This morning when I sat down at my work desk, I was wondering where the ballyhooed hotfix from the first TGTBTU thread I posted was only to be warmly greeted with a (mostly) positive weekly update that obviously needed the same treatment! So, here I go! [u][b]The Good:[/b][/u] [u]Iron Banner[/u] - Bungie did almost everything right with these new Iron Banner changes. Perhaps more than anything, they've shown, as with the Vex, that they're listening to us: [quote]We’ve discovered wonderful truths about the Destiny player experience from the best possible source: the players. We’ve taken those learnings and added them to the new recipe we’re mixing in the kitchen. We’re eager to show you what we’re about to put back on the menu.[/quote] To build upon that, they've announced changes that show it. Firstly, the players were upset that they didn't feel that their gear/weapons mattered as much as the description of the Iron Banner implied. Now, Bungie is trying to remedy that and wants level differences to matter a lot more. Moreover, they're further incentivizing players to complete matches by providing Medallions of Iron with each loss. While the random loot system already encourages you to finish matches as leaving takes you out of the loot roll, staying through the losses will eventually result in rep growth with the Iron Banner, which brings me to my next point. What does all of this matter if the rewards aren't worth reaping? Last time, they were almost unilaterally NOT worth the effort required to reach them. However, with the next Iron Banner event we'll be treated to four weapons instead of two, all of which Bungie claims will be sidegrades or upgrades for the majority of players AND they're going to introduce Reforging, a new mechanic that allows one to reroll the upgrades on all Iron Banner weapons. This change shows great promise for the potential future of the game, and that Bungie is willing to experiment with new, exciting mechanics. On top of that, they've upped the armor available to provide players with more top-tier gear. Again, for the top players these will be sidegrades but for those of us who are looking for different stat weights, they can still be potential upgrades. I'm still undecided on how I feel about the Bounties and the Tempered buff. The changes to the Bounties I'm thinking are mostly a positive change, but I want to see what exactly they've changed before making my decision. [u][b]The Bad:[/b][/u] [b]Rep Reset/Standing Model[/b] - I'm only listing this under the bad category because Bungie has a lot to prove in terms of incentivizing us to take part in these events they're promoting. So far, we've had the Queen's Wrath and Iron Banner 1 which were both mediocre in the eyes of the majority of the community... and that may be being generous. If Bungie intends to drop everyone back to zero each time, they better find new ways to motivate the player base to take part in the event. Moreover, if the rewards are going to remain the same each time (they're changing this time so maybe not), they'll have a real issue getting people to start over. [u][b]The Ugly:[/b][/u] [b]Dodging the Issues[/b] - Lots of cool Iron Banner changes aside, this is all short-term. Your PVP player base is begging for rankings, ranked matches, private matches, game modes etc. You've given them a game mode they've already had once and tuned it to make it a bit better for the temporary time it is here. We need long term changes that make the existing PVP system worthwhile. [b]PVE?[/b] - For better or worse, Bungie made a game that would likely succeed in a PC space with a slow pace and a grueling progression structure, released it consoles with a middling pace and a mid-level (re: semi-random) progression structure. The console release combined with the fence-straddling progression structure sends mixed messages and opens Destiny to a player base who wants what they want and they want it now! That being said, you can't expect this player base to be satiated with doing their daily bounties, weekly heroic/nightfall/raid and nothing more. There need to be more PVE focused events a-la Queen's Wrath but with more of a reason to do them. Mind you, there is a significant portion of the player base that is fine with doing a raid weekly, doing dailies etc because we're used to that type of PVE progression. But it seems to me that we are a small portion of the player base here. [b]Disclaimer of Ultimate Dodge (and the tongue-in-cheek attitude behind it)[/b] - Bungie, this is ridiculous. We get that sometimes things come up that delay the implementation of changes, especially big ones. However, announcing a SLEW of changes that the players want and then adding a joke of a disclaimer at the end to cover your butts should it all not make it out is completely and utterly ridiculous.To be clear, I love the general idea of jokes and interacting with your player base on that level. I just think that there are FAR better places than a "we might not get these updates out" disclaimer for them. I think the disclaimer should have been left out or approached with sincerity, not tongue-in-cheek jokes. We all know announcements like this are subject to change but if you want your players to have faith in you, have faith in yourselves. I've added a poll this week and am considering doing it each week to gauge the players' opinions on the overall quality of the change. I'm giving it a good this week. At some point, I'd like to be able to offer up a better-than-good option, but it's just not in the cards yet. That's it for this week. Overall, this update was mostly positive and I could have ranted FOREVER about how much I love the general direction of the Iron Banner changes. I also understand that the PVP crowd is lacking the most content so directing these updates to them is decently necessary, but the PVE guys need something too. Maybe we'll get some Bungie action in the thread this week, maybe not. Either way, thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts below.