Gameplay Journal Entry 1

Destiny 2 has a strange phenomenon occurring within it. Recently, the developers introduced a new drastic system change called “sunsetting.” The player base knew about this system change for a while now, but we have only recently just started to feel its effects. To put it simply, sunsetting takes all the gear the players acquire and puts a date on it. This date comes in the form of a “power cap.” Destiny is played out in seasons and each season introduces new activities and updates to older ones that are higher level then the last season, and each piece of loot obtained can only be upgraded to a certain level before it hits a hard cap where it can no longer be leveled up. If a player can no longer level up the loot, then it becomes unusable in new activities that require the player to be a higher level, thus the player is forced to ditch the loot and obtain a newly released weapon. This creates a culture of FOMO, or “fear of missing out” as players that skip a season will be far behind in level, and won’t have any new loot capable of reaching the current seasons level, thus either keeping players engaged by force, or driving players away who cannot keep up with the constant grind.

In a way, Destiny 2 is depending on the “ consumers’ willingness to participate in permanent upgrade culture (63–64).” Players have to buy the new season and obtain the new gear or else they fall behind in level and can no longer participate without some serious grinding. This rule has created a very bitter cultural attitude among the players, many of whom spent hours earning the best gear possible only to have it anitquitdated. This game disciplines the players to chase an arbitrary power level every four months just so they don’t fall behind and “miss out” only for those players to burn themselves out and play something else. The system has not only generated a negative relationship between the players and the game, but the developers as well, who have been attacked by the player base who felt entitled to the things that were taken from them when sunsetting was introduced.

Dovey, J., & Kennedy, H. W. (2011). NETWORKS OF TECHNICITY. In Game cultures: Computer games as new media (pp. 63–64). Maidenheard: Open Univ. Press.

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