The World’s First race was amazing; the display of endurance and willpower by the teams involved was truly impressive. It is all the more impressive that the teams who did get the job done, did so in spite of this terribly derived mechanic; they are truly deserving of accolade. That special emblem should be worn with pride. Now, as I watched so many other teams break themselves against this raid and slowly call it quits, it dawned on me that Shared Fate is a mechanic out of touch with the gaming experience. Here’s why I say that and from a couple different perspectives: As a viewer: [spoiler]Shared Fate does less to create a compelling narrative than it does to generate bewilderment. It doesn’t allow people to work through issues and bring us along for the ride; the whys and hows of mistakes get lost in the urgency of a revive to stave of impending failure. Then again (and this may be the only positive thing), Shared Fate does create a sense of urgency that, when presented in certain circumstances, generates an edge-of-the-seat thrill. Anyone who watched Gunny clutch the first raid encounter for Gothalion and crew will know what I mean.[/spoiler] As a player: [spoiler]Nothing comes close to the heartache of watching the seconds countdown toward the demise of all of your efforts because you couldn’t revive a teammate. I’ve had too many experiences in Leviathan where we’d work so hard for so long just to have someone go down in the throne room and not have tokens or at a time where it wasn’t feasible to revive. It sucks. What really drove this home was watching Datto and crew complete Riven’s final stand and die during Riven’s death animation (due to Shared Fate), seconds before they would have had the checkpoint. I know that feeling and after watching these guys try for so long just to be brought down by this arbitrary mechanic was truly disheartening.[/spoiler] As a Clan Leader: [spoiler]My worst experience in gaming is as a clan leader who loves to raid; to teach raiding and help others complete their first raid. I lived to Sherpa in D1, but that came to a screeching halt in D2. I was playing Leviathan with some clan mates and a couple guys just couldn’t stay alive. Wipe after wipe, people started to get frustrated and the two people in question knew they were the source. They were already self conscious about making mistakes and while the frustration wasn’t aimed at them, it’s easy to know when a sigh is aimed at you. The realization that I would have to either call it quits and throw away the time investment for four other capable players or tell these two guys they weren’t capable and to leave was horrible. As a result, I swore off raiding and stopped playing for a couple months. Metaphorically speaking, Shared Fate can turn in to Shared Hate in a hurry and it is miserable when it happens.[/spoiler] Please, Bungie, remove Shared Fate from Normal Raids. I can see some place for it in Prestige, but I think the experience would be better served if you design raids to be completed by six people with a job for everyone or go back to a death punishment mechanic, like the Over Soul from Crota’s End, or add enemies or some other mechanic that increases difficulty. Be creative. Be excellent. Do not be lazy.