Destiny Crimson Days – Why do I do this to myself?

This week is a very special week in Destiny. The newest bit of micro-content has gone live in the form of Crimson Days. It’s like Bungie’s very own vicious valentine to the player base that still remains in their flagship title. For me, it’s another nail in the coffin for my once-unshakable love of Destiny. I wasn’t really playing in the last month as it was, but this has driven the disc right back into the case and earned it a dust-covered place on my shelf for quite some time.

I don’t know exactly how many hours I’ve spent with my face firmly fused to the television, trying to be more immersed in the puddle deep world of Destiny over the last two years and change. I’m pretty darn sure that it’s a large number. But as I’ve stated many times in the past, PvP can go fuck itself in any number of unspeakable fashions that my most depraved imaginings couldn’t begin to touch. Those are, for the most part, my feelings on PvP in general and for Destiny in particular. So it should really come as no surprise that I’m not a big fan of this latest giant middle finger of an event.

For those unfamiliar with Crimson Doubles, it’s a 2v2 player-versus-player elimination event that runs from February 9th through the 16th. The event must be entered by a pre-made two-person fire team and goes down as an elimination match with revives and a buff for the last person standing on a team. Eliminating the enemy team awards a point; first team to five points wins the match. The payoff for participating is a shot at getting a light level 320 ghost shell or a number of new shaders. (The ghost shell may be made of chocolate.) There are also a number of bounties to which both players contribute points.

I get that PvP isn’t my jam, but it’s unfortunately all that Destiny’s new trend in micro-events (to push more micro-transactions) seems to focus on. Even the Sparrow Racing League was, strictly speaking, a PvP event. After last night’s experience in the crucible, I’m fairly certain that I only enjoyed SRL more because I couldn’t get tea-bagged for coming in last place. However, when this is all that’s on offer besides grinding the same raids, strikes, and patrols over and over I can see why people would be abandoning Destiny. Trials of Osiris, Iron Banner, and now Crimson Days exist in a sphere of the game that I just can’t find any joy from delving into.

All of this is a shame because I had found things to be excited about in House of Wolves and The Taken King right off the bat. Yes, they did eventually become nothing more than a grind, but that is the way with any kind of MMO. I was extremely excited about the Prison of Elders and the promise of high end gear from simple three-person fire team shenanigans. I absolutely ate up everything that The Taken King had to offer. I got excited by the hunt for the Sleeper Simulant, regardless of the fact that the actual reveal was less epic than I had hoped. I loved hearing about the secret pathways people were finding in the daily heroic missions which included one leading to an exotic sniper rifle: Black Spindle. These are the kinds of things that kept me hooked in the game and buying expansions. I couldn’t care less about paying $5 for a new dance emote.

I don’t particularly like what this portends for the future of the Destiny franchise. If Bungie wants to know why I haven’t been playing lately, I may have some choice words for the comment box. I understand that they’re busy with their supposedly stunning sequel, but that leaves me feeling absolutely abandoned as a player. These limited-time events seem like little more than a reason to push a slew of dance emotes out to make a quick buck from the truly zealous among the player base. Is this what we can expect from Destiny 2 whenever it launches? I don’t know if that’s the kind of legend I want to become.