[i]TL;DR at Bottom[/i] As many have no doubt heard by now, details on Destiny's 1st expansion [i]The Dark Below[/i] were released today! Yay!! I can honestly say I am very excited about diversifying my experience in Destiny, as I love the game and would love to see it grow. The new Raid tease sounds awesome as the Hive are my favorite enemy to fight, and I can't wait to see what kinds of new weapons and armor we have in store. And more story missions? Of course I'm excited to smash open the boundaries of Destiny's lore, especially when I've been hearing about this "Crota" fellow for a while. And then there's the Strikes. Strikes, at least for me, are the heart of my experience in Destiny. I don't always have the time to play through a Raid, nor am I usually lucky enough to be online at the same time as my friends. As [b]badly[/b] as I want to be able to play through them, I have yet to try out the Raid [i][b]once[/i][/b] (Sad, huh?). There was the one rare occasion where somebody lost their 6th person right before the boss, so I was lucky enough to jump in there and Finish The Fight (pun intended). Getting the Raid gear, as well as all of the possible Shards and Energies, just isn't a very viable option for a busy person like myself, so I usually turn to Strikes, since they're much faster and include Matchmaking. As I grow older, I grow more busy with work and other obligations, so I can't put as much time into my gaming hobby as I used to (those were the golden days, not worrying about rent or internet bills or empty refrigerators). To be able to come home and jump into the [i]Strike Playlist[/i] and get thrown into a Fireteam and start blasting away baddies is just awesome. [b]No[/b], I am not tired of the current Strikes available, but [b]yes[/b], I would love to have more. So how do you think it feels to be that person who hears the part of the game you enjoy most is being cut off from you and you have no control over it? I mean, I'm [i]already[/i] experiencing that through not being able to play a Raid efficiently, and now I find out I'm not only missing out on one Strike, but soon to be two? I find this Sony Exclusive deal to be completely absurd. It lasts until [i][b]Fall 2015?!?[/i][/b]. By that time it's likely that the 2nd expansion will be released; will there be an exclusive Strike in that one too that [i]also[/i] won't be available until months later? If that's true, then Playstation players will have [b]three[/b] more Strikes than Xbox players. They will literally have [i]30% more variety[/i] in their Strikes, not to mention this is without paying a [i]penny extra[/i]. I paid full price for the Expansion Pass (the same amount as Playstation players, mind you) under the impression that I would be getting every part of each expansion. That's what a Season Pass usually does, isn't it? Many even offer [i]bonuses[/i] for purchasing the pass, but this time around I find out we're getting parts of our content [i]intentionally delayed[/i]. And Sweet Baby Jeebus, is it quite the delay! Nearly a [u][b]full year[/b][/u] after Playstation has received their content will it finally arrive on Xbox. [b][i]A year!!![/b][/i] Let's put things in perspective: - DICE (Publisher: EA, who was once known as the Worst Company In The World) has a [b]2 Week[/b] delay between offering new DLC to those who bought their "Season Pass" and those who decide to by the DLC on its own. This, like mentioned earlier, is simply a bonus incentive to buy the Season Pass (which gives you all of the DLC at a [i]discounted price[/i]), and [b]not[/b] an incentive to buy a completely different gaming console with different games and different networking. DICE's most recent "Console Exclusives"? [i]Battlefield 3[/i] gave a [i][b]One Week[/i][/b] timed exclusive to Playstation. [i]Battlefield 4[/i] gave a [i][b]3 month[/b][/i] timed exclusive for only [i][b]One DLC Pack[/i][/b] to the Xbox. - Ubisoft has had Console exclusive content for their [i]Assassin's Creed[/i] franchise, but that was only ever a couple bonus missions, maybe some fancy clothing/armor and a weapon or two. [i]Never[/i] was it something that was a core part of the game that fans were thrown into an uproar or being forced to consider switching gaming consoles. - Activison (you know, the guys who [i]published[/i] Destiny?) has had previous timed exclusive DLC for it's [i]Call of Duty[/i] franchise, but those were only ever for [i][b]30 Days. 1 Month![/i][/b] What is argued to be one of the most successful IPs in gaming history has timed exclusives for a length of time that's just a tiny [i]fraction[/i] of Destiny's, which Activision I'm sure [i]wants[/i] to be the next big thing. In a year's time an entire new season of gaming will have arrived. The next Call of Duty, the next Assassin's Creed, [i]the next Halo[/i]. Blizzard might even announce/release the next Starcraft 2 expansion by then, and meanwhile, Xbox players are still waiting for part of their first DLC. I honestly do not understand the justification in this. Is it because Bungie games have usually been Microsoft exclusives that they want to try to pull in the Sony fans they were missing out on? A move like this isn't going to increase Bungie's fanbase; they'll be gaining fans on the Playstation side, sure, but they're simultaneously killing off their significant Xbox fanbase. Was this Activision's command? As we've already seen with the upset in the gaming community about publishers going console exclusive with big-name games, this [i]can't[/i] be a good business move. I was also under the impression that Bungie would have full control over the development of the game, so it's possible this theory is irrelevant. There was a time where I would be asked "Who's your favorite game developer?" and the first name that would pop into my head would be Bungie. I loved this studio. The games were fantastic and the people knew how to treat their fans (whether that was with a high-five or some sadistic prank that everybody, fans included, could get a laugh out of). But the decisions the company has been making lately has me concerned. And now the answer to that question is one I no longer have a for-sure answer to. [b][u]TL;DR[/u] I do not understand why there would be such an insane timed-exclusive for the DLC. I remember Bungie saying they wanted to build their dream game and share it with their fans. So why would you limit parts of it to an exclusive group? Why would you not give every aspect of that dream to those who would want nothing more than to share it with you?[/b]