[b]Edit #5[/b]: The follow-up to this post can be found here:[url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/113141797/0/0[/url] [b]Edit #4[/b]: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THIS ENTIRE POST, SKIP TO EDIT #2. Thank you for all the support, and equal thanks for all the criticism. -Excelseo [b]Edit #3[/b]: Some have stated that I have failed to explain why a player trading system would be a good thing for Destiny, so I will list off several reasons: -Destiny is dying, no doubt about it -Destiny needs more things to do and more variety -Destiny lacks the player interaction in promised it would have -a player trading system would make the world more dynamic and interactive -Players can specialize in certain items -It can prove as a stepping stone for changes to come, that can turn it into a more expansive FPS MMORPG -It revalues the currently useless glimmer -It would add new layers of strategy that never existed before, making the game more dynamic and responsive [b]Edit #2[/b]: A concise summary has been requested, so here it is: My ideas: -each item has a floor value, and can only be traded with an item, or combination of items with approximately the same value. Benefits: -low-level players cant cheese their way into getting lower-level gear -more variety in destiny, more things to do -glimmer having a purpose again -appearance of player specialization Other good things: -Destiny is already primed to have such a system implemented [b]Edit[/b]: I have received a wonderful amount of feedback on this thread, and for that I am grateful. However, I would like to make a statement. Many of the commentors have made comments that were either completely irrelevant, or showed little or no understanding of the concepts I propose. I am tired of making lengthy responses to these redundant remarks, and I will no longer be replying to them. However, if you have a justifiable reason as to why not to implement player trading under my terms, I respect that. I will not try to argue with you. Thank you! -Excelseo [b]It is[/b], as far as I can tell, a common subject of debate as to whether or not player trading and/or a more extensive economy system should be implemented into Destiny. So, in this thread, I will attempt to list these counterarguments, and state my ideas to resolve the problems these arguments employ with an economy system. Firstly, I would like to state that Destiny is not a perfect, and (in my opinion) not an excellent game. However, excellency can be easily achieved over time. Personally, it is my idea that one of the aspects Destiny requires improvement on is it's variety, and addition of variety to the game can elevate it's status immensely. Firstly, the first and foremost counterargument I have encountered is that an economical system would destroy in-game balance, making it easy for lower-level players to receive exceptional gear without inputting the effort normally required to obtain these items. The brunt of these situations would be blocked by the level floor each item possesses. For example, even if a level 3 player was given an exotic item, it would be absolutely useless to them until they reached the required level. This prevents new players suddenly into possession of very rare or powerful items. However, this does not remove the majority of all imbalance that can take place within an economical system. Any player, upon reaching level 20, would be able to receive any item in the game, if he or she was able to locate a player willing to gift it, or sell it at a very low price, to them. Many opposed to player trading utilize this fact as their central counterargument, stating that high-level players would simply gift items that they possessed duplicates of to newer players, having no purpose for them. Personally, I think this to be untrue. With the implementation of an economical system, these duplicate items would suddenly inherit purpose as opportunities for profit. The majority of high-level players would not gift these items, as they would prefer to obtain a profit by selling them to a player with the appropriate payment. This fact would greatly reduce trade of high-level items between high and low level players. At this point, a very small fraction of imbalance due to trade remains, mostly high-level players gifting items to lower-level friends of theirs. This, obviously causes a large amount of imbalance between those who usually play Destiny alone, and those who more often play with friends. However, I have encountered a concept on the forums that would completely eliminate the remainder of this unwanted unbalance. This topic went mostly ignored, but I found it ingenious. It proposes that each item (excepting common and, maybe, uncommon items) is given by the development team a value representing it's worth. This item could only be traded for with an item, or combination of items, possessing a total value approximately equal to that of the traded item or combination of items. In this way, a legendary item could not be traded for a common item. A legendary item would require another legendary item, several rare items, or many, many uncommon items to be traded for. This general system could also be expanded to include other categories of items, such as materials and currencies. For example, strange coins and motes of light are similar in rarity, so a player could trade with another player perhaps 3 motes of light for 2 strange coins, but not 8 motes of light for one strange coin, or any other ridiculous exchanges. This introduces specialization, and adds a very large quantity of variety to the game. At this point, feel free to stop reading. I have already stated my major point, and will continue with others, but I have no wish to bore you, or appear to ramble on endlessly. If you have better things to do, don't waste your time. However, if you are somewhat intrigued by what I have already stated, feel free to read on. For those not bored out of their minds, I know state my second point. Many of those who oppose a player trading system state that implementation of an economy would require major changes to the game's mechanics, and cause an awkward period of "growing pains" as the developers struggle to retain balance within the system. However, I beg to differ. It is my theory that player trading was originally intended to be implemented into Destiny, but fell by the wayside at some point during development. This is based upon the fact that Destiny seems to be already primed for an economy. Most apparently, the random loot system. This is a mechanic usually implanted into MMOs, for several major reasons. Imagine there is a rare item, that can be obtained by completing a specific mission. More and more players complete this mission, and receive this item. Eventually, as the majority of all players complete this mission, almost all players possess exactly one of this item. Those players will have no reason to buy more of them, as each player only needs one. The market for this item has become [i]over-saturated[/i] with this item, as there is little or no trade of it taking place. To effectively counter this dilemma, the random loot system is implemented. This way, not every player who completes that mission receives that item, and healthy trade commences. Considering the fact that Destiny utilizes this technique, it does not seem unlikely that an economical system was originally intended. If an economical system was previously intended, it should take little or no labor to adapt the game to this new development. For my next paragraph, I am not necessarily responding to a certain counterargument to player trading. I am, on the contrary, stating another bonus of an economical system. Most players are aware of the nearly total uselessness of glimmer as a currency. It was only usable as a lower-level player to obtain lower-level gear, and, with player advancement, becomes increasingly absent from transaction. With the addition of a player trading system, all currencies are linked: strange coins, motes of light, glimmer, vanguard and crucible marks (likely not), etc. It seems likely that glimmer would evolve to become a sort of base currency. To avoid unnecessary labor, glimmer (which is in abundance) would provide the base currency for small transactions, i.e. upgrade materials, ammo synthesis, etc. Fewer players would possess maxed-out glimmer , and the currency would once again obtain worth that it had long-since lost. Glimmer is also primarily obtained by enemy kills, so buying weapons and armor becomes a multi-layered transaction that's also an investment to obtain more glimmer which can be spent on better weapons to kill more enemies to make more profit which can be spend on better gear and on and on and suddenly, entire new layers of depth are added to the game. With more depth comes more variety, and a more engaging and intelligent gaming experience. At this point, I digress, before my fingers become detached from my hands, but before I conclude, I would like to make my closing statement. If you are against a player trading system, I'm not saying you're wrong. Instead, I'm offering a new and improved proposal, that you might find more agreeable. And, if you are Bungie, I'm not demanding you make these changes, I'm just offering advice.... ... but seriously this would be awesome... ...anyways.... It's likely that I'll make other, similar posts like this one, thus I am labeling this post "Improving Destiny #1". This does not mean I am determined to make more, but it means that I am very likely to write other posts. Peace out, -Excelseo