Alright, so some folks already know that I have been holding off on posting my personal thoughts on this stuff for a number of reasons. Probably the greatest of those being that I had been drinking (Oh Bungie, you drove me to drink...LOL! Its funny but true! XD ) and obviously was in no fit state to be giving any sort of proper feedback. The other reason, upon finally getting sober, was that I felt the need to just take a sit back, relax and let all the information just sorta brew for a bit. Reflect upon it all. That being said, I'll be giving my honest thoughts on all this. [b][THE GOOD][/b] It would be unfair of me to judge something and render a verdict if I did not also include the positives. Such being the case, I feel it wise to cover the good points and changes that Bungie has made with respect to Destiny's new expansion. [b]1:[/b] "Vault Space"- This was obviously intended to be the highlight of the stream, it kept being alluded to the entire time. The storage has been doubled which is something many have been pushing for a LOT. And when I say many? I mean MANY. Pretty sure media outlets have even talked about it as well. I personally don't ever suffer from a lack of space, but there are hardcore collectors out there who greatly needed it and this definitely benefits them. [b]2:[/b] "Character Levels"- Light no longer determines your actual level. This is excellent because now players have more of a reason to go around killing things. As with any game that has a leveling/exp system, the greatest joy is always in getting that "Level Up" which puts a smile on your face. [b]3:[/b] "Marks"- Combing the Vanguard and Crucible Marks into a single currency was smart since now folks don't HAVE to force themselves to play PvP if they want to get stuff from the Crucible Vendors and vice versa. You also remove that annoying Weekly Limit which seriously made no sense originally. Its also cross characters, so people can now use a single toon to build up their other Guardians. [b]4:[/b] "Class Items and Ghosts"- Holy crap, they ACTUALLY both do something now outside of just looking pretty. I remember players back like, within the first couple weeks of the game having first launched giving their own feedback and making suggestions that these items should play an actual role in the game. Nice to see this welcome change. [b]5:[/b] "Exotic Blueprints"- I love the concept of the Blueprints itself, being able to have an actual collection list so that once you get them you will always have them. [b][THE BAD][/b] ALRIGHT! So probably the part of this post that most were wanting to see the most. (Bungie too?) Now there were a few other things that I personally thought were considered good but I didn't think were a big deal enough to make the above list. Unfortunately, despite all the various positives with the TTK, there is one very LARGE glaring negative which is just so monumentally huge that these redeeming qualities just don't manage to make up for in the least. Said issue had me so ridiculously furious that I needed to distance myself for everything Destiny related and then proceeded to drink the rest of the night in hopes of improving my mood. (For anyone curious: it proved to be a success) BUT FIRST! I think it worth mentioning this as well... [b]1:[/b] "Lack of Details"- I honestly re-watched the live stream like...5 times. No joke. I did this because I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any bits of information or being confused about what I was hearing. And I have to say, while you guys did reveal quite a bit, you also created more questions as well in regards to the stuff you were trying to explain. I'll be making another post however to cover this since it goes hand in hand with an entirely other kettle of fish. [b]2:[/b] I'm not even going to prime this one with a title. Pretty sure most already know what the "big thing" is that I was talking about. The one thing you would think should have been counted among the list of positives. INFUSION... Now, to be totally fair, I think the system of Infusion is brilliant. Gotta give credit where credit is due. However, [b]IT IS TOTALLY COMPLETELY WASTED AS PRESENTED![/b] This new system being introduced SCREAMS Gear Ascension, and is obviously a re-imagined concept inspired by Etheric Light. And yet, despite that, I can't help but wonder WHY it doesn't also apply to all Year 1 content? And now I have to say "content" instead of Legendary because the Exotics are also being included in that as well. Allow me to elaborate. [b]MANY PLAYERS HAVE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR CONTINUED GEAR ASCENSION FOR ALL YEAR 1 LEGENDARY WEAPONS AND ARMOR FOR MONTHS[/b]. It is quite obviously a big deal for people. Now, I feel it worth mentioning that for said months, there were those either disagreeing or flatout trolling anyone on the forums who shared this opinion. Why? Because those people already did not care about the Legendary Weapons and Armor. They had already made the conscious decision that once TTK came out that they would be getting rid of their old gear. However, now that Year 1 Exotics are also in that same boat, NOW is magically important enough to have continued Gear Ascension. NOW its something worth complaining about or making petitions for all because it now impacts them. Why am I bringing this up? To illustrate a point. People don't like feeling as if they have wasted their time. The general consensus is that Year 1 was nothing more than a $100 Beta. You acquired data from the players and our feedback and then used that information to design TTK. And so everyone is under the impression that this means the game we got is going to be improving and getting better, right? Only problem there is that you really aren't improving so much as it seems you're just burying it in the sands of time to serve as nothing more than a far distant memory. Players spent hundreds of hours replaying the same content over and over again as intended, as designed with the emphasis being focused on acquiring new weapons and armor (Legendary and Exotic alike). When Dark Below came out and the vanilla Legendary Gear was given no option to upgrade, the masses gave an uproar, turned volatile and for many (myself included) outright quit the game. It wasn't until with House of Wolves and the introduction of Etheric Light that many of us came back to Destiny with the prospect of having value returned to our old gear that we worked hard for to get. But now with TTK, its the Dark Below all over again. As I have argued already in this post: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/146511648/0/0 Those who are now feeling the sting from the Year 1 Exotics not being brought forward, you are NOW understanding how the rest of us feel. Now, turning my attention back to Bungie, I need you to understand that people have lives. And not in the sense of day to day activity. Your team doesn't have much experience when it comes to games like this, so let me explain an important point to you. When it comes to online games that are ongoing like this, people make the choice to commit themselves to it. Humans have finite life spans. It is the greatest motivation in our existence. Destiny is said to be a 10 year game, meaning you are basically asking every player here to give [b]10 YEARS[/b] of their life to you and your game. Any time spent playing this game is time that people are choosing to invest, time that could go to any number of other things. Their time, [b]THEIR LIFE ON THIS EARTH[/b], is a form of currency [b]MORE VALUABLE[/b] than any amount of money. People want something in exchange for their time, for the price they paid in more ways than one. They associate this more often than not with the rewards they acquired. The Vault of Glass. Crota's End. Trials of Osiris. Prison of Elders. Strikes. The Crucible. All these have rewards to be earned, goals that players consciously worked towards. Whether it be that Exotic they spent so long searching for or that Legendary they religiously played the Raids non-stop to find, the [b]PROOF OF INVESTMENT IS ATTACHED TO THE REWARDS[/b]. Making Year 1 Legendary and Exotic Weapons/Armor obsolete by not allowing them to be further ascended/infused disrespects that investment and insults their choice to play the game in the first place. Yes, "[i]Year 1 Gear will have a place in Year 1 content[/i]" [b]IS CONSIDERED AN INSULT[/b]. People didn't grind Vault of Glass to get gear so that they could just continue repeating that raid over and over again. No. They got these weapons and armors because they were looking to bring those things with them going forward into the future of the game. That is why it is called Time Investment. It is a natural, psychological aspect hardwired into every Human being. It becomes more prevalent in older people, though and starts to kick in around your 20s or 30s especially if you're the sort who works a full-time job and you, like so many others in the world, deal with an enormous amount of stress in your day to day life. In conclusion? The Infusion System should apply to everything. Its brilliant, the concept itself is beautiful. But as it stands now, it fails to realize its full potential to be what can actually DRIVE Destiny to go its full 10 years with all of us still playing it. Because if you give everyone the choice to build their characters the way they want to without said restrictions, not only will you improve the quality of your game but you will also ensure that their invested time is not only respected, but appreciated.