No its not the same at all. It remains to be the only guaranteed exotic outside of the bounties. The process of two heroic strikes vs the rest of the game is far more easy and less time consuming. That's the point. A player with less time put in [i]doesnt[/i] deserve the same as someone who puts in more time. When I played final fantasy online I never looked at a guy with the best gear and said to myself. Man I wish I could take an easy route to get it. Xur is bungies way of being fair. But why should things be fair for everyone? And for me it has effected me because my friends list used to be loaded with 20-30 people always on. Now that everyone has all the guns what is there to play for? Just log on once a week. Do a few heroics get your exotics log off. It's what destiny has become for a lot of people. Can't blame them. Because bungie made it possible.