Prior to the hotfix (14Oct2014) the Vex Mythoclast became known as one of the strongest weapons in Destiny which is only obtained through the raid on Hard mode. The name itself had instilled fear into me for whenever I would jump into PVP knowing it's capabilities as a powerhouse weapon and that I might cross it one day. But I never gave up the thought of taking down its wielder, because any weapon is as only good as it's user. Being on the forums on a frequent basis I didn't find very many issues with people demanding a nerf or change to VM, in fact a lot of people agreed that the VM is a well deserved weapon after being through hell for many hours in the day or night. I agree as well, that this was a weapon to be bestowed upon those who were able to conquer one of the greatest challenges destiny has to offer yet. With all that said there wasn't very much concern with the community wanting a change to VM. In fact there was a larger concern and more popular agreement that [i][u]Xur needed to be changed[/u][/i] because selling exotics is too much damage on the egos of our snowflakes. So here is my hypothesis as to why VM was changed: [b][u]What became popular in the past week or so before the hotfix that was related to the raid?[/u][/b] [u]My Answer:[/u] [b]Bumping Atheon[/b] off the edge via grenades mainly from a warlock. This tactic is even possible as a solo player. A video also gained popularity showing how a player did this and received many rewards including VM, accomplished before atheon evens opens the timestream. With this in mind many other players have done the same as well as having their friends in the vault to literally sit off to the side while one maneuvers Atheon off the stage. This essentially turns Atheon into Oprah Winfrey saying, " YOU GET MYTHOCLAST", " AND YOU GET A MYTHOCLAST!", "ALL OF YOU GET A MYTHOCLAST!!!!!!:(-$:@(!" Not literally because RNG still plays a role, but it has become a much easier task to obtain one through this method and I personally know of someone who knows someone who knows someone else who assisted players and 5 of them received the vex mythoclast with this method. Essentially it has rendered the challenge of defeating Atheon in hard mode to 0.1 pointless difficulty mode. I'm sure that Bungie did not have this sort of intention for atheon's AI to slip off the cliff. In response, Bungie may have found an easy or temporary solution seeing as everyone is obtaining a top tier weapon- changing it from top tier to average rather than having to spending many days/ work hours to recoding or rewriting atheon's AI from preventing his fatal fall, after all, being the time manipulator of the Vault of Glass and slipping off an edge with those huge a$$ clown feet to my doom would be quite an embarrassment. [u][b]Why would Bungie make such a change to VM though?[/b] [/u] My speculation is that their intent is for all players to have a diverse load out that players feel they have customized their own load out, instead of everyone running VM on their load out because of it's known powerhouse capability. If everyone would be running VM then the standard gameplay/meta would just be majority VM throughout destiny. There would be little to no evolution of player/meta evolution because all of the other weapons would see little action. It also comes back to the intent that the VM is a weapon awarded to those who killed Atheon in its original method and be blessed by the RNG gods, or so I would believe to be the intent. [b][u]What has also happened in this past week?[/u][/b] [b]Iron Banner.[/b] A game mode that encouraged competitive play with players and their builds. But if everyone runs vex mythoclast, then where is the unique competition (besides the fact of individual skill) or feeling of rewarding players who have put thought, tests, and time into their builds? I had a friend who was an Iron Banner junkie whore and he had a team where 5 out of 6 players ran VM. The result wasn't surprising and his team got steamrolled (#gitgudson). With something like that happening in the iron banner it discourages many other players who aren't as lucky enough, to have a team of VMs or even get the VM, to return and continue playing the special event dampening the players experience and enjoyment as a whole out of the game. It may even spur such a player to make it their mission to obtain a VM and ignore the rest of what the game has to offer. [b][u]My Conclusion:[/u][/b] the VM being known previously as a steamrolling weapon in PVP and PVE was the original intent of its function. However with the recent discovery of bumping Atheon, it has become an easily obtainable weapon for the entire community. Bungie's quick response or solution is to make changes to VM rather than recoding an AI which could take a considerable amount of time because it would also require testing and application. This is yet to be determined a final or temporary solution for the VM. This change prevents VM from dominating the destiny environment to keep players from making VM their single option in whatever they do that is destiny. It also helps those who aren't a part of the VM club to continue enjoying their immersion with the destiny world without having to feel as if VM is the means all to an end. Thank you for those who have listened to this long drawn out post. [b]NOTE:[/b] this all speculation and in no means a way to justify the changes to Vex Mythoclast. Only an alternative way of thinking as to why changes were made instead of believing that it was because individuals in our community whined about its OPness. It was indeed a sad day for such a myth of a weapon to be struck down by an even higher entity only to be stripped of its power. RIP. Of course, we could all just [u][b]suck it up[/b][/u], move on, and find something else just as enjoyable in the game.