There has been much discussion recently regarding the state of Destiny following the reveal of Rise of Iron, and many people seem to be comparing said state to that of the game's state in Year one, with claims that Year One is the far superior game for a number of reasons. Personally I disagree, however one thing that I believe that we can all agree was better in year one than in year two, is the system in which Exotic items are obtained, as well as the overall satisfaction of both receiving, and using, an Exotic item. After all, they're the rarest and most feared class of items in the game, right?... right? To be honest, I've had greater struggles trying to receive adequate legendary items from strike bosses than I have receiving an Exotic weapon, and there are a number of reasons for this. [u][b] Three of coins, and how they reduce the satisfaction of Exotic items [/b][/u] Let me remind ya'll of the Gjallarhorn. This thing was so damn sought after that you'd have fully grown adults screaming into their microphones whenever they'd receive one, and although that may not sound pleasant to experience, I can assure you all that it was. Watching as a member of your fireteam received what was undoubtedly the most glorious item in their favourite video game was pretty satisfying, and what was ever-increasingly satisfying, was using this Exotic weapon to overcome obstacles that were otherwise too difficult for your fireteam to overcome beforehand. Nowadays, how many Exotic items give off the same satisfaction as say, receiving a gorgeous Gjallarhorn, a Soul-Splitting Thorn, or the ever-vanquishing Red Death? Exotic weapons have been watered down so much recently that there's absolutely no incentive to even get any of them besides perhaps the Mida, The Last Word or the Bad JuJu, and even then, most of these weapons have relatively effective legendary counter-parts (Doom of Chel, Imago Loop, Hawksaw). Three of Coins, as much as I may overuse them myself, were perhaps the worst thing to happen to this game in Year two in terms of weapons, since it has been the cause of numerous weapon nerfs and the over-all loss of satisfaction when you receive an Exotic item, since you no longer have such limitations on receiving one. It isn't a matter of completing a two-hour long raid for a slim chance of receiving one, or completing a punishingly tough weekly variant of an already difficult strike for an equally slim chance, but rather it's now as simple as killing a handful of strike bosses and being guaranteed an Exotic engram eventually. Because they're so easy to get now, nobody feels any sense of accomplishment when they unlock access to one of them. Thus, because they became so common, people began complaining that they were too dominating in Crucible, and they were therefore nerfed. Let’s be honest, most of the Exotic weapons were too overpowered in Crucible, but this wasn't a problem when these Exotic weapons were so rare that you'd rarely see one of them after fifty or so matches anyways. Sure, Thorn was an ever-growing problem and its nerf was justified because of how low the TTK was when using it, but most other Exotic weapon nerfs were only justified due to how commonly used they had become. These Crucible nerfs therefore cross over to the PvM side of the game, and it eventually becomes more beneficial to simply use a legendary weapon when in a raid, with the slight exception to both the JuJu and Red Death, because the legendary counter-parts to Exotic weapons seem to deal more damage. Xur is another example of the negative effects that Three of Coins have had. Back in Year one, I would’ve ripped my shirt off and howled at the moon if I saw Xur selling the Red Death, but in Year two, because I’ve received so many of them, it’s nothing special at all. This is why people constantly complain that Xur hasn’t been selling anything worth buying recently, since he’s literally only selling 280 light variants to the same mediocre items that we’ve received so many times in the past. Xur is no longer anything special; he’s just another vendor. [u][b] The Solution [/b][/u] Now that we’ve established what the problem is, let’s establish what the solutions would be to counteract these issues. [u][b] Make Xur Great Again! [/b][/u] -Add more variants to legendary sparrows, such as new colour-schemes (Chroma’s perhaps?), abilities, and a wider variety of speeds (i.e. 151-159 speeds). This will encourage people to purchase the legendary upgrade engines that Xur stocks in his shops -Buff the most pointless transaction in the entirety of Destiny, being two strange coins in exchange for a single mote of light. Is this Xur we’re talking about, or Scammer Rahool? He’s supposed to sell you things that you actually want, and a single mote of light is so insignificant that it doesn’t even closely warrant spending two strange coins. I suggest buffing it to one strange coin, in exchange for five motes of light. -Mix up the light levels of the exotic items that he stocks. The light levels could be anywhere between 280 and 320 or so. -Make Exotic weapons rarer and therefore more sought after (See below for more details*) [u][b] Make Exotic items perform better [/b][/u] -Buff the performance of Exotic weapons in the PvM (Player vs. Monster) side of the game. -Make Exotic items rarer (See below for more details*). If Exotic items were more difficult to acquire, then they’ll be less used and therefore will have less of a negative impact on the balancing-side of the game. [u][b] Make Exotic items rarer!* [/b][/u] So how do you make Exotic items rarer, given that everybody and their grandma at this point has the majority of them in their kiosks already? Below I have a few potential solutions, and feel free to also suggest your own (: -Increase the price of Three of Coins. If they weren’t so easily accessible, then neither would the exotic weapons be that everybody keeps complaining need to be either buffed/nerfed constantly. I propose increasing the price to seven Strange Coins for two Three of Coins. This way, you’re paying a decent price for a similarly decent chance of receiving a random Exotic item, without being guaranteed a handful of Exotic items every weekend when Xur arrives. The price may seem crazily high, but Exotics, surprisingly enough [b] are supposed to be rare! [/b] -Occasionally have Xur sell something in place of Exotic items. Rather than Xur selling a random weapon every week, revert back to the system prior to the April Update where he’ll sell either an Exotic weapon, or a similarly sought after item each week. For example rather than a weapon, he could sell a gorgeous sparrow (Fully built), a massive supply of materials, low-price Exotic Shards, discount Exotic Engrams, badass shaders and emblems, or Legendary weapons with at least one guaranteed adequate perk, such as Firefly or Glass Half Full. This will reduce the amount of Exotic items that come into the game, whilst simultaneously ensuring that he remains beneficial to the majority of the player-base. [u][b] “But most players already have most of the Exotics at this point! You said so yourself!” [/b][/u] Although this is unfortunately true, the proposed changes to the game could be implemented within the next expansion, The Rise of Iron, and said changes could affect the new Exotic items that’ll surely be introduced within the expansion. This means that starting from Year Three, all newly introduced Exotics will remain as rare as Exotic items were intended to be back in Year one. Furthermore, Year Three variants to already existing weapons could also be introduced, that have slightly higher stats than the original Exotic (Similar to Adept or Harrowed items). This would mean that players could continue to use their current Exotics, however would genuinely have to work to earn what’s undoubtedly the better variant of said weapon. This should also help to reduce complaints and demands for weapon nerfs. What are your opinions on these proposed changes? Do you like/dislike them, and why? Feel free to add to these suggestions, or change/dismiss them if you dislike them. These changes are merely what I personally believe would benefit the game, and so you’re under no obligation to agree with me if you dislike these suggestions (: Sorry about how lengthy this post was, I guess I got a little carried away with creativity :/