Yes, I know it's late, but I apologize. I hope that someone reads this, as the ammount of time I sanctioned for this post was noteworthy and I don't want to see it go to waste *Disclaimer: [b]The following are my personal views on the world of Destiny obtained after hours of playing, grinding, raiding, and floating in orbit. Don't be shy in expression your opinion, but please do not make comments based off of the first sentence until you have read the whole post (or at least a notable portion). Thank you :)[/b] Let me start off by saying, thank you for finally getting around to fixing that whole issue with heavy ammo. It's been really nice. However, with this patch came many things I'm not so thankful for. Before I get into it, I want you to know that I am trying to be as unbiased as possible. I've played a few games before running my mouth, so I guess I talk from experience. I've been pretty indifferent to the minor changes made in the past, but I am not pleased with whats happened to the crucible. Here is a breakdown of why I'm not so pleased: [i][b]Heavy Ammo in the Crucible[/b][/i] Watching the timer inch towards 9:00 has always been a highlight of my Crucible Control variant games, but today, It's almost made me sad. Allow me to explain. Previously, heavy ammo ruled crucible, it allowed for teams who had an early lead to either continue that lead, or get left choking in the dust. While there's nothing worse than holding a flag to 99% and seeing the rocket scream towards your position, at least with high risk came high reward. Weather you ran rockets or a heavy machine gun, you always had a chance of getting caught in a situation in which your heavy gun is not prepared for. For instance, grabbing heavy on Twilight Gap right in the middle of the sniper ally, it's easy to get picked off from afar bye an enemy sniper (or the guy sliding around the corner with a shotgun), but in alot of cases, you would get caught reloading by the average player using an auto rifle or hand cannon. The enemy player without the heavy ammo would have to rely on timing and skill in order to take down the high priority player (you) because you have heavy ammo. And now, because of your mistake, the enemy benefits and receives a small portion of the ammo that could have been flying in his/her direction. As commonly stated, "with high risk comes high reward." That was heavy ammo pre 1.1.1. Now, what's the situation? Heavy ammo spawns, the 2 or 3 people lucky enough to be near the drop pad when the ammo spawn quickly rush to hold "x" (or the equivalent on PlayStation) and grab the precious heavy. The enemy now rushes those with heavy ammo, risks his life to save that of his teammates, takes out the guys with heavy yet is left with no reward. Heavy ammo has become in a strange sense, even more over powered now. Instead of players dealing with heavy ammo spawns strategically, you have the whole team crowd around the heavy ammo crate. Its shifted from defending the flags to defending the ammo crates. Previously, this wouldn't have been an issue at all, but because there is no reward for killing the guys with heavy, there is no reason to take a risk. Just break out your shotgun, find a nice corner, and wait for the enemy to blast a wall with their rockets. And now, you've taken a way a perfect opportunity to use supers! I've heard heavies as described as "anti super weapons," well supers used to be "anti heavy weapons." Although there's now an easy killing spree awaiting anyone with a charged fist of havoc or nova bomb, there's nothing to continue the fight. When previously, a player could make heavy ammo last for a good solid 4 minutes, not it's all gone in an instant. Its like fighting in the 1700's, everyone grabs their rockets, stands in a line, and pulls the trigger. Whats the fun in that? Just to wrap it up, taking away heavy ammo from dropping has taken away the strategy with dealing with heavy ammo. Bungie left Halo Reach with allowing heavy ammo to drop, killing the guy with rockets was the most rewarding part... [i][b]Nerfing/Buffing Entire Classes of Weapons[/b][/i] (focus on the crucible) One thing I've never really understood about Destiny is why It's felt necessary to constantly be changing weapon mechanics. One of the most frustrating things in the world is getting a gun that can do a niche task, play exactly how you want it to play, and then all of the sudden, change. Now, I've never been a huge fan of Auto Rifles or Pulse Rifles, but I've given them a try and I'm happy to say that I might be able to take advantage of my Bad Juju now. However, as much as I enjoyed the pulse rifle buff, I cant say I'm too pleased with the hand cannon nerf. "[i]Right now, the Hand Cannons work as advertised, but they’re a little too effective at longer ranges. We’re finding that players get very comfortable hanging back and using the Hand Cannon like a Scout Rifle or a Sniper Rifle[/i]" (Jon Weisnewski). Range. It's literally the only reason I use a hand cannon. Yes, I love scout rifles, but Hand cannons have always been my favorite for being able to deliver damage to targets a bit away while still being able to stay aware of your surroundings, and pop someone if they get too close. Hand cannons, in my opinion, (yes i know, my thoughts) are another example of "high risk high reward." I usually run with the Thorn or The Last Word after finally being able to get my hands on a copy, but have been trying to take advantage of my Timurs Lash (in which i received a very good roll for the way i like to play). Many people in the crucible seem to be handling hand cannons the same way. Most use exotics and very few (in comparison) use normal legendary hand cannons. Nine times out of ten, when I see a hand cannon on the kill feed, It's usually The Last Word (i can tell because i get blasted by him no less than 5 seconds later). Now, in my mind, thats not a bad thing. The Last Word is a unique weapon, and a powerful ally, however the range issue i commonly run into with hand cannons doesn't really come from normal hand cannons, it comes from The Last Word. As much as I love it, its high, continuous, fire rate is paired with normal range and impact allowing this gun to mimic a slow firing auto rifle much more closely than a hand cannon would normally. Normal hand cannons, such as my Timurs Lash, do not have this high fire rate but maintained usage by providing a beautiful mixture of damage, range, and accuracy, truly rewarding to the player if in the right hands. I feel like hand cannons were the perfect combination of close and medium range, while scout rifles (as compared to in the weapon breakdown) are the perfect combination of medium to long range. Many of the maps circulated in destiny simply don't provide maps that can benefit from a scout rifle which offer the medium to long range. Various obstacles or walls create thin sniper "alleys" which force those using scout rifles to sit in one spot and not move doing the match. God forbid if someone were to creep up behind them. The way crucible maps are currently designed, hand cannons are the perfect supplement for those who want range, and mobility. I don't see why this has to change. My end thought on weapon nerfing is this; I love bringing new weapons to the table via a buff, but don't understand why a nerf is necessary for weapons that are used more commonly than others. Just because a weapon is used more shouldn't justify the change of another weapon in order to achieve some sort of pseudo balance. There will always be weapon with an advantage, and always the weapons with a disadvantage. Maybe the solution isn't to "punish," if you will, the playing habits of players using a certain type of weapon, rather offering benefits to using another type of weapon allowing diversity to still occur while not impacting guardians who enjoy their loadout. I apologize for focusing on hand cannons, i simply don't have much experience with the auto rifles to comment on their nerf. Dear Bungie, let me wrap this up by submitting one final statement: There are so many other things that require focus in Destiny, such as sword de-spawns and Oger spawn delays in Crotas End, players lagging out but their player model remains active in the crucible, and having players become detained after they have been teleported in the Vault of Glass. These are bugs and errors that have a major impact on the way destiny is played and enjoyed and have existed just as long as the heavy ammo bug, Why focus on something as trivial as weapon stats when these problems are still prevalent? I want nothing more than to enjoy Destiny. That is my only goal with this post. Love, Acceptance If you catch any spelling or grammar errors, please let me know. thanks