To say that Bungie has been hot water as of late would be to put it mildly. While enthusiasm was high leading into the unveiling of Destiny: The Taken King, further details about said expansion have soured many fans’ view of the franchise as a whole.

It all started when Luke Smith, Creative Director on Destiny: The Taken King, tried to explain the value and pricing strategies behind the Collector’s Edition of the expansion. However, rather than assure fans, Smith did the exact opposite.

In an effort to do some damage control, Bungie promised fans that they did have some surprises in store for veteran Destiny players that had been with the game since year 1. What exactly those rewards would be was unclear at the time, but Bungie has since added some much needed clarification.

In an emergency Bungie Weekly Update, Community Manager Deej outlines the developer’s plan to make things right with Destiny veterans. First, there is a new Digital Download of Destiny: The Taken King that will retail for $39.99 and is built specifically for those who own Vanilla Destiny and its two expansions.

Destiny Taken King Digital Download

Moreover, those who were thinking about buying the Destiny: The Taken King Collector’s Edition will have an option to upgrade, although Bungie isn’t saying much more about that just yet. One can assume that there will be some sort of approval process that lets Destiny vets verify their status and then buy the upgrade, but that’s just speculation.

Those Destiny veterans will also get a set of VIP Year 1 rewards that will include a new emote, a new shader, a new sparrow, and an exclusive emblem. Each of the items appears to be themed around black stripes, similar to the Blacksmith shader, but check the items out below:

Destiny Year 1 VIP Rewards

It appears that after creating a small PR nightmare for itself, Bungie has rebounded nicely with the Digital Download option and further clarification of the VIP rewards. Moreover, the fact that Luke Smith addressed the Destiny fan base shows that he saw the error in his ways and wants to make it right.

So for now it appears things are much better in the Destiny community, even if this all could have been avoided with some foresight. Veterans have a way of getting all the new content (presumably) and they are also getting rewarded for their loyalty. More importantly, we’re slowly starting to find out more about the new Destiny content, and that should excite the fans greatly.

What do you think of Bungie’s solution for Destiny veterans? Do you like the look of the VIP rewards?

Destiny: The Taken King releases September 15, 2015 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie