I have seen several posts regarding the ammo penalty on special weapons and also on heavy weapons and I have concluded that the game designers intended for the ammo penalty to exist so that we can not switch weapons ad nauseum. Some suggest this is logical by describing the impossibility of taking shotgun shells and turning them into sniper bullets...but how can you bring that logic into this situation? The in world physics and lore leave more than enough room for this occurrence. These weapons are energy based, they all use the same source for their class but convert differently when fired. The ammo is not a shotgun shell made from lead or a sniper bullet made from lead, it is a green glowing energy box that can be whatever you need it to be for that class of weapon. So the comparison of modern day ammunition to this distant future ammunition is not reliable, in my opinion. Let's say it was though, then how come my primary weapons do not experience this issue? It should be clear that this a game design choice only, not a feature of the world in which we play that can be broken down logically according to the physics of this future world. It's not an issue I lay awake crying about at night, but it seems almost ridiculous to penalize players from a game design point of view for switching to a weapon more appropriate for their situation. Especially considering that different enemies require different energy variations such as solar, arc, etc...which can only be found in the special weapons or heavy weapons class. You may say: well it's not hard to find green ammo, or you might say: what about ammo synthesis packs, but let me ask you: if there are workarounds for the penalty, then wouldn't that penalty be a very poor incarnation of a penalty? Point being, the workarounds are lackluster at best and the penalty is still difficult to understand. And even if I'm wrong about the game lore ammunition concept, then I should only pick up ammo for a shotgun if I have my shotgun equipped when I pick up special ammo. This would mean that I should be able to switch to the sniper rifle and then back to the shotgun and see that the ammo I had in the shotgun hasn't changed. This does not happen though, as the penalty is purely game design and to me it is inexplicable in a PVE setting. Perhaps someone could point me to a place where Bungie has explained their reasoning?