This is intended to be an open letter towards both players and devs, although the likelihood of it being taken under consideration is abysmally low. First and foremost, let me state that I've been playing [b]DESTINY [/b]since day-one, pre-ordered the Ghost Edition and allowed myself a bit of time in its world almost every day since release. I've been a supporter of what Bungie has [u]supposedly [/u]been trying to do with their new ip, giving it time and considering the flaws in a mild, understanding and mostly academic way: All MMOish games start weak and those that are worthwhile shine down the road. Suffice to say, I've been looking forwards to the Expansion like a child awaiting Christmas. I've lost count of how many times I've watch the trailer - complete with its very own unimaginative portraition of Crota as yet another larger generic Knight - and was delighted with the changes made in the last patch (Dec 1). That is to say, I did not realize right away why something THAT good and logical would happen to a game rooted in the idea of "hours per day/ per people playing/ per Activision stocks in various markets". The deal, it seems, was to sweeten us. They gave us a FINALLY viable way of amassing the moronic amounts of materials required to upgrade Exotic and Legendary gear so we would be less enraged when the new, MAGNIFICENT idea came around. And oh boy, was that a big turd in the face of the dedicated users! I quote the patch notes: "Upgrading an Exotic in this way [u]will require an Exotic Shard[/u]. (That alone will cost 7K. That is about 35% of the amount you can have at any given time. Then, it's farmathon again) [u]The upgrade will reset the progression invested into the item[/u]. ("Invested" is the word used. What a -blam!-ing joke) Each week, Xûr will possess [u]a selection[/u] of upgrades for existing Exotics in his inventory." (Like he's been so trustworthy so far, selling Sunbreakers every other week along with those blasted Voidfangs) ... ... ... Are you people out of you GODDAMN MINDS!?! We have been running around doing stupid, repetitive bounties over and over again just to feed the gear and weapons enough XP to lvl, we've been farming for freakin' HUNDRENDS of hours for the blasted Destination Materials, we've been spending a TON of glimmer per each upgrade, we've poured THREE BLASTED MONTHS of our live's free time just to have a bloody game reset? Specific weapon will be available for upgrade WHEN Xur decides to bring about each of those blasted upgrades?! What about all the people who need the Exotic gear to get to 30? They will have to drop 2-3 lvls and start refarming all that crap! Do you think that the user base exists just to feed the -blam!-ing "hours per day" numbers? THAT'S the respect you show to the people who pay you for your product? THAT's the grant design choice? WHERE THE -blam!- DID BUNGIE GO?! I am pissed out of my mind people. I can't believe how hideously money-driven this whole thing is. And if you are naive in some way and don't understand what "money" has to do with all this, consider how important it is for the companies involved to have active, paying people in the game. More hours of pointless farming, more people online. If you want this mess to make ANY sense devs, you either give us back the materials invested, coupled with telemetries to speed up these processes or require, AT LEAST, that for any weapon to be upped it will first have to be maxed. Of course the ideal situation would be for the upgrading to go on from the current state of the gear but we couldn't have that now, could we? First way will ensure that the people who invested the time are not being awfully crapped upon (you know, the time of our lives that we could have spent playing something else or doing gardening will not be totally wasted?) whilst the second will actually even the playing field for people who will be getting the older Exotics down the way. Do I need to point out that the second idea is still shit but at least it's somewhat fair? No? Great.And PLEASE, don't give me the "it's all optional" bs line. If not upped, those hard-earned pieces of gear will be obsolete. We are forced, either to upgrade them or to ditch them altogether. I don't even know what to think anymore. The game's situation is getting messier by the day. Where did the company behind [b]Halo [/b]go? Where did RESPECT for the players go? Do you think that by showing us photos of workspaces and adress us like ol' pals you are actually befriending us when THIS stuff hits the servers? You went in bed with the freaking devil guys, I am very sorry to say. All that matters, and it is plain as day at this point, is how many playhours the clock registers, how many people cope with all the crap that's been happening, how many "rationalize" all the RNG bs that's in place ONLY to impede progress. I have a TON of stuff to mention here but I will stay on topic. You spit on us, [b]Bungie[/b]. You spit on our dedication, on our hard-earned money, on our -blam!-ing TIME. I'm at the edge of my patience here. I hope I am not alone. EDIT: Seems like I'm NOT freaking alone. Thank you guys. Here are a few more threads, let's spread awareness about all this bs and see if Bungie is "listening loud and clear" as they claim to. http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/82061069/0/0 http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/82305663/0/0 http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/82089048/0/0 WNxChadzors wrote: "Here's an idea? Let's give everyone at bungie a promotion but reset their pay scale to entry level. That sounds fun right Deej? You just need a good recommendation from your supervisor who only comes into the office once a week and only reviews employees at random and then you can start to work on your raises again. Simple."