EDIT 1: I want to thank everyone who participated in the discussion so far. I didn't expect this topic to take off when I posted it last night, but I guess I wasn't alone in my thoughts. Special thanks to people who educated me about the Bonus Chest fact which you can't get through the platform Cheese, and everyone who maintained a positive, constructive tone (as well as stayed on topic). EDIT 2: Spelling and grammar, 'cause it was driving me nuts. There's been a lot of noise about the weapon nerfing/balancing during the 10/14/14 Hotfix. Most of it was pretty predictable. This isn't the first time [url=http://kotaku.com/death-threats-follow-small-call-of-duty-tweak-888324886]weapon stats have been tweaked in a FPS game[/url]. Arguments for and against have been pretty standard fare. Overall the changes seem fairly well calculated to balance the experience and extend enjoyment for the broadest subsection of players possible. To these I say 'Hoorah!'. I always liked Scout Rifles, now I am more justified in doing so. But the Kill Volume on the sniper platforms in the Templar encounter bothers me. It bothers me a lot. Please allow me to explain. I'm not against adjusting risk vs. reward. A true Cheese Strategy which makes a challenge trivial consequently trivializes the rewards that come after, and that is not good for games (this is why Atheon probably should have been patched first, but maybe solving that one is trickier and will take a bit of time). However, the "4 seconds until we kill you for playing the game incorrectly" solution to this is wrong on so many levels. An easy fix, yes, but quite possibly the laziest, and least fun way to patch the encounter. I worry about its implications on the overall philosophy behind what the game is supposed to be about. My problem is that it's almost always better to incentivize than to penalize. Invisible walls and kill zones are extremely heavy-handed penalization. They are a slap in the face, a clear message that you are trying to do something you were not intended to do. But finding an easy way to meet a challenge isn't always an exploit. In fact, finding a cool way to accomplish a task can be just as satisfying as getting loot for completing it, especially if you've been banging your head against the wall, failing constantly ahead of the suddenly successful idea. This is why my clan initially said we didn't want to watch Raid guide videos; we wanted the thrill of finding our own way. This stuff is gold, in terms of design. It isn't loot you have to make models, art, and stats for, but it can be just as essential. Slamming the door on it is, in my humble opinion, far worse than nerfing a cool weapon's damage. It's more like hacking players' inventories and [i]deleting[/i] that cool weapon, leaving a note saying "You are having fun incorrectly. You are playing [b]wrong[/b]" in its place. The sniper platforms were made. They were made reachable through our cool flight/jumping abilities. They included strategic cover. How could anyone [b]not[/b] anticipate players not wanting to try and use them? If we are worried about Cheese, here are some alternative ideas: [i]Make it tougher, enemies adapt[/i] - Goblins throw more grenades, target the platforms - Harpies fly out to platforms - Templar can hit platforms from longer range - Templar teleports one random player from platform instead of himself back into the arena [i]Make it cooler not to Cheese It[/i] - Include an achievement and/or additional rewards (shaders, emblems) for completing the encounter without anyone being marked by the Oracles (something you can't avoid by hiding on the platforms during the last phase, you just have to cleanse constantly because Oracles aren't dying). Patching how the encounter reacts to player strategies, rather than just killing them for using part of the map you designed and made available leaves the choice in the players' hands. They can still do it, but will probably choose a different strategy not because they feel forced, but because they will now figure out something that works better, and it will still feel rewarding because A) verisimilitude is maintained (of course hyper-intelligent robots are going to be smart enough to counter my camping), and B) you didn't have to slap them right in the ego with a kill volume which just seems to broadcast: [b]We didn't think of this! We will now wave a wand and you will play how we intend, your creativity is not the goal here, ours is[/b]. I like raiding. I want to keep figuring out new raiding mechanics and strategies with the friends I've made in this game. I don't want kill volumes to be the go to hotfix tool for future raids where players will inevitably find the paths of least resistance. Please keep this in mind and leave me my illusions of choice. They are really fun. Thank you for your time.