Prior to The Dark Below, [url=http://in.ign.com/m/destiny/71601/news/bungie-details-new-raid-fixes-and-exotics-in-new-d]DeeJ stated[/url] that players who chose not to "opt in" on the expansion would not be left behind. [quote]As the developer prepares for the rollout of expansion The Dark Below on December 9, Destiny community manager DeeJ took time to detail many of the upcoming changes, assuring players that "those who don’t opt in aren’t left behind."[/quote] Indeed, throughout The Dark Below and House of Wolves, players who did not purchase both of the expansions still had access to the full level cap, vendor gear, and all the activities that were released in vanilla Destiny, such as the Weekly Heroic and Nightfall, so long as they were not on new content that week. Now Bungie and DeeJ specifically have done a complete about-face and [url=http://imgur.com/rQ4BKWH]gone back on their word[/url]. [quote]If you don't buy the expansions you get left behind simple as that...[/quote] Players who have not purchased The Taken King are now locked out of countless activities that we paid for, and other content has been removed altogether. This includes: - Daily heroic - Weekly heroic - Weekly nightfall - Story missions with heroic modifier - Strike playlists above level 20 - Mode specific PVP playlists - Faction/vendor gear - Iron Banner - Trials of Osiris - Eris Morn bounties - Wolf bounties This sets an extremely bad precedent for Destiny. Bungievision has sold us access to content in the form of discs and downloads but wants to pretend that they sold us a subscription, where they can lock us out of the content that we paid for unless we continue to fork over cash. Many of us spent $100 or more and are left with a shell of a game now. There is no reason for the locking of many of these activities. PVP has normalized gear values and so it doesn't matter if you are 34 or 40, and yet they have still locked us out of numerous modes. Only one strike playlist is available now at level 20, far less than what was available before and well below the non TTK level cap of 34, making it boring and pointless. Speaking as a programmer, I can tell you that it would be all too easy to make most of this available to non TTK players, even Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner - World of Warcraft has had PVP tiers for ages. But Bungievision's clear goal is to force players to purchase their TTK expansion. I was on the fence about it but their decision to extort us resolved me not to. They set expectations that this content would remain available. They advertised this content. And then they removed it. For these reasons I personally have gotten refunds, and will not be playing again as long as Bungievision decides to leave us behind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Addressing common responses: [spoiler][quote]From a networking perspective, Bungie can't just "make separate endgame content for non-TTK owners" because it requires new severs to be built and the servers flow and control and maintenance would be incredibly expensive and time-consuming as compared to just having all servers upgraded to the newest content available.[/quote]Continuing to allow non-TTK players access to this content at the non-TTK level 34 cap does not require new servers. All content in Destiny is already instanced at different levels and offers different rewards. Strikes are a simple example. The same concept is easily applied to Weekly Heroics and Nightfalls, and even Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris. Furthermore, this doesn't even pertain to a lot of the content that has been locked. Gear and levels are normalized in regular PVP so there is no reason to remove playlists from non-TTK players. There is also no reason to remove heroic mode for story missions. [quote]It's unfair for you to expect to continue to use Bungie servers for free and get new content for free.[/quote]This is not about getting new content for free, it's about not being locked out of content we did pay for. Also, operating servers is not as expensive as you think, and other games are often just a one time payment that give you access to online play for years. [quote]The daily, weekly, and nightfall always leveled up with every DLC. In HoW, if you bought none of the expansions, you were still locked out of the nightfall since it was level 32 and you were only 30. They were advertised as end game content and is still end game content.[/quote]Wrong. Prior to now, everybody had access to the full level cap, and you were only locked out of the heroic and nightfall if it happened to be on content you hadn't purchased that week. The excuse that they are end game content is irrelevant; they advertised and sold this content, and if they choose to separate us by level cap then they need to make these activities available at different level caps as well. They are not selling a subscription service. [quote]The only thing you have been locked out of is new endgame content like Nightfalls, Weeklies, Raid etc etc. That is not content that you bought that is a FEATURE of the game. A feature that centers around the latest content. When you bought TDB you bought the strikes, missions, gear etc etc and the Nightfall then took that content and featured it every week.[/quote]There is no difference between features and content. Trials of Osiris is just a mode using all of the same assets and maps as other PVP and yet it is obviously content. It was advertised and sold as one of the main two activities of House of Wolves. Now it is inaccessible unless you purchase The Taken King. That's unacceptable. It is the same with the Nightfall etc. With the previous DLCs all players had access to the level cap and vendor gear and any drops were still usable. Only with The Taken King has Bungie decided to segregate us by level cap. That doesn't give them the right to remove content that we paid for and they are obligated to leave it available at the level 34 cap as well. All activities in Destiny are already instanced at different levels and loot tables and this is an easy task. You are trying to invent a distinction that doesn't exist between features and content. Features are content. You haven't described any distinction. Even if there was a distinction these are features that they advertised and sold to us. [quote]Dude read your Eula. "Content subject to change". They owe you nothing. Read before you agree.[/quote]Doesn't give them the right to remove major pieces of content that were advertised and sold. That's called false advertising. They didn't sell me a subscription. By your logic they could just completely shut the game off and give us a black screen. The EULA allows it right? Do you really think that they would get away with that? No. Removing major pieces of content is essentially the same. And regardless I will argue against it as scummy business practice and advocate that people speak against it with their wallets as I have.[/spoiler] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links to the FTC and the BBB, courtesy of [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/2436889]Hettar[/url]: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/154354086/0/0[/url] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Video explanation (not my creation) [b](watch this! it's good!)[/b]: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_LE7HXLlDo&feature=youtu.be[/url]