I mostly agree with you, but I disagree with regards to exotics. we are only allowed to equip ONE exotic, vs as many legendary weapons/armor pieces as we want. So IMO, they need to justify the fact that we can only equip one. This generally means that they need to be stronger than legendary gear, which would include raid gear. However, I ALSO think that exotics need to be striated into tiers so that it is clear that lower tier exotics are available from a wider variety of sources, but as you aim for higher and higher tier exotics, you need to do harder and harder content, with the elite level exotics only being available from endgame content. I also think they should be more rare, as they were in Y1, rather than as common as they are now with the use of 3oC. And the elite tier exotics should not be quest items.

The issue with exotics is that their definition within the game is not clear cut. Should they be immensely powerful? Should they be just unique? Should they fulfill a role? Should they just look pretty? One of my main wishes for destiny 2 is that their purpose is more defined.

It was immensely clear. In Y1, Bungie wanted them to FEEL overpowered, but not BE overpowered, which they also acknowledged that they would have to tread a pretty fine line. However, people complained about exotic weapon power in PVP, which lead to their revised philosophy of them only being "unique." However, I think most people agree that they would rather exotics be more powerful than they would want them to be "unique." In order to have that system though, we would have to either give up balance in PVP altogether or separate PVP from PVE balance. For the record, I'd be down for either. I think the notion of balance in a loot grinder doesn't necessarily make sense because the nature of the game is grinding for loot. Someone will always find something better than you have. The trick is to find what works for YOU and for you to really grow and learn how to use the weapons you like. Of course, that would also necessitate getting rid of the rotating meta, but that's a different discussion.

[quote]It was immensely clear. In Y1, Bungie wanted them to FEEL overpowered, but not BE overpowered, which they also acknowledged that they would have to tread a pretty fine line.[/quote] I expected this response because it's the one I always get. The truth is, it was never as clear as people remember it. Yes, there were more powerful exotics in year 1 than now, but they weren't all top tier weapons of immense power. Ice breaker, invective, hawkmoon, bad juju, red death, truth and probably more were not powerful weapons. They were no more powerful than many legendaries. Yet they are still and still were back then considered exotic because of what they brought to the table. [quote]However, people complained about exotic weapon power in PVP, which lead to their revised philosophy of them only being "unique."[/quote] This is the issue. We want powerful gear in our own hands but not in our opponents' hands. We need as a community to decide whether we want powerful equipment or not. [quote]However, I think most people agree that they would rather exotics be more powerful than they would want them to be "unique." In order to have that system though, we would have to either give up balance in PVP altogether or separate PVP from PVE balance.[/quote] Or, put some kind of limit on the weapons we can take into the crucible. I would not want pvp and pve balance to be separated for the same reason Bungie don't. I think balance in pvp should either be given up, or exotics can't be taken into pvp activities. [quote]For the record, I'd be down for either. I think the notion of balance in a loot grinder doesn't necessarily make sense because the nature of the game is grinding for loot. Someone will always find something better than you have. The trick is to find what works for YOU and for you to really grow and learn how to use the weapons you like.[/quote] I agree with this point. (Points?)

[quote]Or, put some kind of limit on the weapons we can take into the crucible. I would not want pvp and pve balance to be separated for the same reason Bungie don't. I think balance in pvp should either be given up, or exotics can't be taken into pvp activities.[/quote] This is the hard part because some exotics were clearly designed for PVP. Patience/Time is not a great PVE sniper (its only average in most cases), but it truly excels as a dedicated long-range rifleman's weapon in PVP (and it's balanced because it lacks quickscope ability, one of the major issues during the sniper meta. Nobody complains of P/T being OP). Should it be banned from the area it shines in most because its exotic? I don't think that would be a good idea at all. Another example of a primarily PVP exotic is First Curse. It's actually an INCREDIBLE PVP weapon if you use it right and play with a conservative playstyle (and use it in conjunction with 3rd eye). Should it be banned? I don't see anyone complaining that it is OP - in fact, most people ask for it to be buffed. There's a laundry list of exotics which are well balanced, even for PVP purposes. So a blanket exotic ban doesn't work. Would a banned list of exotics work? I don't think that would resolve anything either, because people would complain that their favorite exotic is banned while others are not. And where would we draw the line? OG Suros pre-nerf was an awesome weapon in PVE AND PVP, mainly because it gave you the utility of an AR in cqc, and the functionality of a Scout Rifle when ADS. It dominated PVP for a long time because of that ability before it was nerfed. Should it be banned in PVP? I've considered a banned list, and I used to think it was a good idea, and it MAY be a good idea if the threshhold for banning was very high, such as "the function of the weapon breaks the rules intended to be in place for crucible" such as when they nerfed the special ammo we spawned in with and got from a box. Icebreaker was a way to get around that rule. The problem is, so few weapons would actually be banned under this kind of scheme that it really wouldn't have a huge impact. Honestly, I'd rather Bungie just throw balance to the wind. Make every gun as good as they were when they were the meta, and let player choice and map selection drive loadouts. Let whiners complain (because polls on the topic show people aren't willing to give up exciting/fun weapons to attain balance anyways) and let the PVP "balance" settle in. People will adapt and learn how to play efficiently with what they like in the long run (something the current rotating meta system doesn't allow for).