This is my own, anecdotal explanation of why I didn't pre-order Rise of Iron and why I haven't bought it yet. My hope is that someone can use this as constructive criticism. I started playing Destiny during the Beta and have bought everything up until now. Aside from VoG, my favorite part of year one Destiny was the Iron Banner, so obviously I was excited when RoI was first announced. As time went on and more information on the upcoming expansion was being released, I slowly felt my excitement turn into skepticism. Here are some reasons why: [b]– Seeming Lack of Emphasis on the Story[/b] For whatever reason, RoI never really came across as DLC that was focused on its campaign or on advancing Destiny’s larger story. Like many of Destiny’s past DLCs, I felt that the campaign missions would really just be an introduction to the Raid. I find this structure irritating because, IMHO, the Raids have all done a horrible job at explaining themselves. They’re fun, exciting, and challenging, but after you finish it you can’t help but say, “What the f*** actually happened?” Take King’s Fall, for example. You kill Warpriest, you kill Golgoroth, you kill the Sisters, then you kill Oryx, but afterward you’re not really sure why you did any of it. The only way to really know what is going on with the story is to hop on the Interwebs and read the Grimoire. Which brings me to my next point... [b]– I Knew I’d Be Able to Read the Grimoire Online[/b] If the only way to understand the story is to read the Grimoire, and you can read the Grimoire online for free, then I don’t have to buy the game to understand the story. [b]– Destiny’s Overarching, Lack of Focus[/b] What’s going on with the Traveler? What are the Vex up to? Where are Savathun and Xivu Arath? How about Nokris? The battle between the Sky and the Deep? Taox? What’s Rasputin up to? Where’s Osiris? What was the fate of Dr. Shim’s team? Maya Sunderesh? The Exo Stranger? Eris? Mara Sov and the Awoken? What/who are the Nine? The Ahamkara? Worms?? If there are so many essential parts of Destiny’s story that have yet to be told, then why is an entire “expansion” being devoted to what seems like a side quest? [b]– The Amount of Recycled Content[/b] I can’t stand being told that there’s this awesome “new” content on the way, then finally getting to play it and realizing that this “new” content is a lot of recycled content that’s being dressed up as something else. Incorporating a small amount of recycled content is creative, but too much of it comes across as lazy. Especially if we’re being asked to pay for it. [b]– The RNG Grind[/b] I love all of Destiny’s weapons and gear, but I’m tired of them being dangled in front of our noses like some proverbial, carrot-and-stick metaphor. Mixing in RNG elements makes it all even more frustrating. The games that I’ve sunk the most time into, believe it or not, are ones that I simply enjoyed playing. [b]– Playstation Exclusives[/b] I try to not let this bother me, but it just does. I have absolutely nothing against people who are playing on Playstation, or the console itself. What bothers me is that I’m spending the same amount of money as someone else, but I’m getting less content. Something about it doesn’t feel right. [b]– More Overvalued Content[/b] Simply put, $30 seems like a lot for an expansion that doesn’t seem to expand the game as a whole. Is this Deja Vu? Although I loved vanilla Destiny, it didn’t feel like it shipped as a complete game. I felt robbed after playing The Dark Below. House of Wolves was meh, but overall it felt like an improvement. Then The Taken King dropped and it actually felt like a real expansion – $40 might have been a lot of money, but I thought it was a fair price. Plus, TTK gave us the April Update for free. There was a lot of hope for Destiny after the success of TTK, but I feel like RoI was pulling Destiny back to its year 1 state of expansive disappointment. Obviously, I haven't played RoI yet, so some of the things mentioned above may not be true. If I'm wrong about something then go ahead and tell me. Otherwise, if you've played through RoI and want to leave a comment, then I would love to hear your impressions of it thus far!