So, with the reveal of The Taken King (DLC/Expansion), priced at $40 according to the destinythegame.com/taken-king, we can accept that new subclasses are underway, that new PvP maps are also underway, and that a new raid is also underway. What is not underway, is the way it's being made available for purchase. You have 4 options for puchase. 1. Digital Edition - this method is only available to players who have previously purchased the vanilla game, Expansion I: The Dark Below, and Expansion II: House Of Wolves. This option is all fine and dandy. It's only $40. It comes with a sparrow, shader, and Year 1 Emblem. (And, what ever "more content at launch of The Taken King" means.) [i]So, by now if you're like me, you've already pumped $40 for both expansions, and $60 for the physical copy of the game. So that puts the overall amount spent on this game at $100, plus the Taken King digital upgrade to $140. [/i] Pros: -Taken King -Sparrow -Emblem Cons: -No real world artifacts -No exotic class items -No collector's edition shaders -No emotes 2. Legendary Edition - This is basically your average Game of the Year edition for most other games. Includes the vanilla game, Expansion I: The Dark Below, Expansion II: House of Wolves, and The Taken King. Priced at $59.99* So, for the full package, you pay $64, for everything that's been released over the course of the past year. That puts the amount you've spent on this game at $60, (given that you haven't played prior.) Pros: -Vanilla game -Expansions I and II -Taken King Cons: -No real world artifacts -No exotic class items -No shaders -No sparrow -No emblem 3. Collector's Edition - This is where things get complicated. This physical copy of the game, comes with The Taken King, the vanilla game, Expansion I: The Dark Below, Expansion II: House of Wolves, and Collector's Edition SteelBook™ Case. It also comes with a Modified Treasure Island Book with intro Letter from Cayde-6, Cayde-6's Personal Notes and Illustrations, Collection of Relics and Artifacts, Strange Coin Replica. These things are simply real world artifacts to add to your devotion/love to the world of Destiny. A nice thing to have, in my book. And finally, Three Class Specific Emotes, Three Armor Shaders, Three Exotic Class Items with XP Bonuses. Now, that's where it gets complicated. -We've never had the chance to obtain new emotes (until now.) -Exotic Class items, with XP Bonuses? Where were these in the vanilla game, or expansions I and II? Why were they not available before? -Armor shaders? I think I can easily live without those. So for the Collector's Edition, you've spent $80, and you've gotten the vanilla game, both expansions, and The Taken King, real world artifacts, and special in-game content that hasn't been available in the year the game has been out. Pros: -Shaders -Class Items -Emotes -Real world artifacts Cons: -No emblem 4. Digital Collector's Edition - [i](this is where things really get complicated.) [/i] Price: $80 (Same as the physical Collector's Edition.) The only downside to this edition, is you don't get the real world artifacts, but you still get access to the in-game Exotic class items which offer XP bonuses, the three class emotes, and the three shaders. Pros: -Shaders -Class Items -Emotes Cons: -No real world artifacts -No emblem So, as a result, you've got a hard decision before you. Do you fork over the $80 to get the Exotic items, the three shaders, and the emotes, or do you only spend the $40, and get the expansion, with a sparrow, shader, and emblem? I think what the goal here is the entice people to spend more, in hopes of receiving more. But what about those people who are going to spend the $40? [u]Well, they're left hanging by a small thread that says "more content at the launch of The Taken King", which could mean anything is given to them. It could be a ghost shell for all we know. [/u] [i]But the fact that it doesn't outright say what you're being rewarded at launch for purchasing the $40 digital version after having spent $100 into this game already, has me rather salty. [/i] So in #feedback, what I think would a better way at going about these different versions, is offering the same content, at least the in-game items (shaders, emblem, class items, sparrow) for the Digital Edition, Collector's Edition, and Digital Collector's Edition. That way, everyone who has already started they adventure and made it this far isn't sucked into having to buy the game all over again, just for the sake of having those emotes, class items, sparrows and emblem. EDIT - HERE As mentioned below in the comments, (thanks to one who took note of the fine print), the VIP REWARDS, which include; -Shader -Sparrow -Year 1 Emblem Will be available to anyone who obtains the Taken King, regardless of which way you get it. The only qualifying part is that you have to have a Light Level 30 Guardian, by August 31st, 2015, AND play The Taken King, by February 1st, 2016. So, in light of this, you still are put into a position to purchase the Collector's Edition, Digital or otherwise, in order to obtain the 3 exotic class items, 3 shaders, and 3 class emotes. [b]EDIT II - Prior to Weekly Update on 6/25/15[/b] Tomorrow DeeJ will go over what is being offered to the Year 1 players and the Collector's Edition and discuss (hopefully) how the Year 1 Edition ($39.99) is better than the Collector's Edition. I'll update this with more info tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback. [b]EDIT II I/II - Post Weekly Update on 6/24/15[/b] Okay, well we've been given a part one of the Weekly Update. This is the new information. [quote][i]"We’re actively working to make the digital content from the Collector’s Edition available in a $20 upgrade bundle (suggested retail price), available on 9/15/2015. If you purchase a stand-alone version of Destiny: The Taken King, or already have, you'll be able to pick up the digital items as soon as they are available."[/i] [i]If you have decided to pick up the Legendary Edition of Destiny: The Taken King at retail, you can also elect to pick this up if you want to upgrade into a Collector’s Edition. If you purchased the existing Digital Collector’s Edition, and you already owned Destiny and both expansion packs, we’ll have some additional information for you soon. If you want to get caught up on all of the options available for Destiny: The Taken King, you can view the details here. (Note: You won’t see the Collector’s Edition Upgrade we described above, yet. We’re working on it.)[/i][/quote] From this, it would seem Bungie (or their marketing team at least), sat down and had a long talk about the community's feedback. The content above, for Edit 2.5, will be analyzed below. If you've purchased the Taken King DLC/Expansion already, or plan on purchasing a stand-alone version, (I'm assuming this means the Digital Edition offered to Guardians who have already bought the game, Expansion I: The Dark Below, and Expansion II: House of Wolves) you'll be able to receive the Collector's Edition content, meaning the 3 Exotic Class Items, 3 Class Emotes, and 3 Shaders, (and do not hold me to this, as I'm merely interpreting the first part of the Weekly Update here on what it's giving us.) for free? Or the $20 upgrade? I'd prefer the former, versus the latter. If you purchase/(d) the Legendary Edition, you have the option to upgrade this package into the Collector's Edition for the $20 when they get that whole thing situated out. That parts on them to figure out how they're going to give that stuff to players who have purchased this thing, or at least offer the upgrade at pickup, or purchase? IDK. Moving on. As for the Collector's Edition, it seems like it's staying the same. As for the Digital Collector's Edition, it seems they're trying to figure out a way to.. idk what they'e trying to do? I guess they're trying to find some way to make it where the people who purchased the Digital Edition when they already owned the previous content will either get 1) a refund for the stuff they already bought?, 2) some kind of in-game content for buying stuff again?, 3) some random third option to make those who bought it feel like they're being accounted for and rewarded accordingly? We'll see what comes with tomorrow's Weekly Update Part II. Once again, Guardians, and Forum-goers, thanks for all the voices you've lended here. As always, -PN