It would be interesting, and give new player insight into the evolution of Destiny, if we could set what patch level we want to play at. Want to see what it was like in year 1? Set the patch level in a private match? Same if you wonder what it was like before Hammer of Sol or Tripmines were nerfed.
Assuming the weapon and player data files could easily be swapped out to get the target patch level, this would not be hard.
And if this is only in private matches, it is not something that would be forced on people.
Finally, if Bungie see people going back and playing particular patch levels, it might give them some insight in to what people miss and might be worth bring back.
Edit: A few people have commented on how hard this would be to do. I have an idea on this...
If all the weapons, armor, etc are in individual data file, have a directory of data files for each patch. When you play a game, the game is hosted by one of the players, not on a Bungie server and the map and data are completely reloaded each game. So when the person hosting the custom match sets the game type and map, they could also select a patch level and then it would load the data files for the guns and armor from the directory for that patch.
The obvious downside is that Destiny would take a lot more space on your system.
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Edited by iDovahBear: 1/18/2017 6:05:00 PMEasier way to do this would be to allow us to manipulate weapon stats in private matches only. Sort of like how in Halo you could tweak overshield or ammo or anything like that. But it would get much too complicated. I love this idea because it has a very practical use: People who hate Bungie's meta can move away from it, but unfortunately it would be very tedious to implement. It would take as much Developer attention as something like Forge mode. Perhaps this should be incorporated into any future Forge mode plans? That's the only way I see it happening, and even then . . .