1st off... I want this poll 2 be responded 2 ONLY by people who have played since Yr1. I know that a lot of Yr2 n 3 people will respond anyway, so this poll wont be very correct, but lets just see how it goes anyway. Now, on 2 why I think Yr1 was by far the best time of Destiny You can argue all you want that Yr3 has more activities and more rewards than Yr1. That may or may not be true, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter for 1 simple reason. Doing raids, nightfall, or any other end game content (Skolas) has no purpose in Yr3. The only reason anyone raids in Yr3 is to get 400 quicker, (or help others on their 1 week journey to max,) then for the most part they dont bother with WoTM because it's boring and easy, and the raid weapons are complete trash. In Yr1 I raided all the time, even after my long journey 2 max, because the raids were challenging and fun, and there was still stuff I wanted (took me forever 2 get Fatebringer). Now, I don't even touch the raids. In fact, I dont even play this game anymore, besides for PvP. Back in Yr1, the raids were an actual challenge. You were BELOW the level of the enemies, even at max, and that made raids harder, combined with the fact that the old raids were just hard, period. Their mechanics were much harder to do than the mechanics of Kings Fall or WoTM at their time of relevance, imo. When you got 2 a higher light, you could feel it in the raid. I remember going from 29 to 30 in a Crota hard raid, and the difference was massive. Besides that, raids actually felt like raids, because you HAD 2 use certain weapon types at certain points. Raid weapons were gods in PvE. The Yr3 raid, however, is completely different. I could walk into WoTM Hard at 370, with a hand cannon, shotgun, and legendary sword, and still survive. Funny thing is, I did just that, except I had a sniper. You can now beat raids underleveled with vendor weapons. Are u kidding? Raiding now feels like patrol, and it might as well be, because you can throw on whatever you want, and you wont hold the rest of the team back as long as you dont die. Raids in Yr1, if you didn't have a certain light, you were dead. Period. Regardless of skill. And that's how it should be. Its a raid, end game content, the hardest thing in the game, (at least at its time) so it should be hard. On top of that, I loved the consequences you got for dying or otherwise messing up. If someone dies anywhere in a raid, it makes it harder, of course. But I loved that in Yr1, there were particular punishments at some parts of the raid. Some examples: dying at the Templar in VoG made thier bubble surround someone else, dying at Crota triggering the Oversoul, taking 2 long 2 kill either Atheon or Crota practically making it impossible, etc. It's not just that, however. Another reason Yr1 is better than Yr3 is rewards. The grind 4 better gear always kept a purpose in your mind, so when you did get something, you usually earned it, and it was a pure rush. The fact that 2 get max light, and 2 get the best legendary weapons, you needed 2 raid, was perfect imo. Raids were the hardest content in the game, so they gave the best rewards, the way it should be. Yr3, the so-called raid, WoTM, was a cake-walk, and the gear was just fodder 2 get the real stuff 400. The real stuff, however, was just armor with the stats and perks you wanted, also easy 2 get, though even that wasnt necessary if you kept your gear from Yr2. As 4 weapons, hit up the vendor and get a Pali and sidearm and your golden. That or infuse Yr2 gear. I'm not saying I don't like all the changes, however. I like how you can now chose what you get from Faction Packages, Engrams now give what they are or higher (no more blues from Legendary engrams), being able to buy materials, and maybe a few others. However, what I don't like: removed rerollong weapons, no longer needing raid materials to upgrade raid weapons, having quests for exotic weapons (not including the Sleeper and Swords) and removing elemental primaries. People complain about having 2 grind 4 good rolls on their weapons. Being able to reroll weapons was perfect. Anyone could get a god roll, you just had to be willing to farm the materials to keep rerolling. Why would that be taken away? Why would you take away needing raid materials 2 upgrade raid weapons? It gave you incentive to keep on doing the raid. Not that people really needed incentive 2 do the raid anyway. VoG and Crota were just so fun in Year 1. Having quests 4 certain exotoc weapons just shudnt b done in my opinion. Y wud u make Thorn, Icebreaker n Gjallahorn quests? They shud b up 2 the wilds of RNG. Especially so 4 these 3, as they are 3 of the best Exotics. Exotics shud b hard 2 get, thats part of the reason they r Exotic. My biggest thing was that I absolutely despised the removal of elemental primaries. There was no need to do that. Having elements had no effect in PvP. I'm pretty near certain the only people who could have possibly complained about elemetal primaries are people that didnt have them. Bringing them back as Exotic is a joke, n not a funny 1. Y wud I use an exotic slot 4 an elemental primary? Yes, they help kill shielded enemies faster. However, is that worth losing out on the massive damage of a Gjallahorn or Dark Drinker? Not in the slightest. The old nf was better, becuz the rewards actually mattered, n it was actually hard. The rto mechanic added real tension 2 it, and starting over didn't bother many people as much as u people r claiming. Beating nf was a challenge, and u got hype at the end. Now, u can do most nf with minimum effort. Regardless of if u got something good or not, it had a chance at mattering. Now, no matter what drops from nf, it's garbage. Now the main thing. Year 1 crucible was the best. Weapons were all extremely powerful, primaries and secondaries. That said, it was balanced extremely well. People used their primaries, because they had quick ttk, and secondaries were more rarely seen. Neither was overused. Secondaries were over-used in Year 2 and 3 by some people, and now, with no secondary ammo, either primaries are over-used, or everyone uses their sidearm like its the only weapon they have. Shotgun rushers didn't exist for the most part, in Year 1. Shotguns rushers were a rarity becuz primaries killed so fast, u'd be dead be4 u made it within killing range. Perks such as Shot Package and Rangefinder weren't really OP, they were necessary 2 make Shotguns a real threat. Most people who complained about Shot Package n Rangefinder either didnt have them, didnt have Last Word/Thorn/Vex 2 counter, or they were using a weapon that didnt kill as fast as those 3 (in close range), and repeatedly got 2 close 2 the enemy. Sniping in Year 1 was the best. Flinch on snipers now is ridiculous and annoying. People say they don't like shotgun warriors, but nerfing snipers and primaries is what caused them. Primaries don't kill the warriors fast enough, and sniping has become so hard that only the very best of players can do it. Because of this, people either a) didn't have the patience 2 learn 2 snipe and resorted 2 warrioring, or b) cud snipe but warriored anyway, becuz it was so effective. Back in Year 1, even with Shot Package and Rangefinder shotties, most people, myself included, sniped. On the topic of weapons, all weapon types were plausible in Year 1, n exotics were truly exotic, due 2 their rarity n power. In Year 3, it's just waiting 4 the next "meta", becuz apparently the best way 2 balance weapon usage is 2 give every weapon type thier "time 2 shine", nerfing everything into oblivion, n making exotics exactly what their called, exotic, becuz u never see them, bar a few that r only used becuz they play the current, no special ammo meta. Y do u not see them? Becuz they r steaming piles of shìt that practically any legendary can beat out. And y are u nerfing weapons anyway? Just becuz weapon usage isnt balanced doesn't mean that that weapon type is 2 strong. It just means people like using that weapon type. Y does weapon usage need 2 b balanced anyway? Also, why was Heavy changed in Trials? Heavy round was fun and perfectly fair before. Both teams had their own Heavy in their own spawns. They could each set up and defend their Heavy, attack the oppposing Heavy, or both. Now there's 1 Heavy, and its placement is nearly always unfair 4 one team. Dont even get me started on nerfs The Last Word: Click firing the Last Word is the way its supposed 2 be used? R u kidding me? Its perk is literally fan fire, or full auto. Its perks give it better stability when hip-firing. What part of that says ads and click fire? U wud b more successful click firing an actual hand cannon with actual range and no monstrous kick. I wont even get into them taking away The Last Words exotic perk. Thorn: This thing is absolute garbage. U may as well take away its exotic perk too, becuz it doesnt do anything. Truth: This would have never needed a nerf if u hadnt changed Heavy, as I stated before. Even so, I still think its nerf is unjustified. Gjallahorn: I get that its damage was massive in PvE, but I think it was nerfed a little 2 hard, at least PvP-wise. The Truth has its massive tracking 2 make it amazing in PvP. The Gjallahorn WolfPack Rounds, not the rocket itself, was what made it amazing in PvP. Its WolfPacks did so much damage in PvP, and tracked so fast. They were like Skip Nades. Now, the WolfPack damage is basically nothing, and they are easy to get away from, making the Truth far superior in PvP. 2 sum up my comments, Yr3 is a weak, baby version of Yr1, where everything is easier, has less, 2 no, purpose, and is less fun. Yr3 crucible sucks compared to Yr1. Anyways, that's my view on things, as a veteran player, who has played since Yr1, and did lots of crucible and raids in that time.