When Bungie.next first launched on January 10th of this year, it was shiny and different, but it wasn't perfect. It still isn't perfect today, but Bungie continues to roll out more of what the community spent years asking for and fixes based on additional feedback. For perspective, here is what we have gained on the site so far: [quote]• One of the most common requests - liking threads and posts - has finally made its way to the site. Now you can show approval for a thread or comment to keep it at the top of the page. • If you don't use the account with your gamertag, you now have 4 other ways to log in and you can link and unlink in a manner of seconds. Previously it could take more than 10 minutes to do something as basic as unlinking a gamertag. After months of unsuccessful attempts before, I was finally able to link my gamertag to the site with the proper email. • A common request was a sent box, but Bungie instead converted them to the convenient conversation format. With this format, you no longer need to reload the page to send a message. You can even send a single message to multiple users, a task previously requiring elaborate scripts. • Notifications for when you were quoted, replied to, or liked help you keep track of the threads you post in. Before, you'd either have to install a browser extension or manually scroll down to find a reply to your post. • After many years of staring at that typo or freshman moniker, users can finally change their user names. • The follow feature allows you to find content from friends or the people who interest you with the Activity tab. Their threads also stand out to you more. • Hiding and Muting are godsends that allow you to remove bothersome threads or troublesome users from your site without the need for a moderator. • In addition to hiding and muting, you also have greater control over the threads based on the date they were created and the response they've gotten. • If you're only interested in posts about certain topics, you can stick with those tags and sort by them directly. • You have direct access to BBCode (including spoiler tags), and all links are automatically created. Gone are the "I'm clicking but it wont work" replies. • In the past, embedded images were a tease from employees. Since their inclusion, many members have made use of them by enhancing their posts with banners, diagrams, examples, and reaction gifs. And let's not forget how lively music threads have become now. • Though its effect has slightly diminished since the forum update, you can still spread a topic across multiple relevant tags. • Users are no longer required to search external sites to strip unicode from text. In addition to special text characters being allowed (such as the interpunct used to bullet this list), the rules have also been relaxed to allow for more [i]colorful[/i] language. • Groups can now expand their discussion or recruit members easier with public threads. Groups are also much more straight forward to search and browse. • Users no longer have to worry about accidentally voting on the wrong poll option or changing their mind now that you can switch your option. The page also no longer needs to refresh. • While questions may at first seem like something from a Yahoo site, what they do is encourage others to provide you with your answer and allow you to highlight it so it may help others as well. • All of your tags, group forums, and followed users are readily accessible on the NavBar • The SearchBar is more straight forward, using the hashtag feature to its advantage. Again, no excuses! • Mobile browsing is a much more seamless experience and you have greater control of your notifications as well[/quote] There are still many other new features Bungie has added across the site, but we cannot forget what we've lost in the process. Things like post preview, member titles, saved threads, pinned and top forum topics, and group news and articles still have yet to make a return. However, if Bungie's response to our feedback thus far is any indication of their commitment to improving the site, I'd like to think we can expect most of these features to either return or be redesigned. After more than 2 months of B.nexting with the new toys though, I can't imagine going back to the simpler layout anymore. What about you? Have you found yourself enjoying B.next, or do you still hold the original site to a higher standard?