Short answer - Elemental primaries. Longer answer - D1's system left players with two low-ammo situational weapons taking up 2/3 of their weapon capacity, while the most plentiful and versatile weapons with high ammo capacities were restricted to the remaining 1/3. For the vast majority of applications, including shielded non-Major enemies (e.g. the Exotic Sword Strike), relying on special/heavy weapons was overkill, and left players running low on special/heavy ammo far more often than should have been the case, while also forcing mismatched loadouts to cover multiple ranges (e.g. HC + Sniper, or Scout + Shotgun, instead of HC + Shotgun or Scout + Sniper, which would have left the player unable to handle ranged/CQ engagements respectively if they got rushed or a distant teammate needed help). As a fellow player who also analyzed every D1 decision, and who played thousands of hours, I can honestly say that I always felt the emphasis on "power" led to the game feeling somewhat boring, since most encounters were met with overwhelming force instead of tactical engagement. (Example: During the Crota Raid, most players used Gjallarhorn and Black Hammer to clear Acolytes, instead of taking a couple of seconds to use Fang or Thorn instead; in Crucible, more players lined up with Snipers or rushed with Shotguns than Scouts and HCs.) Even during Strikes, everyone ran as fast as possible and entered every room by launching a Rocket straight at the first cluster of adds they saw, when I primary would have done the same thing with half a mag. The D1 system destroyed fundamental gunplay in favor of accelerating the loot rush - D2 is focusing more on the former than the latter, and for my taste it's a much more enjoyable experience (and more in line with the power balance of most FPS games, which don't allow double-stacking power weapons). I can pair a Scout with an HC for ranged/CQ engagements, and still have a choice of high-power situational weapons when and if they're actually necessary, without feeling like I need to pull out the big guns and burn ammo every time a standard-level Minotaur shows up. The thing you dislike about D2 is exactly what makes it MORE addictive for me - I choose my loadouts and engagements more wisely, and there are consequences for making poor decisions, which is a much more rewarding experience for how I play. I've taken the time to play around with every type and combination of weapon, learned their strengths (and weaknesses), and found much more meaningful gameplay as a result, rather than having OP fallback weapons that eliminate the need to make carefully-thought-out decisions.

I personally don't mind the two primary system for PVE, I cant stand it for PVP though. I miss sniping and my scout rifle actually feeling powerful, not this quick trigger light as a feather BS we have to deal with. I like running a strike with a HC and AR with a shotty or sword. I wouldn't mind having the old system back though so don't get me wrong on that but I really don't mind it for PVE. I think what is destroying this game isn't necessarily the 2 primaries but more so the fact that we lost random rolls, Tess carries way too much inventory, the rewards/loot are garbage, the replay value is terrible, pvp has limited options, friendship as an end game (no offense buddies) and on and on. But I can see where you are coming from :)

NeW System is better. You only have to buff snipers, shotguns and the other guns without buff rockets. Nerf a little bit the cluster perc because now it's to easy to use rockets. Low risk high reward. Its to easy for rockets to outdamage other guns without any risk/skill/aim

Is all of this whining about the new weapon system borne out of simply not having an easy go of doing a solo Prestige Nightfall?! I literally can think of no activity outside the Raid and Nightfall that is "hard" with the new weapon system (I say that with some confidence because I do neither and have no issues doing everything else with the current loadout structure). If anything, I hope Bungie adds a slot. Two primary weapons, special, and power.

I still can’t believe no one is being fired.

Was running VoG about a week ago with Fatebringer, Full Auto Mapador and I think Corrective Measure. You know what I missed? Switching between my Hand Cannon and a Scout rifle to pick off those annoying Snipers. What is that put on a sniper instead, I was add control and kept my Mapador on for those Minators that would sneak up and give you Atomic Wedgies. I do miss running around with a shotgun and a sword, did WoTM not to long ago and missed the destruction you can do with that combo at Vosik phase 2. But I also really enjoy the 2 primary system and the freedom it gives me when I play PvE. I can do that 1 shot 1 kill with my Hand Cannon and switch to a pulse or a scout to take out something out of range, and still have a rocket ready to go if something big comes up. We are getting a buff to almost all the weapons in PvE, the average is 15%. But even after that dual primaries in your opinion may still be the worst thing since they changed it to have Greedo shot first. Don't know what to tell you, for me there are way more important things that are totaly fooked in the game that I would rather have them work on then bringing back the old weapon system.

Disagree. Played 2200 hours of D1. I'm at around 600 hours in D2. New system is MUCH more fun.

I asked this same question to Josh Hammrick during the beta... He told me it would "grow on us" then I got ridiculed for wanting crutches and how superior D2 Crucible was by allot of the player base. These are the same ppl who are now slamming the system. Oh how times change.

I said this right from the start of D2. It was a stupid idea along with taking away random rolls.

Cocaine party. Everyone was out of their mind's.

Yet games like borderlands and halo can have nothing but weapons that would fit into the "primary weapon archetype" and still be incredibly fun If you think having 2 primary weapons is what ruined the game you're incredibly short sighted

I don't care as much as most I guess. Back in D1 it always annoyed me how handcannons were considered primaries and snipers were specials. I'd always felt that snipers being the nasty and powerful weapons they were deserved to be heavy or power weapons considering how game changing a good sniper can be, same with shotguns. Handcannons being pistols, well I consider pistols to be secondaries no matter the game. The problem however is that Bungie did not adjust the snipers or shotguns to better fit their new positions. They still feel like special weapons, especially compared to swords and rockets.

After time to get used to it, I much prefer it now. I loke the ad control variety because it makes up much more of the gameplay. Hell, I like it in PvP to.

That decision to mix Special and Heavy weapons in 1 slot is showing us that they Don't care about PVE. They are focusing on PVP ..this PVE game suck because of PVP. They even make Rocket Launcher only have 1 Rocket per mag..!! 95% people that I know left this D2 because of this..! Me...I will never buy any D2 DLC until they bring back Special weapon slot....never...never. People buy this game because PVE Power Fantasy...not PVP. I still play D2 and D1 PVP...just because I own it. Even I more mainly a PVE player...not PVP. I don't even wanting to do NF and Raid...because the reward is not good and the stupid dual primary 1 power weapon slot thingy.

Destiny 1 allowed us to get critical hits with our snipers or close up shots with our shotguns and fusions on bosses and in PvP while letting us run wild with a machine gun or rocket launcher or sword, with less ammo drops. I thought this worked much much better. Their obvious intent was to limit sharp shooter bad asses and little Timmy with his God roll felwinters lie. The problem is, sharing the slot causes people to pretty much only use the colony, sins of the past, and occasionally a sword or shotgun. I hardly see anyone sniping, and while we all hate this, this is another one of the few things in game “working as intended”. They need to bring back the special slot, cut out the nonsense with no elemental primaries, delete 70% of guns we absolutely hate from the gun pool for energy and kinetic weapons to make room for the snipers, shotguns and fusion rifles. Bringing machine guns back would also be LOVELY

Better question is who thought a small bunch of fixed rolls guns would keep players grinding for 7 months? I could adjust to either set up, but random rolls and the weapon lay out from D1 were a much better combination than what we have now.

It's such a shame, when you couple it with the slow ass cooldowns on everything, the small reserves for all power weapons, no armor perks, underwhelming exotics and lack of customizable subclasses the whole game just becomes a bore.