I came across this article, and while the Article concerns Borderlands 3, I thought the writer made some good observations concerning issues with Destiny 2. I'll highlight them below for discussion: Here's the link: [url]https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/01/08/what-borderlands-3-should-learn-from-the-growing-pains-of-destiny-and-the-division/?partner=yahootix&yptr=yahoo#f67fe924b032[/url] Pertinent Quotes with my personal commentary: [quote] Make Sure You Have A Long-Term Endgame Plan At Launch While your initial leveling-based story content needs to be a solid introduction for the game, everyone knows at this point that if you’re playing a loot shooter, the plan is to be in it for the long haul. Both Destiny and The Division ran into issues where there was either no plan or a bad plan for post-level cap content at launch, and it took many months and years to develop a long-term endgame for players that was satisfying. Bake this in from launch, don’t spend eons figuring it out after the fact.[/quote] I agree with this outlook. The endgame in this game hasn't meant ANYTHING since Y1. In Y2/Y3, why run the nightfall? It gave arguably WORSE loot than heroic strikes because of the loot pool incorporated things like cosmetics, emotes, sparrows, 3oC, etc., and they were more time consuming to do. The nightfall is HARDER than heroic strikes, so it should give better rewards. Ditto the Raid. The raid is the hardest piece of PVE content available. Why would you give us rewards that are only on par with everything else - or worse, just cosmetic? Bring back the elite-tier endgame loot like we had in D1Y1, and I promise you we will run/rerun this content over and over and over. I went from running 300+ raids in D1Y1 - to running just 17 total in Y2, and I didn't even bother with Y3. I ran that many raids in Y1 not just because I "had" to, but ALSO because it was enjoyable to do so. But yes, chasing white whales provided incentive and motivation to DO it. [quote] Stay Away From PvP Borderlands has done a good job of this so far, but I think it can really differentiate itself from The Division and Destiny by sticking with the Diablo route and avoiding PvP entirely. Why? Doesn’t that give the game less dimension? Not really, considering [b]there are a zillion other PvP shooters to compete with and the market is oversaturated.[/b] But the point is that [b]if you can focus solely on PvE, that allows you to make your loot and gear truly wild, not worried about “balance”[/b] in the traditional sense. The Division and [b]Destiny are constantly restrained by their PvP modes when it comes to weapon/skill design,[/b] but Borderlands doesn’t have to be. Go crazy with that advantage.[/quote] Also agree. I don't think that the existence of PVP in Destiny is bad, but I think how PVP is TREATED is the real issue. After the launch of Trials, PVP was taken too seriously in a game built around loot. Trials introduced a competitive element into the game and simply just rotted the game as the needs of the competitive player minority too precedent over the needs and desires of the remaining 90% of the community that didn't play Trials. The solution is to remove the competitive PVP (make it its own separate mode and sell it as COMPLETELY OPTIONAL DLC with its own loot, gear, PVP rules, etc.) and simply go back to the D1Y1 PVP ethos, which is that it is not the focus of the game, just a test of gear against other guardians, and not a super-competitive experience. [quote] Improve the Game With Your Community After Launch The Division has gotten this right in a way Destiny has not the last few years. Massive has literally flown out top players and streamers in order to address the game’s problems and fix them, while Bungie usually does the same after all the decisions are made. Obviously the final call is the developer’s, but Massive has really used its community as a resource to perfect the game, while Bungie is constantly being hammered by its playerbase who feels like the developer isn’t listening. Be the former, not the latter, and you’ll have an easier time improving your game over time.[/quote] All I have to say about this is that the Community has posted a TON of good ideas for this game over the years. From how to fix the progression system to how to allow more weapons to obtain elemental burn from doing endgame content, to quest ideas and side missions, events, etc. All of them were added to the wishlist and virtually ignored. Instead of giving us HIGHLY requested items like separating PVE from PVP or increasing endgame participation by adding in OMM, in-game LFG and recruiting, etc. Bungie gives us their own twists on things which just plain don't work out. They need to treat us like people eating at a resturaunt. When we order the medium-rare Ribeye steak, they shouldn't be bringing us an over-cooked sirloin. Just give us what we want. [quote]Don’t Fix What Isn’t Broken Another Destiny-specific problem here, but Destiny 2 seemed to lose its way because it felt like it was throwing away three years of lessons from Destiny 1, fixing some things, but also changing a lot of stuff that was in perfect working order before (consumable shaders, really?). Honestly, given how great Borderlands 2 was, I do think that just…more of that, with new content and a few improvements, might work very well for Gearbox. BL2 remains one of the best loot shooters out there, something The Division, Destiny and Diablo players return to years later once they get bored with those games. Gearbox got a lot of things right before anyone else was even trying to open up the genre. Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to.[/quote] Again, this paragraph speaks for itself. Stuff like elemental primaries in D1Y1, to having rare, elite-tier exotics to chase after, to the Primary/Special/Heavy system and the D1 style subclasses - all weren't broken so there was no need to tweak them. But Bungie did in order to chase after their vision for how PVP should play. When arguably, PVP shouldn't be the central focus in a looter game. Overall, it appears to me that the rebranding of the game was due to the fact that they tried to shift the focus of this game from PVE to PVP, which was a mistake. It lead them to making a TON of mistakes with this game in order to finally make the game play more like Halo. Well, now it does. But in doing so, they've effectively broken the entire game. Even people still playing the game say they're sticking around hoping the game will improve. But that would require a fundamental shift in the core gameplay philosophy D2 launched with. Anyways, I just thought the article was interesting and could spark some useful discussion. IMO, the game needs to go back to being more PVE oriented with changes aimed at providing the kind of PVE experience we had in D1, particularly earlier on before the game went full-steam ahead with participation trophies. This really does require that PVP take a back seat and simply exist as an alternative activity - much like it does in other PVE-oriented games. Just my 2 cents. Feel free to discuss.