Destiny 2 is about to end Season of Defiance on a high note, with another celebration of the Guardian Games event that will crown one of the three classes the winner, all while players are jumping on the hype train for Season 21. Bungie recently revealed that Destiny 2's Season of the Deep will indeed take place on the long-lost destination of Titan, which was vaulted with the arrival of Beyond Light and is now returning in some shape or form. Despite the many positives of Season of the Deep so far, one of Bungie's latest TWABs included mentions of the upcoming changes to the in-game economy and the season pass, which is now dangerously exploring pay-to-win practices.
One of the least-appreciated features in games with any sort of competitive activities, the ability to purchase in-game items that help players on their journey is now coming to Destiny 2's season pass in Season of the Deep. This is in the form of the Deepsight Harmonizer currency, which is likely a soon-to-be controversy the moment players realize how impactful it can be and how bad its restrictions can feel. It will allow players to transform any weapon in its Deepsight counterpart, which will make finishing patterns for crafted guns much easier - especially if one is willing to pay real money.
How Bungie is Making a Step Toward Pay-to-Win Features in Destiny 2
The main problem with Destiny 2's Deepsight Harmonizer as a currency is that it's the only one of its kind, and it only comes from the season pass - three units from the free track and three more from the paid track. Players won't seemingly be able to get more than three or six per season depending on if they purchase the season pass or not, and while advancing in the pass itself relies on gameplay, the currency is not directly available from playing the game.
It is going to be one of the most valuable resources in Destiny 2's in-game economy simply because it can potentially save players an incredible amount of time farming and grinding for red border weapons to unlock any pattern in the game. Since many guns typically need five Deepsight copies to fully unlock a pattern, those who don't purchase the season pass won't have a guaranteed one-per-season unlock for their crafting patterns, whereas those who do purchase the pass will. This is not a big deal in PvE, considering that players act as allies with a common goal, but it can be disruptive for PvP.
Having the ability to craft weapons in Destiny 2 is huge, as players get to choose their own perfect rolls for their own needs. In PvE, this can make all the difference between beating an endgame boss or not having enough DPS to do it, but in PvP it can skew games much more easily. A perfectly rolled The Immortal SMG, for example, can help players win duels with opponents, and that can go a long way in determining the winning team. As such, having the ability to craft perfect weapons before other players who don't pay for the season pass is dangerously approaching pay-to-win territory.
Unless Bungie introduces more ways for players to obtain Deepsight Harmonizers or makes them exclusive to the free track of the season pass, this would be the game's first step toward a pay-to-win approach to the game and its Eververse shop. Considering the Eververse already has Synthweaves available for purchase, the potential is there for Bungie to add Deepsight Harmonizers to the shop in the future. And, even if it doesn't, they're still coming in greater quantity via the paid season pass track, which fans could eventually consider unfair - especially when players start getting the best seasonal Destiny 2 guns fully crafted in a week.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.