Hi Bungie and community! I recently read the new patch notes preview on the Companion App and watched the streams and read up on all the craziness that is [i]Forsaken[/i], and I figured I’d share some thoughts on a few things I’ve had in mind, all the way from back in D1Y1. TL;DR: Change is good and often healthy and I congratulate Bungie on what they’re moving towards, but change for the sake of change is not always beneficial. First up, armor. For the first of many times I’m sure I’ll touch on this game, [i]Guild Wars[/i] was a fantastic example of how to keep inventories relevant over many years, and I feel like Bungie were headed down this path but are losing sight of it. In GW, the Elite armor you could forge in [i]Prophecies[/i] (the base game) stayed relevant in terms of mods applied and was as equally capable as the newest Elite armor from [i]Nightfall[/i] or [i]Eye of the North[/i], and functioned mostly to satisfy cosmetic and aesthetic appeal, but also to diversify skill and stat builds by teching an armor set to a specific task, much like D2’s armor sets. I have heard/read that D2Y1 armor will not be able to accept new mods and will have their Y1 mods rendered unusable, which is a deeply confusing choice to make, considering that the armor ornamentation system for sets like Sovereign, Iron Truage and Swordflight were really the best compromise on keeping an armor set relevant and giving it a visual overhaul each season and not having to grind for a completely new armor set each season (seriously Bungie, this is SUCH a great idea, kudos to you for implementing it and doing it well), and to give players more control over how an armor set looks. Customization is not a bad thing, and I feel quite disappointed that I won’t be able to use, say, my Y1 Sovereign ornamentation on future New Monarchy armor sets if I want to use the new Mod system in [i]Forsaken[/i]. Next, Exotic Armor. With the new expansion adding in even more, I think it’s high time that a tool not unlike the Emote menu be applied to each armor slot for Exotics; a permanent Exotic armor item slot submenu that can select from any Exotic armor piece you own, function as an item, which then can have the piece you want applied, and also follows the rule of only one can be equipped. For example, you select your Exotic tool slot from your Helmet inventory on your Warlock, you want to run Crown of Tempests, and choose it from the seven helmets within to be the Exotic helmet you wear, which will condense 7 used inventory slots to 1 and let you have access to every Exotic armor you own without your player armor inventory clogging up with your Exotics. I’ve also not heard anything on Exotic Armor Masterworks. Any word on when we’ll be able to get that extra Masterwork armor protection bonus when we’re using Exotic armor? Now vehicles. Sparrows have next to no durability, and can be destroyed instantly from relatively weak attacks. Could we have heavier armor on our Sparrows? I don’t know if the idea is that a guy has squishy Sparrows so you don’t just blitz past powerful foes, but riding on a bomb that could explode and kill you if a Psion sneezes at you is no fun either. This next bit is radical, but could be amazing: we could make our choice of Jumpship more relevant by also incorporating our Transmat abilities with it to requisition in special vehicles. Mostly I want the ability to transmat in a Drake tank now and then. I’m not asking an unlimited fun run of them, and I would be OK with expanding parts of the over world and making certain areas, Strikes, or events capable of summoning in a Drake or a captured Pike or Interceptor for a certain time limit or between certain cooldowns, but we could do so much more with our Jumpships to make them more relevant and feel like we’ve got our own armories rolling with us from the City. Seeing as we’re getting the new Super variations in [i]Forsaken[/i], I’d also propose we update the rest of our Supers/subclasses to variate them all to make them more diverse. In the case of Arcstrider, I’d offer changing the Way of the Warrior to make the Arc Staff capable of being thrown like the Valkyrie javelin from [i]Warmind[/i]. For Gunslinger, offer the option to overcharge the Golden Gun by holding the Super button to fire a Nighthawk shot, and repurpose the Nighthawk to offer bonuses for electing to overcharge the Golden Gun, like enhanced zoom and Super energy refund on terminating a target with it. For Dawnblade, I’d like to see a doubling-down on aerial superiority and magic-slinging in the two subclass paths to make one the undisputed lord of the skies in aerial combat and the other a potent grenadier/swordswinger. For Sentinel, having a Titan be able to slowly (think slower than carrying a Siege Engine part from Wrath of the Machine) move the Ward of Dawn with them, so it’s anchored to their person rather than a world space and provide resistance or outright immunity to knockback out of the Ward, or be able to cancel the Ward early like the new Stormcaller setup for a quick Reinhardt team save from Val Caour’s magic missiles. On the subject of weapons, I love that swords are finally getting shaders. Seriously. Could we also get that treatment for Exotic weapons? I’ve wanted a Crimson Passion shader for the Jade Rabbit for the longest time, since its sticker-laden ornament came out. Catalysts, though. I’m Rank 60 with Zavala and have almost 1500 tokens extra on top of that unspent, and I have only ever found 1 strike catalyst, and I think I’m the only one of my guild members to have had one drop. Just saying, maybe a system similar to Escalation Protocol for increasing drop rates isn’t a bad idea for those Strike ones. Raid ones, too. I love the catalyst system, I really do, but “rare drop” probably shouldn’t mean “get ready to make D2 your second FT job” rare drop. Oh, and what will happen to D2Y1 weapons such as Drang, Mida Mini-Tool, and all the Exotics from this last year with the new mods and Masterwork updates? Will Tyra and Devrim drop Y2 variants of those Legendary companion weapons? Will we have to re-acquire Exotics in Y2 to have mod-able variants? Also on weapons, I’m enjoying the thought of the new weapon randomization system and the new mod system. I’d like to see something more akin to the mod system in [i]Fallout 4[/i] myself, but this is fine. I’m even okay with some Y1 weapons being changed. But for the sake of item permanence, could they also get Y2 mod support? And as one guy on Reddit said, could some guns in Y2 have static rolls, like Raid guns and some powerful/unique Legendaries? Total randomization chaos to increase the play time invested to get guns isn’t a purely positive way to engage your player base either. Exploration is also a must. Your Guardians have crazy wanderlust to burn off, and I have noticed many areas are gated off with shields or fences that are normally accessed by Adventures. Sometimes it’s good to just let players wander around and not event-gate them out of certain areas. I don’t even care if I have to hoof it all the way down and can’t get out except to transmat back to Trostland, especially not if there are new lore scans, rare consumables or items, powerful enemies, or new powers, perks, or abilities to be found by delving into the deepest depths of Titan, Nessus, Io, Earth, Mercury, Mars, or the Reef ([i]nudge nudge wink wink[/i]). Lost Sectors are a good start, but expanding your territories for your players will also go a long way. We’ve been spoiled by games like [i]Skyrim[/i] and [i]Breath of the Wild[/i]. Also on the topic of expansion, the Infinite Forest has a ton of unused potential. It could be the new place to run Heroic Adventures for any planet (it is an infinite reality engine, after all), or you could make it into a Patrol-accessed event area like Archon’s Forge or Escalation Protocol and give us a endless wave challenge area to do battle in, and it would be a huge quality of life update for purchasers of [i]Curse of Osiris[/i]. I’m sure I’ll have more to add to the thread later, but I’ll leave with this: Bungie, you’re going positive again. You’re doing a better job, and while I stuck by you, I saw and understood the arguments of the people who did not, and I’m glad you’re learning from that. I still think you’ve got a ways to go, though. Eververse will never be a source of revenue again, and I hope you all make that a side-gig rather than a focus. Focus should be on enriching your world and giving us more to explore, even if it means updating content released back in [i]Curse of Osiris[/i] that you won’t make immediate returns on. Focus should be on making a long-term plan on keeping the rewards we earned in the first days of D2, such as Ikora’s Parade Armor, as relevant 5 years from now as it was then. Focus should be on the magic I know your studio has, and that I hope to see, in the new [i]Forsaken[/i] expansion. I have faith in you guys, just keep soldiering forward and you’ll get a robust player base and your fans returning once again. See you September 4.