Ah, the long-desired cross-save on Destiny 2. It's probably the most requested feature since the launch of the game in September 2017. Being able to load the same character across PS4, XB1, and PC is, to put it in eloquent terms, pretty damn dope, and it's becoming a reality on August 21. This is pretty dope for me, as I have Destiny 2 on my PS4 but I now own a more-than-decent gaming PC.
...Right? Well, let's check the FAQ to see:
Do my previous game purchases transfer across platforms?
No. The things you have purchased from your PC or Console stores will remain on the platforms where you bought them. These includes games or balances of Silver. Cross Save enables you to access the Guardians and Collections on one Active Account from wherever you play. The things that you acquire for your characters in the game are what move with you from one platform to another.
Thanks, I hate it.
Shadowkeep is changing a significant amount of how the base game of Destiny 2 functions. The vanilla game and the first two expansions (Curse of Why Did I Buy This? and Warmind) are becoming free-to-play, Forsaken and the first annual pass content are being bundled into one purchase. Additionally, any seasonal content after Shadowkeep will no longer be sold as a bundle like the annual pass content post-Forsaken, but instead each season will be sold individually. And if I want to enjoy the same Destiny 2 experience on my PC while still being able to play with all my friends on PS4 I'll have to buy all of this twice? Fuck that.
Okay, look, I get it. "Angry old man yells at game company" over here. But let me break down this into a hypothetical. Say I buy Shadowkeep on PS4 and love the hell out of it. But then I also have New Light on PC because the Destiny 2 experience is inarguably far superior on PC. I'm allowed to run patrols on any location, even the new moon. Hurray! So I can run the weekly flashpoints on PC, as well as probably the weekly Crucible milestones if I particularly hate myself that day. But doing any story, strikes, or activity that requires Shadowkeep, or if I feel like running Reckoning or Menagerie? Currently unknown, which in Bungie terms most likely means "no." And any group activities with the group are mostly out the window. Brian and Paxton also have worthy gaming computers, but the rest of the squad doesn't. And Brian and Paxton also already have it on PS4, so what is the purpose for me having to buy content twice? Playing Destiny solo is, to me, barely tolerable, and so keeping the group together and around is absolutely paramount to me. Since I value the community aspect so greatly, I'll be buying the content on my original platform where my friends are. I have less motivation to rebuy it all on another platform where I'll be running with a much smaller crew.
Bungie's split from Activision heralded a massive washing of changes. We all knew things would get shaken up a bit, and with Bungie being Bungie and me being my paranoid self, I was heavily anticipating something that would absolutely fuck me over. My simple opinion here is that this method of forcing people to purchase the same content again to enjoy with cross-save is massively anti-consumer and a blatant move to get more money out of people.
~cough~
I would like to know the explicit reason behind not linking future expansion and seasonal purchases to your specific Bungie account, and instead making them platform-exclusive. Licensing between different platforms could be an issue, sure, but Bungie's utter silence doesn't do a lot to sway me. The excerpt from the cross save FAQ above also just comes across as worded in a way to draw attention away from the fact that you'd have to buy the expansions again. Marketing spin, I get it, but I feel like I'm being misled into trying out cross save and purchasing Shadowkeep again on PC because I tried out my account on there and miss the full experience.
Introducing cross-save is great, and to the players who don't mind buying the same expansions multiple times I say, "Have fun." And for sure I'll be bringing my account into the cross save program to test drive D2 on PC, but I absolutely will not pay Bungie for the same content twice. Call it my age or background, or just me personally, but cross save without cross-purchase just looks like half of a feature.
To be completely fair, this is currently how cross platform works on Final Fantasy XIV. And in that same fairness, it sucks there, too.