Hey Bungie, I actually felt like my gear made a significant difference. There would be times where I knew I didn't deserve to live through a particular engagement, but did, thanks to my maxed-out gear and light level. Tactics and skill definitely still worked to my team's advantage, allowing my 29 teammates to be just as pro as I remember them, even when pitted against 30s. Heavy Ammo was a very important match balancer, because GJALLARHORN KNOWS NO LEVEL or something. Since most of the people who I played against this week were level 28, 29, or 30, it might make more sense to have a curved competitive zone, where level 30s are competitive with 29s, 29s with 30s and 28s, 28s with 29s, 27s, and 26s, letting the competition gap narrow as you reach the top and widen as you first begin. I also didn't see much of an issue with using my Thunderlord with an attack rating of 267 making that much of a difference under my Swarm at 300. And I did scoff at level 29s who used [i]blue[/i] guns with a maximum rating of 242 edging out my 300 gear when in a reasonably straight gunfight. It felt like armor mattered more than weaponry. Oh, I know it's not in the scope of Iron Banner development, but it definitely needs a mention: connection quality. When I was in a fireteam with some of my buddies from across the US, I had between 1-4 people each game with garbage-tier connections. I would rather have waited for a better quality match when in a fireteam than to have yelled so many obscenities at my screen. Matchmaking made gameplay with friends who lived a few states away less desirable than playing alone, communicating with whoever else opted into team chat. Also, huge shout-out to team chat. Impeccable timing with the breakdown of XBL Party Chat and what-all. Overall, great job. Seriously, I've had a good time with the event and I'm enjoying my classy Iron Banner Mittens and Socks. -Federal