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It's hardly surprising that the Destiny community got so angry about Destiny 2's microtransaction system, and the new consumable cosmetics that comes with it. And it's hardly surprising that the fury spread beyond the bounds of the Destiny subreddit. Outrage over corporate greed is a games industry play that gets new actors every week. Nuance is always lost when this happens. A thunderhead of consumer emotion has to break against something before useful conclusions can be drawn. Developers seem to understand this, even though the process can't be pleasant; they keep waiting until the last minute to unveil their microtransaction systems, after all. They have to know by now what the consequences will be - they must have the spreadsheets that say it'll all be okay in the end.
Destiny 2's first furore has abated now, replaced by less transferable concerns about maintenance times and Crucible matchmaking. It has faded because there has been time for the relatively benign nature of paid-for Bright Engrams and consumable gear shaders to emerge, and for these systems to become understood as part of a broadly positive restructuring of Destiny's endgame grind. That understanding looks something like this: you no longer need to earn experience with a given gun or piece of armour equipped to unlock its potential. The drops you receive have set bonuses, so you don't need to grind to find a version with the best upgrades. Crafting materials have been simplified into reputation-boosting consumables with singular, obvious, rewarding applications.
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