In Destiny 2 and Halo Infinite, a Season Pass should keep you engaged in the long term. But why are Guardians now demanding that Bungie take a page from the competition?
This is how players know the Battle Pass in Destiny 2: Guardians receive a new Season every three months. In line with the seasonal story, new activities, weapons, and a Battle Pass are introduced. The players of Destiny 2 are now enviously looking at the competition because the Battle Pass there is “much fairer” than they are used to:
- A new Battle Pass comes to Destiny 2 every Season – tons of items wait to be unlocked through experience points.
- Most of the items in the Battle Pass are purely cosmetic, like Emotes and Skins (Ornaments). However, weapons, boosters, and resources also entice players to level up.
- There is (as in most games) a free track and a premium track. Those who pay receive access to both tracks and can grind up to level 100.
- The seasonal Exotic and the legendary weapons are available for everyone in the middle, but the really cool items are only at the very end.
- At the end of a Season, the Battle Pass disappears – everything that was not unlocked through experience vanishes into oblivion.
- When the next Season starts, there is a fresh Battle Pass and the grind towards level 100 starts again.
This is what Halo does differently: During E3 2021, new details about the upcoming shooter Halo Infinite, set to release in autumn, were revealed. Especially the Battle Pass is already receiving praise. It does a few small things differently from Destiny 2, which are important to many: The Battle Pass is never taken away from the player.
“The player always comes first”
The Battle Pass of Halo Infinite is permanent. Even when a Season ends, you can always return to the “old Battle Pass” in the following Seasons and months. This way, you can specifically earn that one cool item for which you didn’t have time back then but still want to have.
It is even said to be possible to obtain a Battle Pass from the past retroactively. You can then level it up if you are not satisfied with the current one. This way, you can skip a Season (or if you started with the free multiplayer later), browse through the collection of passes, and choose your favorite. In Halo Infinite, you will likely only level one Battle Pass at a time.
In grand fashion, Halo developer 343 Industries stated during the multiplayer presentation: “We have the player-first mentality” (via YouTube), putting the player first above all else. Whether this will actually be fully implemented in Halo Infinite remains to be seen at the release and in later Seasons.
- More on the topic can be found here on our sister site GameStar: Fair microtransactions? Halo Infinite is receiving a lot of praise even before release
This is how the Destiny community reacts to the competition
This is what the Guardians say: Everything that reduces FOMO is welcome to the players of Destiny. FOMO (Fear of missing out) refers to the fear of missing something. Bungie stumbled significantly last year with this “I was there at that one special moment” feeling, and has been backtracking since Seasons.
And according to the Guardians, Bungie should quickly follow the example of the Battle Pass from Halo Infinite:
- “Yeah, Bungie should steal the Battle Pass from Halo Infinite” says Paul Tassi, who writes for Forbes (via YouTube)
- On reddit, a corresponding thread quickly gathered almost 4,000 upvotes. In comments, the Guardians praise Halo and wish that Destiny 2 would take an example (via reddit).
- Some users lament the current system: I’m still very disappointed that I missed the seasonal ornament from Season 8. I like the Titan set […] There was never an opportunity to catch up.
The Guardians would also welcome the ability to purchase old passes later. Since seasonal activities and quests no longer disappear after a Season, players could not only earn cosmetics but also replay the highlights of the Season. This would be great for everyone who took a break or is new to Destiny.
Philipp says: Destiny author Philipp Hansen from MeinMMO has a clear opinion on this:
Sure, the Halo system cannot harm the Battle Pass of Destiny 2, but …
Bungie has significantly reduced FOMO. Through Umbral Engrams, there are weapons from old activities, and I have managed to push the Battle Pass to level 100 without any issues every time. Sure, I log in at least twice a week for a few hours. However, I understand the desire to catch up on old passes 100%.
However, I generally don’t feel that the Battle Pass is a very long grind in Destiny 2 – especially compared to Call of Duty.
I only play Warzone in CoD, but here every single level in the Battle Pass is a painstaking grind. Level 100 is likely just a distant dream for many casual soldiers – I have played every Season and haven’t even reached the maximum.
Since the coolest skins are, of course, waiting at the end, I would like to return to old passes instead of leveling the current one. But hey, anything that benefits the players is always welcome to me. Even if I think that other developers besides Bungie should take a larger page from the Halo Pass.
What do you think? Do you always reach the maximum level in the Battle Pass, or would catching up be very convenient for you? Are you doing well in Destiny 2 with free content and the free track, or are the paid contents significantly more worthwhile? Let us know in the comments.
