The problem is items... or a lack of. If lvl 30 gear fell outside of the raid, the games content would automatically be more attractive as it would give people something to do during the week. The game was described as a Loot game by Bungie. So lets try make it a loot game. This is a long post, going in depth about issues with itemisation in destiny, the level cap and drops in the game. First armour, then weapon and finally exotics. (this is all for PvE). TLDR for the lazy ones :) * Only 3 pieces of armour to aim for. Only available from raid. *This makes rest of the game pointless in terms of effort -> reward. *All level 30 characters are practically the same. *Legendary perks are boring and unimaginative. *Exotics are great but only 1 allowed to be equipped, automatically makes any further exotics less useful. *Poor upgrade trees for weapons. Now for some more stuff. [u][b]ARMOUR[/b][/u] The problem is the lack of loot you are aiming for. If you want to reach level 30 you need 3 pieces of raid gear and an exotic fully upgraded. There is only 1 set of raid gear, which means anytime you see a level 30 you know 75% of the gear he is wearing without even having to see him. [u][b]This is terrible.[/b][/u] What this ALSO means is that any drops outside of the raid are practically pointless. If i get legendary armour engrams outside of the raid then so what? they wont be better than the raid gear. This is the problem with having level tied into gear. Its not a problem if there is a VARIETY of sets, armours, weapons etc. But in a game where there is only 4 items to get you to 30 worth picking up it gets frustrating / boring / stale very quick. [u][b]There has to be more sets of legendary gear with more unique legendary properties[/b][/u] There is a real lack of imagination on the legendary properties given to items. What ever happened to some quality bonuses? Confusion? Hex? Damage buff? Increasing defence? Adding elemental damage to melee / primary attack etc? How good would it be if the following set was in the game and could only be dropped from say, Phogoth on a extra tough version of a nightfall strike (this is assuming we ever get nightfal playlists). *names made up on the spot, forgive me* :p Helm: Gauntlets: Chest: Legs: Fusion Rife: Phogoths Eye *wearing all 5 items gives set bonus: On melee attack, STOMP is applied, damaging all nearby units for 200% weapon damage). This is just a made up example (an awful one). but this gives you something to do outside of the raid. Something to aim for, something for RNG to bless you with. Imagine 1 set per strike boss, extremely rare drops but when you get them its great. [u][b]Problems coming with the DLC[/b][/u] The DLC is on its way. Now if the DLC only gives us new raid gear to get us to 32 (35, whatever it is) and thats IT... Then the game is in serious trouble. There should always be advancement. Always the chance for good gear from a variety of sources. if the game falls into a "lets wait for tuesday to see if i get 1 of the 4 items i need" then I do worry about destiny. [u][b]The soloution[/b][/u] Bungie, i am begging you. You need to put a whole host of gear into the destiny universe that gives enough light to reach the level raid gear lets you get to. ALL gear needs to have better attributes attached to it. I will happily write you a bunch of sets out for free to put into the game. Make them rare as hell but give us something to aim for outside our ONE raid a week. [u][b]WEAPONS[/b][/u] Poor abilities for weapons. You have a gun called BAD JUJU... yet it doesnt apply a curse to the enemy??? What is THAT about? You have a gun called thunderlord... but after a mind numbing 3 hours farming spinmetal it doesnt do anything vaguely cool involving thunder(arc)?? Why doesnt it, on the final bullet say, zap all nearby enemies with arc damage?? Legendaries (again as with armour) have BORING perks. Increased reload speed? Dictionary definition of legendary is: -described in or based on legends. -remarkable enough to be famous; very well known. I dont think increased reload speed, or lighter handling falls into those categories. Again, this means that when RNG eventually blesses you with a drop, its not really much of an upgrade. All legendaries are much of a muchness. With almost identical damage / perks. [u][b]IN CLOSING[/b][/u] I hope those of you who are passionate about Destiny have read this and I would love to hear your thoughts on itemisation and where Destiny can improve. These games (for players of other loot games) are ALWAYS about the loot, the prospect of today POSSIBLY being the day you get a epic item. At the moment, the only epic items you can get are in the raid and there is only 4 of them in the whole game. There needs to be a possiblity of new lvl 30 items, new builds and unique character playing styles throughout the game. Not just in raids. Not only that, but the gear needs to LOOK epic. If i spent all that time upgrading my gear, i want to walk into the tower and be BLINGING. I want to look better than other characters. All that looks better is my yellow lvl 30 icon. Anyway im bored of typing, I hope this gets some talk going about the actual issue facing destiny. I think people are getting distracted by RNG, DLCs etc. The real issue is the lack of loot and the system we have where level (and therefore damage) is tied into armour. The lack of armour and the lack of meaning to playing outside of a raid. From a bored Level 30 guy with the same gear as the next level 30 guy. Who looks worse than the level 20 guy. edit: Also forgot to mention the upgrading aspect of items in the game. Bungie have not found out what makes gamers tick in these types of games. Unlike similar games, in Destiny if you recieve an item its the beginning of another boring 3 hours of material farming to upgrade it... and then if you find an upgrade??/ oooh do it all over again. This type of enforced longevity will kill the community off. If I find an upgrade to my gear do i have ti find all 80 shards again? all 150 helium?? its terrible design choice. [u][b]UPDATE [/b][/u]2: Weekly update 24.10.14:: A MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. when i saw lvl 30 gear from iron banner it shows Bungie are actually listening. this is the first step! Can not wait to hear what else they have coming up.