I hope this finds you well my friend. I enjoyed meeting you at Guardian Con and I look forward to many more years with you and Bungie. Here we go: O Guardian mine, where do I start? I dived back into gaming as a birthday gift to myself after my freshly minted divorce. I heard about this game called Destiny from a friend. It was supposed to be a cross between Halo and Phantasy Star Online (DC, GC days). Never really was into FPS games, but oh man did I love me some loot grinds. Figured I’d hop into the PS4 since I left off on PS3 with Demons Souls, I even picked up the white edition of it that came with Destiny. New bachelor life, new job, new system, new game, same old love for gaming. Sounded wonderful. Oh my god was it amazing! I remember that Knight under the stairs that walloped my ass when I went exploring in the Cosmodrome. That is when I went online for information. Clans? Groups? Nightfalls? What is this metal fern? MY world literally blew open from the single player Soulsborne lover to the wide open world of Destiny and what it was going to offer me. Enter Venus and my first clan. I met them opening the Vault of Glass in the public space. It was so amazing and birthed my absolute LOVE for the Vex and lore in this game. Those guys were awesome, but they eventually moved on and I held the City steadfast while the game and its player base grew. I told others, I made friends, and I had found something that I could call a home that I had missed so much. I toppled Crota as a Titan [https://youtu.be/XFUFgIcEbBs?t=297], I triumphed in Trials [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJ1xIPoXkAAL0Mp?format=jpg&name=small], I suppressed in Prison of Elders, and l dethroned the Taken King [https://youtu.be/rtuld8S9rGw?t=595] making my way through every piece of content Bungie could put out for this game. I just ate it up, there was just no other choice in my mind when something for Destiny came out. I did it. I just went and did it. At this point I had met SO many people and had become a bit of a ‘grinder’ for the game. I was THE completionist. Then comes Destiny 2. It polarized my fireteams, broke my friends, and pushed so many away that it was a new start for me and my Guardians. I let the Darkness seep deep into my sinew and it festered. I worked harder and harder to be a Guardian others could look up to (like the day I ran into those fateful 6 on Venus), but in the end I pushed so many away. Forgiveness isn't something this community has a lot of and I became heartbroken with how I was turning out. All too often I found myself on the bleeding edge of ‘getting it done’ and I started to see what the Darkness really was. I aimed to be better than that. I wasn't an only child in a living room anymore… I was a GUARDIAN defending New Lights in the universe. My task, to find those who just didn't know, help those that couldn't get it, and do my best to be upstanding and humble about it. Destiny 2 has so much to do in it that many of us forget about that along the way, plugging through pinnacles, raids, etc without a second thought. Everyone has a better machine in their mind, what truly makes the Universe better is undertaking those who seek to be better and help them achieve it. Curse of Osiris, Warmind, and Forsaken hit the shelves along with the seasons. I find myself in love with a community of a game that never seems to die. There is always something to talk about, like going to a place where everyone knows your name. ‘What do you play?’, one person asks. ‘I'm a Warlock at heart!’ ‘Yeah I feel that my friend.’ This led me to Guardian Con (my first ever!). Never, once, in a Resort bustling with people did I ever feel left out. Guardians, Light Bearers, Moments of Triumphs, Raid stories, props, replicas, raid belts, EVERYTHING. It was like a damn candy store in a resort. It solidified my love for the game and it'll never be daunted. I build more and more love for those around and try to make my way as a helper and lover of the game and community, but hard times are in bound. After Guardian Con 2019 I was diagnosed with some pretty nasty Brain Tumors. I had multiple tests, MRIs, and Scans that all led to tumor removal as the only option for someone of my age. The survival rate was 80% in a person who had a 1:250k chance to get them in the first place. I confided in a few, who left for greener pastures and someone who had the guarantee of being there at the new drops. That was a promise I couldn't make so I couldn't really fault them for playing how I always thought gamers should: as they want to. After that I kept it pretty close to the heart, only wishing to continue the joy and love for the Shadowkeep and the Season of the Undying. I had some friends that I brought together for raiding and we ended up banding together on console for raid prep, starts, and all that good stuff. We raided and finished and have really good times, we banded together, and continue to run wild in our Pinnacle power growth. The time had come through to break the news to them. I told them of my Brain issues about 2 weeks before I was heading into surgery. I'm a big joker, so it took a moment or two and reiteration for it to sink in, but what happened next was something that I really wasn’t prepared for. Over the next week and Halloween, we had some final streams where I ended up explaining to the community with the little resolve and strength I had left [https://www.twitch.tv/videos/503608331], it's a long winded explanation and some of it is blocked out, so I apologize for that. It details though what I was to go through and my estimated recovery time. The support and love that came back my way after this was immeasurable. I was seeing support and help from my friends, my clan, the VERY FIRST CLAN from Venus, and the community like I had never seen before. People we had helped in their first raid clears, people we helped in PvP, people we helped everywhere. This community put forth so much love and kindness for me that I have no shame in saying that ‘I lost it.’ It was the eve of my surgery, staring out the hotel window reading notifications from those whom had heard the news. I sipped some water and some tears escaped me. Messages from past players, videos from old friends, people asking to send things, and general support for me to come out of it strong. I didn’t really sleep that night, not well. I go into surgery alone that morning (an only child, not many pals, and 3 hour away from my home) with resolve and bravery. I get my IV in and the Nurse literally says ‘Be Brave’ to which I respond in my head: ‘Ghost, stand by for rez.’ Two days later I wake up. It sucks. A lot. Another day passes and I wake up again. This continues until I finally feel like I have some sort of semblance of self again and can communicate with the doctors and the world. I reach out to my friends with one phrase: ‘I Live.’ I pass out again. I hear that is normal though as you are just getting stuff through your system and whatnot. But through multiple visits and talks, the Doc clears me. No more tumors. Anywhere. They are all gone, but the price was paid. I was completely deaf in my left ear losing the 1% of hearing I had remaining before surgery. Thus began my new journey of learning to walk, track with my eyes, and just turn my neck again. Probably shouldn't have, but I turned my phone back on when I found it again and that's when it happened. I completely broke down into tears and crumpled in my hospital bed knowing that I wasn’t really facing this alone. I saw the love, kind words, and the support of all the other Light Bearers out there. I saw the community for what it really was… AMAZING. I had never personally felt more welcomed and amazed by a gaming group as I have in Destiny. Not a single one and I absolutely love it for that. Never has an in game title meant more to me either. You see, I survived and did not succumb to the darkness. I am Undying. My story didn't end with surgery nor did it end with going deaf. It is 5 years strong and my Light will continue to shine for those new and old. My name is BoSolaris the Undying and I am a Guardian.

This is all wrong. I shouldn't be in here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us experienced gamers for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty expansions. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire clans are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! My story starts at the beginning of D1, when there was 20 missions and 5 strikes in the release, huge expanses of area and a feeling of bewilderment and wonder. With every expansion i have a feeling of excitement, soon followed by a feeling of disappointment when i realise i have been swindled by Bungie. Just like an abused housewife, I come back for more of the same. The endorphins kick in with the promise of something great, then the dirty feeling of being catfished just like a tinder date with loads of makeup. You shower only to stand inside for hours shivering, violated, wallet empty. The content is released, and you expect an amount similar to the original release - 20 missions and 5 strikes, but each release becomes thinner and thinner, like an anorexic on crystal meth.

Entire fire team with no raid clears. Atheon almost dead, trouble on the last oracle run, only relic holder and myself still alive on the center platform and unloaded my trusty epitaph sniper untill he dropped. Theatre mode would have been awesome to go back and get a screen shot of the guardian shielding the shooter.

My favorite moments were watching Destiny's horrifyingly toxic streamers and Yutoobers who are blatant selfsh -blam!-s and the best was when Say No To Rage told 1000 people in a family friendly stream that I was a -blam!- who grew up eating paint chips because I said bounties are boring and monotonous laundry lists that detract from the fun of the game.

The nerfs have been devastating to this game. I wouldn't say I'm heartbroken, closer to disappointed. That's all I feel towards Destiny now, disappointment. I resent that such a small portion of the community (streamers/Youtubers) have such a sweeping influence over the decisions made to balancing in Destiny. These "full time players" draw value and self worth from having rare/powerful items in the game and when these items become more common, it diminishes the "full time players" sense of self worth and importance. I loathe the very existence of every one of these self aggrandizing -blam!-. They nearly killed this game once and they're about to do it again.

Are you guys spending time on here because the player base is dropping again? I could see this if this was D1 around ROI time when most of the community was actually happy about the game considering the changes that took over the years, but this post feels way out of place knowing how Bungie has been treating their player base this last 6 months. With all due respect, I remember one of your first posts on this forum talking about how you know and Bungie knows that they (need to earn our trust.) Can you actually be honest with yourself and ask yourself if that has actually taken place since the day you posted that on this forum? Especially with the recent changes with Eververse, the nerfing, Datto, etc...? Edit: [spoiler] Just because I'm not afraid to ask legit questions doesn't mean this thread was meant to complain or be negative. The ones on this thread (trying to make it about me) are the ones making things negative. Please think before making a reply to me. My question was a [b]( legit question.)[/b] Take your personal issues somewhere else please, they don't belong on this forum. I'm looking for people that actually know how to present themselves in a respectful matter and know how to have a conversation. How anyone presents themselves is how one will be treated. If you show respect I have no problem giving respect no matter who it is. Simple logic really.[/spoiler] Edit: 1. Someone on this thread asked me to post my memories. The good things about Destiny so I will but Ill try to keep it short, I said try 😄 D1 hands down, In spite of its issues I can see how the game had (heart put into it.) The pride that was taken creating content. The weapons/gear designs, that as a looter shooter created that incentive the game had on wanting to run the activities. That alone is what I really miss about D1 because the skybox is a given on how well they do their work that can be appreciated that that is what makes a looter shooter. You can't have one without the other, it just doesn't work. [quote]• A sense of tremendous achievement[/quote] Nothing in the game as far as acquiring anything, meaning items. My achievement was helping other running raids that I helped over 300 gamers in D1 y1 get their complications. I and 2 other people would spend time helping new players run their fires raid that I ended up having over 250 friends on my friend's list and just in y1 I had over 3000 because spending time helping others. That is the only achievement I will ever need. [quote]• A sense of belonging[/quote] I think I covered that already. [quote]• Devastated or heartbroken[/quote] Never had any experience like that In D1 because I enjoyed my time with the exception of not playing D1 for over a year because of the sandbox, came back for ROI and had a blast when I knew the sandbox was done with D1. In D2 it was literally D2 base game and how things have been handled since Forsaken released that I believe Fosakem was the best place this game has ever been in that I would say is more of a (heartbreak) knowing what this company is fully capable of just from there past work with Halo and D1. [quote]• Utter domination[/quote] D1, Actually feeling like I (was creating my killing machine.) [quote]• A human connection[/quote] I connected with the 2 people that I helped others run the raids and outside the game. Friendship is one of the most important things to have in life. It's not a matter of how many you have, it's a matter of who is there for you through thick and thin and learning how to give back whats so freely given. [quote]• Like laughing until you cried[/quote] Didn't cry but the laughter was there for sure. My best moment in Destiny was running VoG with a random group that I will never forget. I was at the tower when the tower was the LFG and I was invited to join them. Not always but some of the times when I have joined a group there has been that class clown that loves to joke around so just starting it out was a good sign on how the group was getting along that they showed they were there to have fun. Longer story short the talking wasn't so much once we got inside, just running the raid. We get past the Templar and start running the Gorgons, we wiped a couple of times because of messing around having fun, but out of the blue, someone decided to ask where everyone lived. Come to find out that everyone lived at least an hour from each other. From there on out the talking and the laughter were nonstop. Needless the say, the raid took a lot longer then it should have but it was a blast 🙂 [quote]• The moment you knew you loved this game[/quote] I can't say I ever loved Destiny because it's actually a false feeling. What I can say is, that I have had a lot of fun when the work is being put into the game that has heart.

I have a ton of memories playing both good and bad. The most exciting time being when my first Gjallarhorn dropped. I was doing the Vault of Glass with my clan in January of 2015. I started playing the month before when The Dark Below came out and several clan mates did not have it yet. Despite this short period I was running the raids/NF more than 3 times some weeks as I remade a few characters. So yeah I got the drop from the Gorgon maze chest, which in and of itself I have a ton of memories.. running the maze solo with a group of LFG people so they could leave and rejoin, getting Plan C over and over from the chest(speaking of where is the Plan C??) Nightfalls were more fun with the fear of getting booted to orbit. By far the worst experience was lag in crucible. The gods were people on a 1 bar that would teleport everywhere and just about couldn’t be killed. Thankfully that isn’t much of a thing these days. Another random memory, a clan mate didn’t get his first Gjallarhorn until the House of Wolves and he got the Dragonsbreath soooo many times like legit 12/13 times.. before closing out I think it’s very important to say and I hope someone from Bungie is reading this, I really don’t have very many memories from D2. For reference I have 1100 hours played in D2 and two things come to mind, I went on a 60 something win streak in quick play, which ended from a comp loss, and I just hit legend for the first time in comp. I will say doing the shattered throne the first time was a ton of fun, great landscapes and fights, but other than that D2 has been very mediocre. In example, I’m glad I got the 1000 Voices, but only remember that I got from the raid with Riven. There hasn’t been a single drop I was crazy excited about, a single activity even that I was like holy crap this was awesome. Destiny 2 by and large has been a very flat game and great experiences come from highs and lows.

Is making content still hard? Just checking.