[Update: Destiny: The Taken King creative director has taken to Twitter to assure players that the game will never charge real money for better loot drops. His tweet is below]

[HTML1]

Fans of Destiny are in for another shock regarding the rapidly shifting economy in Bungie's sci-fi shooter/MMO hybrid. While gamers knew Destiny: The Taken King was already getting a microtransactional currency called Silver, the decision was thought to be mostly cosmetic, as Bungie remained adamant they would avoid abusing the highly controversial pay system. However, information surfaced today on Destiny's armory database that tells a very different story; one that involves players trading money out of their wallet for consumables that can both save time and provide an advantage over other gamers.

The consumables in question offer a wide variety of in-game benefits that are usually off-limits in a microtransactional pay model. Players will be able to purchase consumables that increase the likelihood for armor and weapon drops during the King's Fall raid, for instance, and although the exact drop rate increase is unknown at this time, it represents a leg-up for Destiny players who are willing to shell out a bit of cash to get ahead.

The list of consumables also includes items that will let players buy a level 25 Guardian of any class instantly, buy a fully leveled subclass (or finish upgrading a Guardian's currently equipped subclass), provide additional moldering shards during the King's Fall Raid, and increase the XP gains from specific enemies for a ten minute duration.

However, this information is still new, and doesn't explain the specifics on the new consumables. Although Destiny players have already begun to worry that the consumables will only be available by way of the Eververse Trading Company - essentially Destiny's microtransaction merchant - it remains to be seen if that will indeed be the case. Even if it is, there's a chance the consumables will also drop as part of Destiny's regular PvE or PvP gameplay, and that purchasing them is merely a time-saving measure.

The revelation regarding the new consumables is a far cry from the new range of emotes and other cosmetic vanity options Guardians initially believed would come with the Eververse Trading Company's resurrection. Beyond that, gamers already have an overwhelmingly negative view on microtransactions in the video game industry already, and an inclusion of this magnitude to Destiny's economy could produce a negative reaction in its playerbase.

How do you feel about microtransactions in Destiny: The Taken King potentially providing players with major advantages? Let us know in the comments.

Destiny: The Taken King is out now for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie.net (via Reddit)