#but yeah. please don't spread the disaster scenarios because they're simply not correct

[thefirstknife]

New Season Pass Prices

I'm seeing a lot of misinfo going around about this. YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY 20 FOR EVERY SEASON PASS GOING FORWARD. And please don't spend anything like that on a whim! I will include a full math breakdown of how much you need to spend depending on what you want to buy.

Please don't spread the misinfo online. Telling people that they need to cash out 20 for every new season pass is a lie. When this lie is corrected and a more reasonable explanation is given, people will feel like the actual pricing is more reasonable and will not be inclined to complain. We WANT people to complain. We want people to tell Bungie that we want to be able to purchase the exact amount of silver needed. If people stop complaining, this will never happen. But complaining with lies will not get us anywhere because they are lies. Our chances of making this happen are slim to begin with, we don't want to push people away from trying. We also don't want people to spend the wrong (extra) amount for no reason.

The math

The latest TWAB states the following:

Season Pass: 1,000 Silver -> 1,200 Silver Season Pass + 10 Ranks Bundle: 2,000 Silver -> 2,200 Silver

The current price of 1000 silver is $10/€10 (gonna be using $ only for simplicity, but it applies to euro as well. This is obviously different in different currencies but the rate should be comparatively the same). The current cost of a season pass is 1000 silver.

Going forward (starting with Season of the Deep), the cost of a season will be 1200 silver. This amounts to $12. The problem is that there is no 1200 silver bundle. Silver is available in the following bundles for these prices (same on all platforms):

500 silver = $4.99 1000 silver (+100) = $9.99 2000 silver (+300) = $19.99 3000 silver (+500) = $29.99 5000 silver (+1000) = $49.99

Please read under if you want a full breakdown of best combinations and how to pair these bundles for your needs without having to spend too much on something you don't need:

In order to buy a single season going forward, the minimum (and recommended) thing to buy would be to grab the 500 bundle and the 1000 bundle which amounts to $15. The 1000 silver bundle will also give you extra 100 silver so with this purchase of $15 you will have 1600 silver.

You will spend 1200 on one season which will leave you with 400 silver. If you do not spend any of this silver, this means that in order to buy more seasons, you only have to pay $10 for the 1100 pack. This means that if you buy Season of the Deep for $15, you will only have to spend $10 (same as you do now) for season 22. Thats $25 for two seasons, an increase of only $5 from how it is right now. Don't let people convince you that you have to give $40 for two seasons.

The full example for this specific scenario (buys Deep, wants to buy the next two seasons):

-Season of the Deep only = 15$ (500+1100 silver). You now have 1600 silver and the season costs 1200.

leftover silver = 400

-If you decide you want season 22, you will need = $10 (1100 silver). You now have 1500 silver and the season costs 1200.

leftover silver = 300

-If you decide you also want season 23 (final season this year), you will need = $10 (1100 silver). You now have 1400 silver and the season costs 1200.

leftover silver = 200

This means that you have spent $35 on three seasons, which until now would've cost you $30 (increase of $5). You also have a leftover of 200 for the future which means that the future season you want to purchase will also only cost you $10. So a single purchase of $15 will reduce the cost to $10 for four seasons with leftovers before you have to spend another $15.

Is it worth getting the more expensive bundles ($29.99 and $49.99)? Let's check!

First and foremost, the biggest pack ($49.99 for 5000 silver+1000 extra) is not worth it. This will be enough for 4 seasons and a significant amount of extra silver, but if you know you will play all 4 seasons, you might as well just get the deluxe version of the game which is cheaper in the long run and also includes the dungeon key right away.

What about the $29.99? We figured out that for the next three seasons you only have to spend $35. Can you buy three seasons with the pack for $29.99? Let's see. This pack will give you 3000 raw silver + 500 extra. Each season is 1200 which means that 3 seasons are 3600 which means you will not have enough for 3 seasons if you buy the $29.99 pack. You would have to add another pack of 500 which means you'd essentially have to spend the same amount of money ($35), but would have a leftover of 400 silver total, instead of only 200 at the end of the year. If you want more leftover silver for less money, this might be worth it for you.

This might be worth it also if you already have leftover silver right now. If you have 100 or more silver in your account right now, you can grab the $29.99 pack and be able to buy the next three seasons. This also only applies if you KNOW that will be buying 3 new seasons in the future.

What about the $19.99 pack? This pack will give you 2000 silver + 300 extra. Same as the pack before, this will leave you 100 silver short for two seasons (you will have 2300, but you need 2400). That means, again, you would have to add 500 for $5, making the cost of two seasons $25 and with a leftover of 300. This is the same leftover that you would have if you spend $15 for Deep and add $10 for season 22, meaning that this option is exactly the same. You can buy Deep for $15 and add $10 for the next one ( = $25) or you can grab the bundle for $20 and add $5 to get the same value for two seasons with the same amount of leftover silver. This is worth it if you know that you will buy at least 2 seasons in the future.

A lot of this depends on you never spending your leftover silver. If you spend it or if you buy more silver packs during the season, the count might get off. What you have to know, in case you're spending, is to always leave a minimum of 100 silver in your account. That means that you can grab the $10 pack which gives a total of 1100 silver. With your 100 leftover, that's 1200 for the season.

I want to make something clear: if Bungie makes a silver bundle of 1200 for $12, then three seasons will cost $36 instead of $35 they do currently. Making a season pass bundle will actually increase the cost by $1. However, it's important to account for the psychological impact of leftover silver; having leftover silver makes people bound to the game. They don't want to leave an account that has unspent money on it and that makes people more likely to not just want to keep investing, but also to spend that leftover. And since that leftover is not really enough to buy much of anything, that pushes people to buy more packs. This is why this is a predatory practice in the first place. It's the illusion of having more options and getting extra leftovers, but in reality that just makes people spend more.

Not only that, but this is also obviously confusing and requires you to plan ahead and weigh your options all the time. It would be much better if there was just a way to get the season directly for the exact amount it actually costs = $12. With these math shenanigans, you will always have to spend a minimum of $15 for a season, which is $3 extra that you shouldn't have to spend, even if it gives you extra silver.

However, you never have to spend $20 for a single season. You could, and you could end up with a lot of extra silver, but if you want to buy another season, you would have to add a minimum of $5 to be able to buy it. Technically you can absolutely spend $20 for a season and use all of the extra silver on cosmetics, but that is NOT required. It's up to your personal spending interests and capabilities.

If you only want Season of the Deep, grab the 500+1100 bundles ($15). If you decide you want the other two seasons, you will only have to add $10 for them.

If you're sure you want at least 2 seasons, grab the 500+2300 bundle ($25). If you decide you want more, you will also only have to add $10 to any subsequent purchase and you will have slightly more leftovers.

The ultimate goal is to ask Bungie to allow us to purchase seasons directly for the exact price. We want to complain (civilly, of course. Do not yell at employees, they don't like this either) to make Bungie create a bundle for seasons only or simply allow us to purchase a season with money directly. The increase is not as drastic as some people make it out to be, but that doesn't mean it's not bad. With the current silver system, it's absolutely bad and relies on people not looking into it and not doing the math because it's a lot to work out and think about. We should be able to purchase a season for the exact amount the season costs ($12) instead of having to wrestle with math charts.

Players would not be so angry about it if we were treated with respect and not preyed upon by these practices. For most, $12 is not too bad and we can all understand that costs of everything are shooting up. These $12 pay for 3 months of content, which means that the monthly subscription for Destiny is, essentially, $4. This is less than any other online game and even other media services. Even if you buy the whole expansion with all seasons for $100 per year, that amounts to $8,3 monthly subscription for Destiny, still among the cheapest online services. Obviously, it depends on the person whether or not this is worth it.

But we definitely do not enjoy this half-assed increase which advertises as being $12 but it doesn't allow you to only spend $12; you have to spend a minimum of $15 and then we are being baited with extra silver leftovers. This should absolutely be something we're mad about as it is. We don't have to lie about it being $20 or double the current price. The misinfo will just make people more complacent. When they realise that it's not actually $20, they will think of the real price as reasonable and will no longer be mad about it. Don't do some marketing CEO's work for them and don't make people think they have to spend more than they do.

No matter what, we as players deserve to be able to buy the season for its real price which is $12. We will currently have to spend a minimum of $15, which is not as bad as $20, but it's still a bad precedent to set, especially when you pair it with this amount of work to figure out which combination of bundles is best for you.

I want to make that clear. Just because it's not $20, doesn't mean it's good. The situation isn't ideal as it is and we as players should absoultely ask Bungie to not treat us this way. Maybe the silver bundle prices can't be changed right now due to various possible issues with how their contracts work, but this is something I want to see changed in the future.