Destiny 2 director defends its shaders as one-time use items
"Shaders are now an ongoing reward for playing. Customisation will inspire gameplay."
Destiny 2, for all its glories, has come under fire from fans upset about how it's changed its customisable armour colours, or "shaders" as Destiny parlance goes, to one-time use consumables. In the first Destiny you could change your shaders to you heart's content, as playing dress-up is one of the core appeals of Bungie's cosmic online shooter.
Many have speculated that this is to encourage players to spend real world money on loot boxes called Bright Engrams, which can be purchased for roughly £1.80 a piece (and slightly cheaper in bulk), as these often contain shaders.
Destiny 2 director Luke Smith doesn't see it this way though. In a series of tweets, Smith explained that shooting for shaders is part of the appeal of Destiny 2's endgame, where they'll appear more readily once the level cap is hit.
"Shaders are earned through gameplay: leveling, chests, engrams, vendors. We expect you'll be flush w/ Shaders as you continue to play," Smith said.
"When you reach level 20, Shaders will drop more often: vendor rewards, destination play and endgame activities."
"Shaders are now an ongoing reward for playing. Customisation will inspire gameplay. Each planet has unique armour and Shader rewards," he added.
"With D2, we want statements like 'I want to run the Raid, Trials, or go back to Titan to get more of its Shader' to be possible."
How do you feel about this switch? Is Bungie screwing over fans who merely want to mix up their wardrobe without losing their hard earned threads? Or is it an appropriate incentive and perhaps Bungie made a misstep by allowing them to be permanent the first time around? Let us know how you're getting on with Destiny 2's new shader system.