What’s the Danger of Unlimited Synthweave for Destiny 2 Transmog?

Since Bungie’s reveal of how the transmog system is going to work in Destiny 2, I’ve been thinking about what the developer is so afraid of. Clearly, there’s a need for the company to profit. I understand that, and I think that selling Synthweave is absolutely fine, but only if it’s also possible to grind out as much of the stuff as you want.

Synthweave is what you need to turn armor into Ornaments. To get it, you need to kill enemies in order to purchase bounties, which award it. However, aside from Destiny 2 season 14, Bungie is limiting the amount we can earn to 10 per class every season. That’s a total of 30 if you really want to push the boat out.

By limiting how much we can earn, Bungie ensures that the only way to get more is to buy it from them. It’s a monopoly on the market. The 10 we can earn is nice, but once you’ve earned it all for a season, it’s one more activity that you then can’t do any more of until the start of the next season.

Here’s what bugs me. Bungie seems to be afraid of giving us an activity that could potentially keep a Guardian busy forever. Imagine trying to make an Ornament out of every piece of armor you’ve ever earned. It would take an extremely long time. What doesn’t take a long time is burning through the content in each season. Even the new stuff added with events like Guardian Games is simple to get through in a couple of weeks.

Guardians are crying out for something like this. Once you’ve finished the content you want to play, it’s another reason to keep going. The more you play, the more Synthweave you can earn. It creates a new overarching goal. If you want to always wear a piece of armor, turn it into an Ornament. Some crazy Guardians will grind out the Synthweave just because they can.

Unfortunately, it looks like the financial side of things got the better of Bungie. Sure, there’s a balance to be found here, but it’s heavily weighted in the developer’s favor. If anything, it should be possible to infinitely grind out Synthweave, but have the option to purchase it for those who don’t want to do that. I know for a fact that Guardians would still purchase it. I’m sure if Bungie tested it, they’d get just as many sales, and much better fan reception, if they did it this way.

What do you think? Do you like the current plan for the system? Or would you rather have less monetization in the game in exchange for more potentially grinding? Let us know in the comments.

Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan and player. I fell in love with Destiny 1 during the early alpha and have been hooked by the universe ever since. I really enjoy playing with other Guardians, speculating about the lore, and writing about as much of the Destiny universe as I can.