Good question. Bungie have never provided any detail behind the current attack and defense ratings other than "more is better", I think purely for the sake of simplicity. I think they have an obvious agenda around progressing the game forward from year one gear, for better or worse. I think they've tried to over simplify it by just stating "this all contributes to your light level now" instead of explaining what that entails, again for the sake of simplicity. Some people are seeing a lower attack rating and interpreting that as their weapons power being dialled down from what it currently is at, where in fact the whole mechanic has changed. They probably could have spent the full hour just explaining how damage is calculated TBH

Or they could put it in a forum post. More communication from Bungie would help smooth over the concerns of the malcontents (like myself). If they could at least give us the time of day to explain themselves, their reasoning, and logic behind the changes; I would hold them in higher regard for being open and honest to those who have spent considerable time and money on their product. Sorry for going off topic there, but my previous comment was tied into the paragraph above.

I completely agree. I can also see the reluctance on their behalf based on the way the community dissects every word of every sentence, but more open communication, as you say, would negate this. I realise there's probably a lot more work than a lot of us think that goes on behind the scenes to keep the game running. But I find there's an element of laziness in thinking "oh the community will handle that" for vitally important stuff. Things like, LFG, lore, mechanics etc.