I'll only comment on two things out of the entire thing but you'll find I overall agree on D2 being a let down and at some point I'll put it down when my friends don't need me. Going back to D1 won't be an option for me however as I still despised it, it is better than D2 however minus the pvp itself but even the pvp still carries issues. Point one: the gameplay/crucible: I don't think one can really say a matter of preference can be "watered down". I've heard the complaints on the slower pace of the game, the restrictions on your supers and abilities and the ttk being raised giving weapons the "appearance" of being weak. Naturally I'm a fan of the games with a longer ttk, more so when they're becoming less common to find due to industry trends which makes me lose any appeal to the games. There's hundreds of games with sprint, clambor and other means of mobility so it makes the newer games bland when they follow suit, which destiny has (and I expected being how they're paired with Activision). The gameplay is absolutely smooth, fluid maybe even the best, but it doesn't do anything unique from other games to make me see it as special. So I can appreciate D2 going a little more old school in this case when it comes to the slower movement and ttk being raised, it still isn't unique as older games have done this but it does help separate it from the other 70% of the industry. Crucible itself is more tolerable from me as I despised D1s various ohk capabilities and the random slam it created. That doesn't fit in any pvp environment and that's why there's no such thing as a lasting pvp that has a chaotic nature to it. D2 has put more emphasis on balance but even then it's balancing will only go so far till they really limit the weapons. The biggest turn off in D1 was the unnecessary nerfing it did as that isn't a solution and actually adds more trouble later on, something I hope D2 can stay away from. The team shooting in D2 was also there in D1, especially since the more players you have, the more it'll occur so it's why I'm dumbfounded with the "being 6v6 back" as the team format really doesn't effect team shooting, it's everything else around it. How small is the map? Is it actually fit for the said format? What is the movement pacing and residents timers set at? All of these help make team shooting a thing and the quicker the pacing and the smaller the map, the more you let people get right back into the action to team shoot. I will agree D2 lacks in self empowerment, but there was really no self empowerment to D1 when you can carry a shotgun 90% of the game, real self empowerment comes from a great utility weapon which both destiny games have lacked. Point 2: as for the static rolls: they could've been a good thing had it been done right. The issue is the severe lack of weapon variety and various copy and paste weapons. If you get the variety then the static rolls wouldn't be so bad. The issue with D1s weapons with the random perks is they too showed a lack of variety so they're solution to give the illusion of variety was random perks. I'd still take that over D2, but nevertheless D1 still carried the same issue in the end, but in a different way. The SMG is a new weapon to destiny right? Honestly I don't think I've seen over 10 versions of it. Pretty poor for something many consider a loot shooter. Same applies to the grenade launcher, the side arms and even some of the original weapons. It's a situation where I think Bungie should work with gearbox (borderland developers) to rework the loot system and to create more variety as I think Bungie has damn near run out of ideas for creative variety.