didn't even finish the Witch Queen expansion. I got to a point where I had to grind to level up to do a campaign mission and finally had the epiphany of "I've had enough." I've played since D1 launched and only played major expansions for the most part, but the well has just run dry for me. It feels more like a chore than a fun game.

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

Yeah I immediately regretted purchasing it. I bought Beyond Light and it took like 20 minutes for me to figure out what I can and can’t do.

It is absolutely ridiculous that all story material before Beyond Light is now permanently deleted.

Isn’t there also story content that’s available for a week and then that’s permanently deleted as well? Definitely something I don’t want to get into

 

[GymWolf]

Sony best acquisition in decades...

 

[Jigsaah]

Yeah I immediately regretted purchasing it. I bought Beyond Light and it took like 20 minutes for me to figure out what I can and can’t do.

It is absolutely ridiculous that all story material before Beyond Light is now permanently deleted.

Isn’t there also story content that’s available for a week and then that’s permanently deleted as well? Definitely something I don’t want to get into

Wait WHAT!? So if you're a brand new player...never touched D2...what do you get going in? You download it for free and what, there's no campaign?

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

Wait WHAT!? So if you're a brand new player...never touched D2...what do you get going in? You download it for free and what, there's no campaign?

You can start off with Beyond Light, but the original D2 campaign from when it initially released, and Forsaken, the first expansion, are inaccessible (to everyone, including people who bought them). Instead, Bungie automatically made it so that you’re strong enough to start with Beyond Light. Even though it’s kind of very hard to know about anything or care about anything if you start from there (which is the case for me).


Edit: oops yeah, if you download it for free, there’s these weird free missions that take place on the 1st Destiny 1 map and that’s it IIRC. I had to pay for Beyond Light, obviously, but I regret it lol

 

[buenoblue]

Yeah it's a mess. Even worse if your a new player.

 

[sainraja]

So I haven't really been into Destiny 2 since the ShadowKeep DLC. I decided on a whim yesterday to download D2 on Steam. I have all the expansions with the exception of Beyond Light. I decided to purchase The Witch Queen when it was on sale.

So I login today, and I'm immediately tossed into what I thought was the Witch Queen DLC campaign. I go and do this mission following some ghouls and exploring Emperor Calus' now defunct palace. I finish the mission and am given a cutscene with his daughter, Ikora, that awoken Prince and Zavala. Then I'm on some type of hub ship...completely devoid of other players. I'm directed to speak to "H.E.L.M." for the next quest. So I got to this...artifact to get the next quest and am immediately made aware that I don't have necessary DLC or Season Content to do the next quest.

So you're telling me, the first thing that is done to a returning player is to introduce him to a paywall...even though I purchased the Witch Queen DLC. I literally have no fuckin clue how to even access the campaign. There's so many indicators on the directory I don't know which way is up. There some Haunted event going on this season...which I need to pay for. There's the 30th anniversay event, which I have to pay for. I was beyond frustrated at this point.

I decided to give it another shot and go where the green diamond marker was on Europa. There seemed to be a quest there. I go to the quest location...am told to do some event that wasn't like a bounty or live event like what I'm used to. It had narrative so that's how I knew it wasn't a live event where the sky darkens...etc. Only after completing this "event" was I able to access the marker where this quest was. To my surprise it was unaccessible why? Because I don't have the Beyond Light DLC.

WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I JUST ACCESS THE WITCH QUEEN DLC AND GO FROM THERE? I checked the quest log from the directory and literally have no quests listed for the Witch Queen. I gave up at this point and just closed out of D2.

Hence the title of this thread. What has D2 become. Why is it microtransaction and DLC hell at this point?

The new player/returning player experience definitely could use some improvement (they are working on that I believe) but you can access The Witch Queen campaign from the Moon. If you haven't started it (there should be an option in the main director screen, I can't recall 100% because I've finished it, to just jump into it.)
But I mean, we're gamers. If there is one thing we should be good at by now is figuring things out, that's part of the experience, no?

 

[Jigsaah]

The new player/returning player experience definitely could use some improvement (they are working on that I believe) but you can access The Witch Queen campaign from the Moon. If you haven't started it (there should be an option in the main director screen, I can't recall 100% because I've finished it, to just jump into it.)
But I mean, we're gamers. If there is one thing we should be good at by now is figuring things out, that's part of the experience, no?

I like figuring out how to get the new weapons and exotics. Figuring out how to do the raid sure? I don't think I should have to figure out where the first mission in a DLC is....especially since they obviously have the ability to direct you to specific content without any agency from the player. Like they could have had me start on the first mission of the Witch Queen, but obviously decided it was better to show me what I don't have to prompt me to spend more money before I even get a chance to get into what I've already purchased.

Thank you for the insight on where to go. I'll try again when I'm off work.

 

[proandrad]

They really just need to do a full reset and come out with destiny 3 at this point. Game has that World of Warcraft retail vibe that makes it feel overwhelming for new and returning players

 

[Mossybrew]

I bought the Witch Queen when it was on sale like, maybe two months ago? I didn't have quite as much trouble as OP but yeah at times figuring out what to do to progress the campaign could be confusing. The main problem is that basic structure of the game is an unintuitive mess to navigate. And even when I got into the flow of the game, it all felt very been-there done-that. I've been an on and off player since the original but the magic has definitely worn off at this point. I guess there are still diehards that will pay for the pass and stuff, but that's gotta be a dwindling base at this point. I did most of the Witch Queen stuff then just deleted the game from my drive. I'd love a completely reworked Destiny 3 but who knows if that will ever happen, as far as I know they are going to keep adding and removing content from this old frankenstein game for the forseeable future.

 

[Patrick S.]

I loved the gameplay of Destiny 1 and fell for their lies with their "10 year plan". Bought and enjoyed Destiny 2, but when they started to take away content I had paid for, I uninstalled the game forever. Destiny 2 is dead to me. I might play a bit of Destiny 1, should I ever feel the Destiny itch again. I think I preferred the first game anyway.

 

[Uiki]

So I haven't really been into Destiny 2 since the ShadowKeep DLC. I decided on a whim yesterday to download D2 on Steam. I have all the expansions with the exception of Beyond Light. I decided to purchase The Witch Queen when it was on sale.

So I login today, and I'm immediately tossed into what I thought was the Witch Queen DLC campaign. I go and do this mission following some ghouls and exploring Emperor Calus' now defunct palace. I finish the mission and am given a cutscene with his daughter, Ikora, that awoken Prince and Zavala. Then I'm on some type of hub ship...completely devoid of other players. I'm directed to speak to "H.E.L.M." for the next quest. So I got to this...artifact to get the next quest and am immediately made aware that I don't have necessary DLC or Season Content to do the next quest.

So you're telling me, the first thing that is done to a returning player is to introduce him to a paywall...even though I purchased the Witch Queen DLC. I literally have no fuckin clue how to even access the campaign. There's so many indicators on the directory I don't know which way is up. There some Haunted event going on this season...which I need to pay for. There's the 30th anniversay event, which I have to pay for. I was beyond frustrated at this point.

I decided to give it another shot and go where the green diamond marker was on Europa. There seemed to be a quest there. I go to the quest location...am told to do some event that wasn't like a bounty or live event like what I'm used to. It had narrative so that's how I knew it wasn't a live event where the sky darkens...etc. Only after completing this "event" was I able to access the marker where this quest was. To my surprise it was unaccessible why? Because I don't have the Beyond Light DLC.

WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I JUST ACCESS THE WITCH QUEEN DLC AND GO FROM THERE? I checked the quest log from the directory and literally have no quests listed for the Witch Queen. I gave up at this point and just closed out of D2.

Hence the title of this thread. What has D2 become. Why is it microtransaction and DLC hell at this point?

Don't you have a pop up menu on the left side of the map with the planets, telling you what you do?

If not, you can scroll the quest page. There are vertical tabs on the left side. Each tab is specific stuff tied to specific content.

 

[LaughingStock]

Aren't all of the witch queen missions in the throne world?

 

[ManaByte]

Deleting paid content should be illegal.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

It's not perfect but it's the best ongoing game IMO.
You should be able to select the Witch Queen content from the director.

I am not a new player so I don't see what some might.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Deleting paid content should be illegal.

Many games and sequels would be breaking the law if that was the case.

But yeah these game companies need to figure out a better way of doing things than removing content people pay for.

 

[grfunkulus]

So I haven't really been into Destiny 2 since the ShadowKeep DLC. I decided on a whim yesterday to download D2 on Steam. I have all the expansions with the exception of Beyond Light. I decided to purchase The Witch Queen when it was on sale.

So I login today, and I'm immediately tossed into what I thought was the Witch Queen DLC campaign. I go and do this mission following some ghouls and exploring Emperor Calus' now defunct palace. I finish the mission and am given a cutscene with his daughter, Ikora, that awoken Prince and Zavala. Then I'm on some type of hub ship...completely devoid of other players. I'm directed to speak to "H.E.L.M." for the next quest. So I got to this...artifact to get the next quest and am immediately made aware that I don't have necessary DLC or Season Content to do the next quest.

So you're telling me, the first thing that is done to a returning player is to introduce him to a paywall...even though I purchased the Witch Queen DLC. I literally have no fuckin clue how to even access the campaign. There's so many indicators on the directory I don't know which way is up. There some Haunted event going on this season...which I need to pay for. There's the 30th anniversay event, which I have to pay for. I was beyond frustrated at this point.

I decided to give it another shot and go where the green diamond marker was on Europa. There seemed to be a quest there. I go to the quest location...am told to do some event that wasn't like a bounty or live event like what I'm used to. It had narrative so that's how I knew it wasn't a live event where the sky darkens...etc. Only after completing this "event" was I able to access the marker where this quest was. To my surprise it was unaccessible why? Because I don't have the Beyond Light DLC.

WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I JUST ACCESS THE WITCH QUEEN DLC AND GO FROM THERE? I checked the quest log from the directory and literally have no quests listed for the Witch Queen. I gave up at this point and just closed out of D2.

Hence the title of this thread. What has D2 become. Why is it microtransaction and DLC hell at this point?

Microtransactions are irrelevant to longtime players. They sell all the good ornaments eventually for bright dust (it's even datamined by this point so you know exactly what will be up each week). I'm sorry you didn't take 2 minutes to familiarize yourself with what you did and didn't pay for and how to access it months later. It probably would've taken less time to figure it out than the post you wrote but technically, sure, Bungie could improve the readability of the interface. The season passes are actually a really great deal and a lot of content for $10 a piece. The game is in a really good place, content loop-wise. The problem is the pvp meta is a little toxic right now with endless overshields and recovery mechanics. I don't mind so much as a 6s main who dabbles in trials to go flawless on occasion if there's an adept weapon I really want. But the Uber sweats are extra sweaty this season

 

[Pegasus Actual]

I don't think Destiny 2 works as a game unless you just go full retard, buy everything and gear up to do the endgame stuff.

First time you launch the game during a season, you get dumped into that seasonal mission. So I guess you get the 'artifact' in that intro quest, which is why that part isn't money-gated. And then you hit a dead end. The artifact is important because that's where your XP grind goes into (alongside the season pass) to get you a bunch of temporary armor mods so you can tackle champions and also there's always some mods that are borderline required for a build just because they are so good. This season the basic easy mode is to unlock Classy Restoration mod, and get 100 resilience.

Since you want to do the Witch Queen campaign, to start it you probably need to find something that looks like:

on the map. I think it should be under Savathun's Throne World because that's where the "Mars" content is and it should be called "The Arrival". I'm pretty sure when Witch Queen launched you actually just got dumped into the campaign mission but now that we're into the next season well.. Who the fuck knows . There should also be a difficulty select. You probably don't want to play Legend if you don't know what you're doing in Destiny because success in Legend doesn't come from basic FPS skills so much as having and knowing how to abuse OP equipment and abilities. But if normal mode feels to easy you can give it a try I suppose.

And yeah the UI is one of the worst in all of gaming.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Shadowkeep is the last one I bought, I played beyond light for free on gamepass, and now that it's gone the statis class is locked again lol.
The game became pretty much worthless to me when they started deleting content.

 

[Jigsaah]

I don't think Destiny 2 works as a game unless you just go full retard, buy everything and gear up to do the endgame stuff.

First time you launch the game during a season, you get dumped into that seasonal mission. So I guess you get the 'artifact' in that intro quest, which is why that part isn't money-gated. And then you hit a dead end. The artifact is important because that's where your XP grind goes into (alongside the season pass) to get you a bunch of temporary armor mods so you can tackle champions and also there's always some mods that are borderline required for a build just because they are so good. This season the basic easy mode is to unlock Classy Restoration mod, and get 100 resilience.

Since you want to do the Witch Queen campaign, to start it you probably need to find something that looks like:

on the map. I think it should be under Savathun's Throne World because that's where the "Mars" content is and it should be called "The Arrival". I'm pretty sure when Witch Queen launched you actually just got dumped into the campaign mission but now that we're into the next season well.. Who the fuck knows . There should also be a difficulty select. You probably don't want to play Legend if you don't know what you're doing in Destiny because success in Legend doesn't come from basic FPS skills so much as having and knowing how to abuse OP equipment and abilities. But if normal mode feels to easy you can give it a try I suppose.

And yeah the UI is one of the worst in all of gaming.

Crap I selected Legendary at the onset cause...ya know...I ain't no bitch...but now you got me thinking I made a mistake. I don't know what is OP and what's not nowadays. Haven't played since ShadowKeep. However, I definitely don't want it to be a walk in the park. I'll fall asleep mid mission.

 

[sainraja]

I like figuring out how to get the new weapons and exotics. Figuring out how to do the raid sure? I don't think I should have to figure out where the first mission in a DLC is....especially since they obviously have the ability to direct you to specific content without any agency from the player. Like they could have had me start on the first mission of the Witch Queen, but obviously decided it was better to show me what I don't have to prompt me to spend more money before I even get a chance to get into what I've already purchased.

Thank you for the insight on where to go. I'll try again when I'm off work.

It may seem that way but I think it really is due to how the game really just focuses on their existing player base who have invested a lot of time into the game. Any time they add new seasonal content, players are jumped directly into that (so far I have kept ahead or in sync with each week for the seasonal story so I dunno how it is when you are behind before a new season starts, it might still jump you directly into the season). The Destiny community here and outside here all acknowledge how the new player and returning player experience isn't that great and it is something Bungie should focus on fixing. I will share a video with you soon but the main director has a spot for you to launch directly into the story for Witch Queen (now this varies by platform but, on PS you press the touchpad, on XSX you press the three lines button to launch the director, not sure of PC even though I did buy the game there too lol).

EDIT
Looks like you got that taken care of! Hope you enjoy! I know it can be a bit confusing but good luck!

For those that would still want a reference:

 

[MDSLKTR]

My experience as someone that got back into it recently:
-Finished the introductory quest "A guardian rises"
-Just grinding power levels to do night strikes and hopefully touch a raid for the fist time
-Check Xur on weekends for exotics

And that's it really... I don't plan on buying dlcs. It's disjointed af and I'm completely lost but it's still fun to play, it will do until the new CoD drops.

 

[Raven117]

Gameplay is still great. Everything else...meh.

(I did finish up this seasons story, but logged out and wont be back until the next one).

 

[Warnen]

It’s a mess for new player or lapsed players for that matter. Really need to start over with a new game.

 

[Roman Empire]

A boring grindfest. I didn't even finish the Witch Queen expansion. I got to a point where I had to grind to level up to do a campaign mission and finally had the epiphany of "I've had enough." I've played since D1 launched and only played major expansions for the most part, but the well has just run dry for me. It feels more like a chore than a fun game.

Had this epiphany with Beyond Light where after the campaign you had to grind to get the new abilities for the stasis class. I paid for the expansion and have no time or will to grind each character to get their stuff. Then everything clicked and I saw how little I was invested in Destiny's grind. The story I can watch on youtube later.

 

[Nydius]

I am so glad I hit the burnout wall halfway through Shadowkeep, after having played Destiny since the first game's 'beta'. I came back for Beyond Light solely because it was on Game Pass but that only solidified the fact that I was well and truly done with the game. I'll still go back and play Destiny 1 from time to time because I find it enjoyable and it will forever be 'feature complete' (until they turn off the servers, that is) unlike Destiny 2 which has become little more than a FOMO monetization vehicle.

They are trying so damn hard to turn it into a subscription style MMO without making it a subscription MMO. But the way they manage expansions and season passes might as well be de facto subscriptions because without them you only get a fraction of the content.

 

[LordCBH]

An addictive shooty shoot loot grind.

 

[just_like_that]

witch queen was a great improvement for narrative and story missions. the mods and reworked subclasses and some QOL improvements really does make the game feel more i guess, "substantial" could be the word? a step in the right direction for sure.

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut

after a while, you realize the grind has always been the same tiresome bullshit and really does make the game fall flat hard. a lot of exp you earn doesnt count towards your power level and you can only obtain a piece of gear higher than what you have with missions that give you "pinnacle" gear

the problem with that is its completely RNG, meaning you could get 5 drops that are all for the energy slot and still be stuck at the same fucking power level until the weekly reset. this shit happens all the time and really burns you the fuck out.

it really sucks when a grandmaster nightfall comes out halfway in the season and you're still 20-30 power level behind the recommended. you really gotta play it like its a real a job lol.

i still play it here and there because this shit will make you hate this games guts if you play too long. destiny 2 is still a solid fps game and one that bungie is already good at making but content and the rules of the game really put this shit down and its so annoying because this world has so much damn potential.

also they can kiss my fat hairy ass for charging people extra to play dungeons when the older expansions had them included. that was seriously a low blow from them

 

[Roman Empire]

The best way I can describe right now: Destiny is an FPS with RPG-lite mechanics running in a Mobile Gaming Design System of drip-feeding content to the players, and the in-game Store is always getting new shiny shit. Every aspect of the game is getting monetizable little by little. Expansions have no meaningful content aside from the dragged-out story missions (That could be done in 2 hours if the players were free to do it without the content being gated through meaningless grind) and the featured Raid. Dungeons are now sold separately unless you buy the Deluxe Edition. Seasons are a travesty of getting 1 week's worth of content stretched for months while being drip-fed.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Crap I selected Legendary at the onset cause...ya know...I ain't no bitch...but now you got me thinking I made a mistake. I don't know what is OP and what's not nowadays. Haven't played since ShadowKeep. However, I definitely don't want it to be a walk in the park. I'll fall asleep mid mission.

The difficulty scaling is a bit weird. Legendary seemed a lot harder when doing it with friends compared to solo. It was mildly challenging on solo but again I was jogging through it with a decently meta loadout. There's no harm in trying it on Legendary, you can always lower the difficulty. I think on Legendary you have to deal with match game, so make sure to match the color of your energy weapon to enemy shields where applicable, and it's always good to have a heavy that does decent boss damage say a linear fusion rifle (to the face) or a rocket launcher. And an appropriate ammo finder mod on your helmet because getting ammo starved is never fun.

I haven't touched the campaign in a while aside from the occasional weekly pinnacle 100k versions which... are different, they add champions, I'm sure there are other changes as well, so I might not be 100% accurate with everything I'm saying.

 

[Wooxsvan]

They really just need to do a full reset and come out with destiny 3 at this point. Game has that World of Warcraft retail vibe that makes it feel overwhelming for new and returning players

ya it needs a massive refresh. but theyv made no indication thats what they are working on. In fact at a summit a couple years ago they specifically decided to stay the course and release d2 expansions forever. hope they change their minds sooner than later

 

[OldBoyGamer]

One Thing I don’t understand. The dlc packs are all still on sale in all stores. Are you saying someone can buy those packs but not have access to the campaigns?? Surely not?

(Edit. Sorry pre emptive text changed words and I didn’t notice)

 

[Mossybrew]

Yeah, the dungeons being sold separately is some bullshit for sure.

 

[eastcoastkody]

i loved Destiny 1. I hated Destiny 2 for like the first year because they completely ruined the game. Slowly overtime they've reverted many of the dumb changes they made to the first games formula. It was in a really good spot for a little while. But now i loathe it again. As its become a game u have to no-life. I have not been able to catch up on anything in this game for years. The seasonal quest and battlepass stuff has ruined it for me. That and they've abandoned PVP. The reason i played the game.

and now this red border gun nonsense, makes me not even want to play

 

[EverydayBeast]

Destiny felt special a few years ago now you have to worry about dlc.

 

[CuNi]

I know the game is supposed to be about grinding, but honestly they put so much into it that it killed my interest.
I have been playing this game, I would even dare to say so obsessively, up till Beyond Light. I was disgruntled that they removed old locations, but they promised more content, better content, faster content.
At this point, I have played most strikes so many times with my Fireteam that we could be watching Netflix while doing them because they became something like a second home to us. Same with the old raids and locations.
We have been busting our asses off back when the first GMs dropped, and they were honestly refreshing, and we loved them.... at first.
Besides a new Raid coming out every Add-on, Grandmaster Nightfalls we're the only real other PvE challenge. And they locked it behind grind. It wasn't enough to reach top gear, no, you had to grind 15 levels of the seasonal artifact on top of being hard capped gear level. Every. God. Damn. Season. This burned us out after a few seasons. There was no reason for it besides artificially creating the need to grind. And it wasn't even gear you needed. You just mindlessly have to grind EXP. Doing all the old content over and over and over again just to be able to play the Grandmaster for it to be reset next season. It was honestly burning us out, and I was the first to quit with Witch Queen. I admired my other 2 mates carrying on playn it, but even they quit by now, simply because this game requires an unholy amount of grind if you want to do even just Grandmasters. If you are not interested in Grandmasters or Iron Banner, there is no reason to grind past the gear hard cap.

Edit: On top of that, they celebrated 25 Years of Bungie's existence by releasing a DLC... that cost money. And it was outside the Season Pass. You had the Season Pass? Who cares!! Please pay us money to celebrate with us!
That was one of their most disgusting monetization moves IMHO, and I will call them out for it until the end of days.

 

[Barakov]

So I haven't really been into Destiny 2 since the ShadowKeep DLC. I decided on a whim yesterday to download D2 on Steam. I have all the expansions with the exception of Beyond Light. I decided to purchase The Witch Queen when it was on sale.

So I login today, and I'm immediately tossed into what I thought was the Witch Queen DLC campaign. I go and do this mission following some ghouls and exploring Emperor Calus' now defunct palace. I finish the mission and am given a cutscene with his daughter, Ikora, that awoken Prince and Zavala. Then I'm on some type of hub ship...completely devoid of other players. I'm directed to speak to "H.E.L.M." for the next quest. So I got to this...artifact to get the next quest and am immediately made aware that I don't have necessary DLC or Season Content to do the next quest.

So you're telling me, the first thing that is done to a returning player is to introduce him to a paywall...even though I purchased the Witch Queen DLC. I literally have no fuckin clue how to even access the campaign. There's so many indicators on the directory I don't know which way is up. There some Haunted event going on this season...which I need to pay for. There's the 30th anniversay event, which I have to pay for. I was beyond frustrated at this point.

I decided to give it another shot and go where the green diamond marker was on Europa. There seemed to be a quest there. I go to the quest location...am told to do some event that wasn't like a bounty or live event like what I'm used to. It had narrative so that's how I knew it wasn't a live event where the sky darkens...etc. Only after completing this "event" was I able to access the marker where this quest was. To my surprise it was unaccessible why? Because I don't have the Beyond Light DLC.

WHY IN THE FUCK CAN'T I JUST ACCESS THE WITCH QUEEN DLC AND GO FROM THERE? I checked the quest log from the directory and literally have no quests listed for the Witch Queen. I gave up at this point and just closed out of D2.

Hence the title of this thread. What has D2 become. Why is it microtransaction and DLC hell at this point?

I kinda knew this was the road the game was going to down after it went f2p and introduced the battle pass which it locked content behind. It's also pretty annoying that they're pestering you to buy the digital deluxe items just because you bought the base witch queen campaign.

EDIT : Almost forgot the dlc pack they released for their(Bungie's) 25th anniversary. They got some balls over there, I'll give them that. I might check back in if they do a D3 but as of right now I've had my fun and moved on.

 

[Roman Empire]

I kinda knew this was the road the game was going to down after it went f2p and introduced the battle pass which it locked content behind. It's also pretty annoying that they're pestering you to buy the digital deluxe items just because you bought the base witch queen campaign.

EDIT : Almost forgot the dlc pack they released for their(Bungie's) 25th anniversary. They got some balls over there, I'll give them that. I might check back in if they do a D3 but as of right now I've had my fun and moved on.

At this point, I am just happy for being free of it. There is no sunken cost fallacy that can save this game long-term. Even content creators play the bare minimum to make their videos and guides, then dip out for new games. Destiny 2 really feels like it has entered maintenance mode after Shadowkeep. I will be surprised if by the end of Lightfall they don't announce Destiny 3.

 

[The_Verecocha]

Shite.

Is the simple answer. From someone who was unhealthily addicted to Destiny for a time, Destiny 2 has been an absolute joke for years.

 

[Robot Carnival]

I'm pretty happy with Destiny in general right now as a semi-casual player of Destiny since the first game. what the OP is going through is definitely a problem thou (that and new player experience in general), but I honestly don't know what Bungie can do to fix it at this point, outside of some kinda full core game system rework. though I will say that Witch Queen had been overall pretty good in my opinion. the campaign had been a blast to play and they did a pretty good job with presenting the story. the Void and Solar rework had been great too giving me a lot of options as a Warlock main. can't wait for the Arc rework also. the latest seasonal focus stories had also been good and I've been enjoying the PvE side of things pretty well with the dungeons and raids. making PvE and PvP adjustments separate from each other is one of the best changes they had made (even if it comes kinda late). and I think they had been slowly working on PvP also, finally adding a new map and trying to rework Trial and Iron Banner. I'm not big on PvP so I can't say if those are good or not, but at least it's something.

Jigsaah, feel free to hop on over to the main Destiny 2 OT if you need any help or have questions. it's not that busy there but we usually can help with answering some questions at least. and since it's cross play these days, we should be able to help with stuff pretty easily too.

 

[Reallink]

They really just need to do a full reset and come out with destiny 3 at this point. Game has that World of Warcraft retail vibe that makes it feel overwhelming for new and returning players

WoW effectively gets a full reset every major version update now, not just expansions. But I take your point. Bizarrely a lot of people seem to either enjoy or are unperturbed by an impenetrable wall of content. AFAIK FF14 still gates everything behind several hundred hours of base game and previous expansion content (slimely offering pay-2-skip for every individual expansion. Last I looked it was over well over $50 extra to "skip" to the current expansion's content) and that game is huge and wildly successful. Personally I wouldn't touch any of the games as a new or returning player.

 

[Amiga]

Would have been better to restart with a D3. players need a clean break and clear stop/start points. modify older games to be played solo.

 

[sainraja]

That's the thing though.....with Destiny you can't have clear start and stop points. They have to keep the player-base invested somehow and so far whatever they are doing is working.

 

[gatti-man]

They really just need to do a full reset and come out with destiny 3 at this point. Game has that World of Warcraft retail vibe that makes it feel overwhelming for new and returning players

Wow is wayyyyy better for returning players. Destiny is a total mess by comparison. I come back to wow probably once a year. I’ve tried to come back to d2 twice and each time I just get lost in the paywall shit and what I should actually be doing.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Garbage…same as it was the day it released.

 

[Jigsaah]

So a quick update. I have now accessed Witch Queen DLC. All is pretty much going ok at this point. Haven't quite finished the campaign yet. Playing Solo on Legendary.

One thing I figured out that I'm kinda peeved about. So apparently in order to get Gjallahorn or many of the other popular weapons from D1, you have to pay for the 30th anniversary update.

Remember when D1 first launched and it was said that you would be able to carry stuff over to the next TWO games? Ok so not only did that not happen, but now they are puttin old weapons behind a paywall.

Bungie literally has no chill right now.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Bungie literally has no chill right now.

Yeah you want all the weapons you just gotta suck it up and buy the Deluxe edition of everything to get the yearly DLC and all the seasons. This year they threw in that 30th anniversary stuff on top of it. If you play the game a lot it's kind of justifiable as a pseudo subscription fee. If you're a bit more casual it's a rip-off.

I get all the content on PC but occasionally load up the game on Xbox (well, I loaded the Xbox version a lot more before Crossplay launched), and assault of ads for content is just gross. Especially funny was it knocking me off of my Stasis class on load because the GamePass version of Beyond Light was dropped. Keep in mind I have it on my account, on PC, and I wasn't even trying to play any Beyond Light content, just fuck you you're off the subclass you don't get to throw an ice grenade unless you give us 40 bucks

 

[Valedix]

The sequel to Destiny 1.

 

[anothertech]

It's a fuckfest of unintuitive UI and shiny dots that lead nowhere.

They need to fire the guy that convinced them to delete everything and skip Destiny 3.