I did love this game, I truly did. I played no other games for 11 months after launch. And after 1803 hours of playtime, it's the most time I've ever spent on a single game. I'm going to air the merits both good and bad as I see them. This post is going to be rather lengthy and detailed so please no trolls, h8ters, crucibabies or noobs beyond this point. I'm 37, my first console was an Intelivision. I have always been a gamer and always will be. I work fulltime in the oil/gas industry and played Destiny 2-5 hours a day, everyday since launch. Destiny was the FPS that I always wanted to play. Part FPS, part MMO, with a hint of RPG. A platform of social shooters, interesting events and a way to meet likeminded people from all over the world. Meet enough people and form a clan, attempt raids, Iron Banner and Trails. Bringing people together the likes of which I had not experienced before, it was awesome. Even with all the bugs, glitches and exploits that plagued Destiny at launch, the base platform for something amazing was there. No other game was like Destiny. But... You decided to use a game engine that offered great visuals and solid mechanics, but is very susceptible to bugs and glitches and is a nightmare to work on. Seemingly simple fixes would take months, and some over a year to fix. (The can't sprint bug) I understand that a new engine is going to be problematic and will take time to learn its limits and abilities, but after 1803 hours of gameplay time across PS3 and PS4, maybe the decision not to use a more user friendly and proven engine was a mistake. It would have saved both code writers and players alike countless hours of frustration. Grimoire... The decision to take the vast majority of the lore out of Destiny and make it only available outside the game and in text form was a total mistake. The lore itself is amazing but why a player can't access it in game boggles the mind. I can't think of any other game that forces players to go to another source outside the game to learn more about the game itself. Bad call. Make the grimoire available in game. Progression. The light level system is not a good system. Denying players that paid the same amount of money that all other players paid but denying them the ability to achieve end game top level unless 6 player raids were completed wasn't fair to the vast majority of the community. Allow the "filthy casual" to get to max level, but make the gear the unique selling feature with awesome perks for their respective roles aka PVE or PvP. While I am not a proponent of In game matchmaking for End game activities, the current elitist LFG sites are a toxic reminder of what happens when you make end game Activities dependant on weapons and experience ONLY. "Must have ToM and Black spindle, 315 light and completion emblem" in order to join a group is unacceptable. You can only get those items by doing the raid, but very very few people will "carry" inexperienced players through it. (Big thanks to the Sherpas who do carry players). Give casual players a means to get high light levels so they will be more accepted into raid groups. Make the gear/rewards special, not the light, for their respective activities. (See Etheric light discussion near the end of post) Nerfs and buffs. This is possibility the most difficult thing for a game developer to get right. If the guns just had stats, it would be almost balanced from day 1, but adding the unique perks for each weapon type compounds the problem for all types to be viable. I think most of the changes are a way to collect data from whichever meta is currently used and eventually it will be sorted out. However... For a game that the majority of player base is focused on PVE and the minority on players focused on PVP, is almost like the separation of church and state where the state is PVE and the PVP players are religious fanatics!!! Any given day the forums are plagued with toxic posts about certain guns, classes and abilities being "OP" or unfair. And 99% of those posts are from the minority of the player base that focus on PVP. As a game developer, why are you allowing the minority of the player base dictate how the game should be experienced for the all players??? I never heard the Vex or Hive complaining about Thorn or TLW, yet due to their overuse in PVP, they were nerfed. Now for those players who never play PVP but enjoyed using those guns on strikes, patrols and raids, those guns now became far less effective, and the PVE players are being punished for PVP players choices is a totally seperate activity. And due to the nature of your engine, you can adjust the amount of damage the guns deal separately for PVE and PVP , you can't adjust how they handle/behave. With the recent nerf of shotguns, (again due to overuse in PVP). The PVE player is being punished for things they had nothing to do with and no say in Keep the base abilities and handling characteristics mostly unchanged in PVE. Giving a slight damage buff is a lazy way of trying to make a menses for the PvP fanatics crying out for changes that they are the cause of and definitely not the solution too. The Taken King. A much needed expansion with economy fixes , meaningful progression and relative content. It was awesome. But the decision to block players from content that they had previously payed for and forcing your player base to purchase TTK in order to resume the ability to play those activities is without a doubt the most disrespectful and downright shady business decision I've ever seen in gaming. A "pay to win" model is bad enough, but a "pay again to be able to do what you already paid for" model" is simple greed. I don't know for certain if it was Bungie or Activision that made this decision (leaning towards Activision) but they should hang their corporate heads in shame. Please show me 1 other example in gaming of such a practice where you have to repay for content. I'll wait... The final straw that broke my back and will to play was the recent update and announcements. You hyped up to keep our materials and Etheric light. Some even started to stockpile the stuff, in the hopes of making it worthwhile to grind. The faction rep increase for the amount of materials isn't worth it at all, and Etheric light for Petra rep that doesn't matter anymore in TTK??You dropped the ball on that one. You could have easily made Etheric light relevant again simply but making it give 1 light point bonus to weapons and gear that you currently own. It would have been a game saving decision. Those players being shut out of endgame activities would have had a means to slowly build up their characters to a level where LFG groups would accept them in and be able to experience the raid and get the endgame loot. It makes Prison of Elders something worthwhile to do again, only takes 3 players and possibility match made since it is relative easier now than before, while still only getting 2 Etheric light per week per character. But no, you shut out all players who didn't buy TTK from content and made all Y1 content irreverent. Are you ashamed of Y1? Are you hoping to sweep all the mistakes Y1 had under the carpet and starting anew with TTK saying this is how it should have been? After we all played for 100's and 1000's of hours? And now, announcing that there will be no new DLC type content released until "Destiny 2". Instead giving us event based content for what could potentially be a 9 month waiting period, and while the events are awesome is scope and fun to play, the micro transactions model for making profit during this period is not what the majority of players want. Forcing players to pay $10 for a record book to keep track of their stats during a limited time event? No thanks Making emotes that players had to pay for available as nightfall rewards. Are you going to refund those players who paid for that particular emote and then get it as a nightfall reward? Did all sense of reason and respect for players money spent just get thrown out the window instead of at the screen? No Bungie, you had my love and respect for 12 solid months. Ask any of my clan mates, I stood up for you, defended some of the poor decisions you made with "don't worry, just hang in their and they will fix it". Always trying to see the positive side of the decisions you made ingame. But with the current and future model, shady micro transactions and lack of content, I can no longer justify 2-5 hours a night on your current game. If my clan mates need me for something I will so oblige but, I'm not doing it cause I enjoy it, or for personal progression and especially not for you, the only reason I'll play is for them. The ones you've forgotten, the ones you've let down and repeatedly disappointed, the ones you don't listen to anymore. If you can make a loyal Guardian such as myself stop playing, take it as a sign of things to come. Learn from your mistakes both inside and outside the game. Over 25,000,000 guardians deserve better than this.