Not everyone will/can get everything in a game like Destiny. That, in and of itself, is a good thing. Some people will complete challenges, triumphs and milestones faster than others. That too, is a good thing. Diversity among the population of any community is always a good thing for both the community and for whatever the community is associated with. But people need to stop confusing "hard work" with an investment of time. It is almost always preferable to work "smarter" not "harder". An please make no mistake, the quotes around each of these terms is to illustrate that both are HIGHLY subjective when it comes to something like Destiny. Just like how much "skill" something requires, or how "good/bad" something is to one player vs another. [quote]The goal of the infusion system is to create an impactful feeling of progression when you increase the Power of an item you enjoy using. An infusion system with no scarcity around the materials would diminish this impact. To that end, we tapped into a material with inherent scarceness, Enhancement Cores, to use as one of the keystone materials for this process.[/quote] This is Bungie's response to player feedback on enhancement cores. [quote]The goal of the infusion is to create and impactful feeling of progression when you increase the power of an item you enjoy.[/quote] Dear developer, YOU do not "create" feelings. You create systems, and players work within those systems to achieve their personal goals. How they "feel" is derived from their own PERSONAL sense of accomplishment, not from the system itself. So if one player spends 4 hours a day, and another is only able to spend 4 hours a week, the goal should not be to control how either of them "feels" at the end of their respective play times, but rather to create systems that ENABLE and ENCOURAGE them to set their own goals and achieve their OWN level of success. [quote]An infusion system with no scarcity around the materials would diminish this impact. To that end, we tapped into a material with inherent scarceness, Enhancement Cores, to use as one of the keystone materials for this process.[/quote] Wrong. A lack of meaningful PROGRESS is what diminishes the impact. It has nothing to do with the materials. In D1, we had to work to unlock the full potential of the gear, but there was no barrier other than our TIME to that progress because all of the materials required to progress were controlled by us, not by RNG, not by item scarcity, by the player. So the 4hr per day player and the 4hr per week player truly had the same opportunity to obtain what was necessary for progression. But in D2, you have created a weekly cycle, that PUNISHES players who are not able to log on everyday. Because the access specific materials are tied to this cycle. Which means that someone who plays everyday is not subject to the idea of an "impactful feeling", while the player who is on a few times a week, not only feels it, but is in fact PUNISHED for it. So ultimately, one player feels nothing, and the other player is pushed into a situation where the whole process "feels" negative. That is poor design, as it is contrary to player engagement and in some ways your stated goals. People either, don't care(because they have enough time to trivialize the system despite your intended goal), or they find it frustrating(because it is prohibitive to the amount of time they are able to invest in progression). Either way, the system is bad for everyone involved. Power level is arbitrary in Destiny. It is a number, nothing more. It holds no actual value in regards to player time, status or investment. It is simply a barrier to limit player access to content. Being 650 doesn't "feel" anymore powerful than being 400 at the end of year 1. THAT is the problem with your system, not how slow or fast players are able to reach a given power cap. [quote]...progression when you increase the power of an item [b]you enjoy[/b].[/quote] Except you have removed that control from the player. By limiting what items remain relevant season to season. By curating the loot pools to only include seasonal items. By relying on RNG as the basis of your loot system. You have effectively removed the ability for the average player to truly "enjoy" anything, as they are constantly chasing and arbitrary number. Instead players have to wait for RNG to drop an items for a particular slot. Then they have to hope that item has rolls that are suited to their play style. Then they have to weigh the cost of bringing that items up to a particular level. And then, only then, will they truly know if that item is something that they will "enjoy". And if it isn't? Guess what? Their investment in both time and materials is nullified. So what you end up with are people using what they find, even if it isn't what they enjoy. Or using what they enjoy, even if it isn't the optimal gear for a given situation. Which again, is contrary to any idea of this system having a positive impact on player enjoyment. Do you know what the real kicker is? NONE OF THIS ACTUALLY MATTERS BECAUSE YOUR GAME SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED TO MAKE POWER LEVEL ARBITRARY... It is just a number. Nothing more. And the fact that some people can power through, trivializing the system and the content, means that in the end, what -blam!-ing difference does it make in who is using what and when they are able to use it. Infusion should be materials based. End of story. Enhancement cores should be for masterworking items that players ENJOY. The fact that players can ignore the whole system, just use what drops, and still reach max level, is a clear indication of how pointless controlling infusion really is. All you have done with the system as it stands is to illustrate how meaningless a lot of the controls you added to the game, a lot of the perks, a lot of the mods, skills, etc. Really are. Your logic is flawed. And the game will always suffer for it.