Destiny 2 Episode Echoes Act 2 Continues to Struggle with Time Gates

Arguably the biggest complaint with Destiny 2’s seasonal approach is a concept referred to as a Time Gate. For those unfamiliar with the term, it basically refers to gameplay design that uses time as a way to prevent players from progressing.

This approach can be good, or bad depending on the situation. For example, I believe weekly raid loot is good because it keeps the player base healthy. Since players simply can’t do the raid more, those looking for the exotic, or loot will need to play however many weeks before getting it. Where the seasonal approach failed is how superficial this process feels.

One Week to Go…

The intended goal is to simply increase engagement. I sign on Tuesday, finish the weekly activity, and then need to return the following week and do the same. Players dislike this because the limit feels arbitrary. Most players will never experience the content this way, there is no real benefit to slowing down my progression besides giving me a reason to return next week, and it can cause problems for those with less time.

When the Episode model was revealed players thought this would correct those issues, at least in some sense. Ultimately, the negative response got Bungie to change the Act structure with Episode Two: Revenant. While this will correct some of the issues players have with Episodes/Seasonal content Time Gates, I think Echoes second Act points to a larger issue with approach.

The Better Breach Executable

The original seasonal activity, Arena: Breach Executable suffers from the same core problem as many other seasonal activities. There is hidden content, which greatly increases rewards, but said content is somewhat hidden and there is no guarantee those you match with will interact with it. It makes for a frustrating experience for everyone involved.

Those who want to finish the content as quickly as possible are now slowed down by people searching for hidden treasure; whereas treasure hunters feel like rushers are dictating how they play. Bungie corrected some of this by making the mode less rigid, but I honestly feel like the newly released Battleground: Echoes simply handles it better.

Each Battleground has a small handful of resources hidden throughout. All of these are along the way, not particularly well hidden, and something even the least interested player will bother with. They also have two Planetary Pistons in set locations that can’t be missed. It arguably corrects both problems making it the more advantageous activity to do.

Likewise, I am not entirely sure Bungie is doing a good job of justifying a good number of Time Gates. Many will point to Engram Focusing as the egregious part of Act two, something that can be countered by simply doing the Battleground for a couple hours, and should not be an issue in Revenant, but to me the biggest issue is the Season Pass.

Previously, Season Passes included 100 levels, followed by giving a Bright Engram every five levels. The new season pass goes up to 200, with 150/200 being locked the second/third acts respectively. As much as I applaud Bungie for retaining the Bright Engram bonus, which is given concurrently with levels above 100, the need to lock players feels completely unnecessary.

A lot of players were calling all experience after 100 during the first act wasted. Even if I don’t agree with that, even now, I am not entirely sure what the point of limiting players even is. Thanks to Seasonal Challenges giving a substantial amount of experience, I was level 150 long before I was able to craft every seasonal weapon released thus far.

Since I know I’ll get Bright Engrams regardless, there is seemingly no benefit in redeeming Seasonal Challenges early. Odds are I’ll farm a number of challenges, save them for the final Act, and likely hit the max level in a day.

It’s things like this that is ultimately hurting the new Episode model. Starting with an inferior activity, adding walls that exist just to be a wall, and enough progress to make a good number of choices moot. I am hopeful Bungie takes a better look at these things as the current approach is simply tedious, and frustrating.