Sorry in advance if this post is in the wrong place, or if this post contains any formatting errors - I don't use the Destiny 2 forums often. I got here as fast as I could after reading today's state of the game due to a very specific announced change that made my hairs stand on-end, and I don't know how or where else to bring it up somewhere Bungie themselves will hopefully see it, since as of typing this, the official Twitters for the game haven't made a post about the article yet. I liked today's State of the Game for the most part, let me make that clear now. The Destiny community is one full of lots of cynicism, and my intention with this post is not to contribute to that, even if I'm in a bit of a panic. Aside from how appreciative I am just to have a game director who'll type up a 7,000+ word article giving information on upcoming features in the game's next big update, I like a lot of said features. Old Exotic missions coming back, PsiOps and Heists being absorbed into the Strike playlist, old Strikes finally getting updated, Strikes that were originally Battlegrounds being given Nightfall variants, the Umbral focusing system being replaced with a superior one, and so much more, on top of what we've already been teased the past several weeks, like Vanguard engrams, legacy vendor focusing, and such. When reading Lightfall and the Year Ahead, once I saw the "Weapon Crafting" section, I got excited. Being able to craft weapons at the Enclave has been one of my favorite additions in Destiny 2's history. While the mechanic has had its share of problems - the blatant padding of making every weapon after Season 12 require 5 Deepsights, how slow it can be to get Resonant Elements or Ascendant Alloys if you aren't on the up-and-up on farming them - lots of them have been fixed with time, and I've still liked the mechanic for what it is regardless. It's a step in the right direction for Destiny, in the same vein of Forsaken replacing fixed weapon rolls with random rolls - giving more personalization, and freedom of choice, to the player. But then I got to the first bullet point, and was aghst: "To create independent chases for both crafted and non-crafted weapons starting with Lightfall, fewer of our total weapons will be craftable and more of our weapons with long term sources will get value from random perk rolls." [b][i]Please, don't, do, this.[/i][/b] Aside from some issues with how long it takes to blueprint a new weapon, and how long/expensive certain traits can be to unlock, apply and swap around, my biggest problem with weapon crafting has been the fact that there aren't MORE weapons to craft. While seasonal, Raid and initial DLC weapons have all gotten the crafting treatment, what you can and can't craft has been scattershot otherwise. Some foundry weapons are craftable, while others aren't. Some Dungeon weapons are craftable, while most others aren't. A handful of old weapons have been reprised with crafting enabled, but many, [i]many[/i] more remain unaccounted for. This has been a [i]bad[/i] thing, not a good one - I want as many weapons as possible to be craftable, with a few exceptions that I agree should be maintained to make certain weapons feel unique (mainly Exotics, making it ironic that most new ones recently [i]have[/i] been craftable). On the pragmatic side of the argument, once the grind to actually get a weapon's blueprint is out of the way, making a gun you craft into exactly what you want it to be is a completely different, and largely superior experience to grinding a source of random rolls for the exact perk combo you want. Instead of the odds being random, they are guaranteed, as you're told the exact level where each barrel, magazine and trait unlocks for reshaping. Instead of being limited to whatever activity drops the weapon you want, you are free to level up the weapon by doing whatever you want; even if some are more efficient at accumulating weapon XP than others, the need to grind for XP only becomes a factor if you want to fast-track progress for that weapon, which, if you sincerely like it enough, you won't want to do. The fact that blueprinting and then leveling a given weapon takes longer (and is considerably more expensive) than just getting that perfect roll you want early-on is a completely fair tradeoff for the fixed odds, even if I think that time investment may be a little too long still right now. Oh, and importantly, the entire crafting system is optional, meaning that players who (for whatever reason) only want to grind random weapon drops are free to do so. That shouldn't be taken away, as Destiny appealing to as many people as possible without sacrificing quality has always been something Bungie stresses is important. On the emotional side of the argument, weapon crafting (as previously stated in this post, I think) puts a greater deal of personal attachment on any given weapon. Every gun having the same perks and stats was one thing back before Forsaken, and it's been another thing since with guns having randomized perks, but crafting lets you make a given weapon truly feel like yours. YOU craft it from nothing more than a blueprint and some resources, YOU put exactly what barrel, magazine, traits and masterwork you want on it, and YOU earn a memento - through difficulty or luck - that you put on it, which gives it a unique title, tracker and shader that non-craft weapons don't get. A gun you craft is truly yours - not the same cookie-cutter gun everyone gets, not one with a random perk configuration you just happened to find, but one YOU sought out the effort to create and hone to the exact point you want it. There's nothing else in Destiny 2 that feels the same as finally getting a gun you crafted to level 30, masterworked, with two enhanced traits, all four perks you want, and a memento on it. All it's really missing at that point is being able to rename the weapon to whatever you want, like Team Fortress 2 or something, to put the finishing touch on a gun that is, wholeheartedly, YOURS. So please, [i]do not lessen the presence of weapon crafting going forwards[/i]. I beg you to reconsider, and go in the opposite direction with it. Its problems are in its exact mechanics, not the system itself. Additionally, please don't think I resent the fact that random-drop weapons are getting some love from Lightfall forward - I wholly support those changes too, with non-crafted weapons getting access to mementos and enhanced perks and the like. It's just that crafting is so good, so ripe with potential still, that downplaying its presence after its initial debut year has left lots of players with a sour taste is the wrong way to go. From old (not sunset) legacy weapons that you can only get from Xur or Dares now, to new weapons that just have happened to not be craftable, so many players would like the chance to continue shaping their tools as much a their tools shape them. I don't know how else to get this opinion someplace Bungie will actually see it, but I hope they do and I hope my words make an impact. I pray it isn't buried in the back of the forums, because I really do mean everything I say here, and am confident many other feel the same way, even if they aren't speaking up about it.