What does Bungie say about two of the most important issues in the MMO shooter Destiny: The Vault is too full, Hand Cannons are too strong?
On the sidelines of E3, there were some interviews that brought information about the MMO shooter Destiny. However, the “most important current topics” were not answered “officially and clearly,” but were only touched upon. It was clear that Bungie primarily wanted to talk about the content that was also shown in the trailer for The Taken King. Answers to current problems and specific details were deferred to later.
However, in an interview with Gamereactor, there were hints about how Bungie intends to solve some of the most important issues:
- Bungie knows that the Vault is a problem. They want to ensure in the future that players do not feel “burdened” by progression. Smith, for example, talks about shaders that accumulate. They want to make sure that such rewards and collections do not feel like a “weight”. This is definitely a point they are working on.
Hand Cannons are likely to be nerfed soon
- Regarding weapon balance, they know that currently the era of exotic hand cannons is dominated by Hawke Moon, Dorn and the Last Word. These weapons have an incredible flow, and it’s just fun to play with them. That should remain the case, even though the weapons currently do a bit too much damage. They are observing this closely, looking at which weapons are used and which are not used, and will then adjust the balance. Bungie likes it when weapons go in and out of fashion.
- On the topic of private matches in the Crucible, Smith is eloquent in his silence but smiles and says this will surely come up again in the future.
- The two exotic weapons that data miners found in the database of House of Wolves, the Scout rifles “Fate of All Fools” and the “317 Vesta Dynasty” are not in the game. No one needs to search for that.
Will there be dedicated menus for shaders and will this relieve the vault?
Mein MMO thinks: Smith does not say it explicitly, but it seems likely that a way could come to not expand the vault, but to relieve it. Perhaps in the future shaders or other items – like in The Elder Scrolls Online – will no longer be in a vault but can be used once and then always accessed.
But as said: That is an “inference” about what Smith could mean. He did not say that explicitly. However, it is the solution that MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2 or The Elder Scrolls Online have already found. Such “reward items” like colors, pets, or special mounts are “activated” with one click or completely decoupled from items, “unlocked,” and then included in a “collection” – like in a showcase. This way, they do not take up space in banks or the vault.
This is how MMORPGs have relieved their banks and vaults
- World of Warcraft has dedicated tabs for toys, mounts, and companions; you can even “activate and permanently store” certain weapons and armor.
- In The Elder Scrolls Online, “shaders,” in this case armor colors, are tied to specific achievements and are unlocked when you achieve the corresponding achievement.
- In Guild Wars 2, armor pieces can be dismantled. Their design is “archived” and can be transferred to suitable other armor pieces. Colors are simply learned and saved for later use.
It seems likely that Bungie will adopt one of these methods to relieve the vault. Then the limited vault space could be additionally used for weapons or armor. That an expansion of the vault brings hardly anything, was seen last time. If you give guardians space, they will fill it with weapons and call for more space. It is still unclear whether the abundance of current weapons and armor will remain relevant with “The Taken King”. This is one of the many questions that will only be answered later in the year, probably not until August/September.
