For those who aren't aware, a quote from Deej in a Bungie Weekly Update from December last year has been surfacing throughout the Destiny community. "In the months to come, your quest to become more powerful will have more avenues that lead to satisfaction. The last thing we wanted was for you to look at your favorite gun or helmet and decide that it had become obsolete. Since the reveal, we’ve read a lot of ideas for how this could have been done better. Your feedback is clear: The time you have invested in your stuff should be respected." [url]https://www.bungie.net/7_Bungie-Weekly-Update---12042014/en/News/News?aid=12447[/url] Somewhat ironically, this quote came to us a couple weeks prior to The Dark Below's release, which effectively nullified non-Exotic gear from vanilla Destiny until House of Wolves introduced its Ascension via Shard or Etheric Light system. Of course, outside of Raid gear, most people didn't hang to vanilla Destiny gear since we were under the impression that they would be left behind to collect dust, making the rotating selection of (and mediocre quality of House of Wolves) gear sting that much more. Regardless, the message one would gather from the above quote is that when players invest time into a game, especially one that's as loot and gear-driven as Destiny, they should be allowed to enjoy and savor those items as they'd like. Based on how back-and-forth Destiny has been since it's launch, however, it's felt more like a flimsy boat caught in a monsoon, as opposed to the grand ship it's supposed to be. First our non-Exotic vanilla gear is rendered obsolete, then it's given the chance to be bolstered to a proper state, now they're being halted and stagnated again with the selective ascension we can expect to occur come The Taken King. What's puzzling is how select Exotics will be the only gear carried into Year 2 (or Year 2.3, since we can probably expect two more expansions before Year 3). Deej mentioned in the Year 2 stream that certain favorites will be carried forward, including No Backup Plans. By that logic, No Backup Plans is a bigger favorite than the G-horn, and I don't know about you guys, but I used G-horn more after Xur sold it most recently than I ever did No Backup Plans in the months I had it. So with that in mind, I honestly want to know what system Bungie are using to decide which Exotics to carry forward, because it appears fairly arbitrary. In another slew of irony, this selective approach makes much of the changes in Weapon Balance 2.0 feel utterly pointless. Nechrochasm is going to be useful, eh? Not come Iron Banner, Trials of Osiris or any other level advantage enabled PVP mode, or any high-level PVE content for TTK. And while we're on the subject, what point is much of what Year 1 going to offer? Vault of Glass gear can't be ascended, Crota's End gear can't be ascended, Prison of Elders gear can't be ascended, Trials of Osiris gear can't be ascended...other than select Exotics anyway. This leads me to beg not only the question of what the point was for us Year 1 players to do this if we weren't going to be able to use our gear going forward, but what point will new players buying Destiny Legendary Edition have to bother with that previous content? Other than a run or two of Vault of Glass, it won't serve much purpose, because the rewards, a pivotal part of Destiny itself, will hardly have a place in TTK. If that's the case, a considerable portion of content new players get will also be rendered obsolete before they even have a chance to experience it. Happen to get both a Husk of the Pit and Crux of Crota within the first couple weeks of TTK? Too bad the final prize will be little more than a participation medal. This leads to a lot of headscratching, because if Bungie can and do continue this type of system, then the question of which items move forward will be entirely at their discretion, and based on how they've been handling the game and "talking" with their community, they're not worth trusting in. But don't take my word for it, take the above quote from the Weekly Update into account with Deej's response to a tweet that mentioned how said quote contradicts what they're doing moving into The Taken King: "Year Two is a new beginning." That's right folks. The $100+ you spent on the content for Destiny Year One? Tossed and discarded like a used condom. Only the condom came broken and you didn't realize until moments after the initial penetration. Now let's consider this quote. Saying The Taken King is a "new beginning" as a response to contradicting statements made from the past year leading up to TTK leads me to the conclusion that Bungie can double-back and completely alter whatever they want and all they have to say is "it's a new beginning for Destiny" and, as far as they're concerned, they can call it a day. If that's the case then the day looks even dimmer than before; the Darkness is spreading and Light is being consumed in its wake. This wouldn't be quite as offensive if Bungie actually communicated to their own community. Unfortunately, they continue to treat their community and fanbase like a collection of vultures. Instead of answering and treating us like actual people, they'd feel more content to provide a cryptic novel of terms and conditions, and if we find a discrepancy, they'll silently make like Darth Vader and say "I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further." The idea of a "new beginning" or fresh start is something that I feel would follow an outright apology and subsequent compensation for blunders and errors, but Bungie haven't been known for modesty, especially as of recent. Yet if they did this, do they realize how much good publicity that would give them? A company that remains silent while twisting and turning what they conjure for a product is forever a villain, but a company that come out with humility and completely admit to their faults while taking corresponding action (as opposed to selling us the same content again)? That's a win-win move for both parties; players finally get something for their time and investment, Bungie end up looking like the good guys. A "new beginning" just one year into Destiny's life cycle is really abrupt. If we were moving into the second game with changes like this, after investing a couple or so years into our journey, then yes, the premise of a "new beginning" would feel a bit more appropriate. But Destiny is hardly a year old at this point, and there are still people who've yet to obtain certain Exotics. What happens if/when someone gets the Exotic they've been hunting for, only to find out that a couple days later, after TTK drops, that the un-ascendable Exotic in question became obsolete before they could even unlock its main perk? It's not like we've known this would happen all along. Given the positive changes made in House of Wolves, one would logically think ascension would continue to be a feature with weapons and gear in Destiny, it would just possibly require a different material or path to take. But no. The welcome change was made only to be "Taken" away. Suddenly I'm feeling more empathetic towards those Cabal in TTK's opening mission. So what can Bungie do to start making changes for the better? -For starters, actually begin communicating with the community. We only bite if you give us reason to, and right now we have many reasons to do more than just show you our teeth. If our gear is going to be obsolete a year from now, at least let us know WAY ahead of time. -Make ALL Exotics ascendable into Year 2 with OPTIONAL stat/cosmetic changes (the new SUROS looks hideous both aesthetic and performance-wise). -Give Year 1 players the choice to ascend at least one set of Legendary armor and weapons (primary, special, heavy) into Year 2 caliber. These are all simple changes that would win back a bit of favor, make more sense and be a start to the things we should expect and continue to see going forward. There are a multitude of other things that should come to be, but for now, I think this small slab of 3 changes can easily be implemented.