Fans Are Angry About Destiny 2's [One-use] Shaders, Luke Smith Addresses The Issue

Luke Smith doesn't seem disturbed by the backlash against Destiny 2's shaders.

The highly-anticipated sci-fi shooter Destiny 2 has promised to deliver a more refined approach to the competitive and cooperative elements, as well as the overall storyline that lacked depth in the first entry. Now that the game is live and players are slowly filtering in with their praise and skepticism over new features, there’s one issue in particular that has the Guardian community downright livid.

While players are happy to have the ability to customize the look of their gear and weapons using shaders, a returning component from the first game, a shift in how these items work is not going over well. Shaders are no longer something you can equip over and over again, but consumable items that disappear after a single use.

Plenty of evidence of the rage over the new feature can be seen on the game’s subreddit. A Reddit post on the topic has garnered more than 40,000 upvotes, in which user WeilageM provides a detailed breakdown of why Destiny 2‘s approach to the customization items is a step backwards. They summarize the new change as a “commitment” that will replace “something that used to be fun.” Other Reddit users are convinced Bungie made the decision to push the in-game store known as Eververse and garner additional micro transactions.

In a series of tweets, Destiny 2‘s director Luke Smith seemed to double down on the change to shaders. Smith said the goal of the new consumable system was to promote more gameplay, and noted that earning them will be far more common in Destiny 2 than in the first game. In Bungie’s eyes, shaders are now rewards that will encourage Guardians to play through more raids, Trials, and any event possible to get the shader they want most.

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Shaders are earned through gameplay: leveling, chests, engrams, vendors. We expect you’ll be flush w/ Shaders as you continue to play. (1/4)

7:40 PM - Sep 7, 2017

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While that gives more background to Bungie’s intention in making the change, it’s not exactly addressing the root concern of fans. Destiny is a series where gear and weapons get swapped out regularly. Knowing a rare shader will be wasted on a helmet or gauntlet that could be dismantled after the next loot drop is frustrating.

To be fair, some aspects of the new system are an improvement over the original Destiny‘s shaders. Having to make an entire set of gear one color—a limitation of the first game’s approach—did make players lose a sense of individuality, and being able to put shaders on inventory individually is a step in the right direction. It’s easy to imagine a solution that fixes that issue without making obtaining shaders a constant grind.

Judging by the response from Smith, this new system might be here to stay. However, the team has compiled a list of fixes they are planning to address in future updates. Thankfully, there still is plenty to look forward to outside of waiting to see if Bungie will respond to this backlash.. The game’s first raid, for example, arrives September 13th.

Destiny 2 is now available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a PC release arriving October 24th.

Source: PC Gamer