Destiny 2 is introducing a new Trials of Osiris ornament that players will have to win to unlock the ability to buy, and it’s not going over well with the community. Instead of simply rewarding players with the ornament or offering it outright for purchase, Bungie is asking players to go flawless in Trials before they can even pay real money for it. That’s a twist that feels more like a hassle than a reward.
Traditionally, a “Bungie Reward” meant achieving something significant, like finishing a raid early, which then let you order cool physical swag like jackets from the Bungie Store. It made sense because physical items can’t be mass distributed for free, so the pay-for-reward model was understandable.
This new approach flips that on its head. Now, you have to earn the ability to pay for a digital ornament, priced around $7–10, by going flawless in Trials. Even if Bungie plans to let players get the ornament later for free using Bright Dust, it still feels like a sour deal. You’re jumping through hoops to unlock the option to spend money on something you might expect to earn directly from gameplay.
Some voices in the community, like prominent player Saltagreppo, have tried to defend the move. They argue that physical rewards and digital content aren’t the same, and that this ornament is a prize for a gun players already has, not a new weapon itself. The expectation, though, has generally been that such ornaments drop as rewards from playing Trials, not as a pay-to-unlock system.
It’s a tricky balance. If Bungie wants to offer the ornament for Bright Dust later, why not just make it a drop from Trials? PvP rewards have been dwindling, and fresh incentives could keep the mode alive. Instead, this feels like Bungie is nickel-and-diming players in a way that might leave a bad taste.
Will the community outcry be loud enough to change Bungie’s mind? With the huge Edge of Fate expansion launching soon, this issue might get pushed aside for now. But if this pay-to-unlock method becomes a pattern, it could cause bigger headaches down the road.
