[i]Since I am seeing a lot of threads falling under the description of "Bungie gives free ghosts and you people can never be happy" and I keep replying and writing the same thing...I am just going to make my own thread and link to this one every time one of those pops up.[/i] Warning: Long ass post follows. TL/DR: [u]Issues with drop rate for at least the fifth time in six months...raise some very important questions about the state of the loot system that need to be asked.[/u] Players of crimson double are going to get a guaranteed 320 ghost at the end of the event. It is amazing. I never expected this from Bungie....and I am pretty happy about it. I am happy about it because it is the right thing to do and I am happy Bungie acknowledges this and is acting on it....plus I want one of the shells and now I get one....and one of 320 light. Which is excellent. But am I grateful? No. Should I be? Well...no. And here is why: Because here is the thing. When you say Bungie "gives" us a "free" ghost...you do not get it. This ghost is not free. It is not a gift. This ghost is a [u]compensation[/u]. A compensation for the fact that there were severe errors in the drop rate of the ghosts that led to a very dis-proportionally large number of players playing for hours on end (personally close to 40 hours) without ever getting a single ghost drop. So this ghost is neither a gift nor is it free. It has been played for under skewed chances of getting a ghost and a lot of players have invested a lot of time and effort in playing the game without getting the proper reward drops that they would have normally gotten if the drop rates functioned properly. It is absolutely very positive that Bungie not only acknowledged this drop rate but that they are also taking positive action to compensate players for their time and effort. And nobody can argue with that....and it is okay to acknowledge this from our side. Bungie did the right and decent thing here regardless of their motives and regardless of whether or not they had, given the current state of things, a choice. But here is the thing. Being happy and acknowledging that Bungie is taking positive steps...does not let them off the hook from some very critical questions that need to be asked and, hopefully, answered. Because those questions have some profound implications. Now....one of the most pressing questions is that how a loot based game can have several major problematic issues with drop rates being too low in the last 6 months? We have had Iron Banner, Nightfall, Crimson Day, The Vienna ships etc. And those all took place since TTK release. That is a lot of problematic drop rate errors for a loot based game. If something like this happens once...fine..it is inconvenient. If it happens twice...well...ok. If it happens three times there is a structural pattern developing here. And if it happens even more we are crossing over into a whole different level of problematic...and one that undermines the nature of the Destiny game itself. This is a loot based game, if drop rates are structurally broken than that is a severe problem NOBODY should be happy about in this community. And that is regardless of whether or not Bungie will always act to compensate for this (and they haven't). When this happens so many times in such a short period...then the trust in the core concept of the game is being structurally undermined....I can't help but wondering what other RNG problems are left unaddressed or might pop up...and if it is even worth to try and grind. But it doesn't end there. Because it took them four days to acknowledge it and act on it. And that acting on it so far has not involved an immediate hot fix. We still have, as far as I can tell, no normal drop rate (either that or the game is seriously trolling me) and Bungie has not yet, to my knowledge, released a pacth on this. And that gives us two distinct problems: [b]1).[/b] Why did it take four days to verify and acknowledge what players have been blurting our on fora and other social media from day one? And this is not the first time it took incredibly long for Bungie to acknowledge or verify things. For week long events such as IB and CD that is disastrous since loot from these events is accessible for a limited time only or is simply a one time deal. the period for Bungie to verify just about anything (and please let that SRL book thing go for a second) is simply very long. And while there may be very good reasons...I can't help but think this is a problem for a social dynamic game people spend incredible amounts of time in and could be handled better. [b]2).[/b] Why isn't this problem immediately corrected? Why is that taking so long? If there even is a fix. Isn't this a simple matter of tweaking numbers? Is the engine so difficult to operate that it can not really handle quick changes? This event still had three days on the counter by the time Bungie acknowledged it. Everybody could have enjoyed a normal drop rate....to grind for the two ghost shell designs or if they wanted for the highest light level ghosts. [i]Because remember NOT everybody is only playing this for the 320 ghosts...some people actually enjoy the designs and want to have several sets of gear just to switch things up...or just because they are very limited and unique. [/i] And yes...I am a little impatient...because I want both designs and I seriously hope I can play the event as it was supposed to be played. But it also not unrealistic to ask what other games seem to manage much quicker. So those are some pretty big and far reaching questions. And on top of that...I think a lot of players are wondering..."well...if the drop rates had been functioning properly...how many ghosts would I have had?" Because for me there is no doubt that I would have had both at least twice regardless of the light level. As well as there being many questions about what kind of ghost we are getting. See....320 is not the only thing that matters, Which stat perks are going to be on it? Is it going to be int and dis? Or dis and str? Or whatever. These things matter for character builds. And grinding would have had a far better chance of at least the preferred perks falling and the option to grind further if your ghost was not to your liking...and I don't mind that my grind is not always successful. . Now I realize that for some the number 320 is magical. And if a 320 ghost is all you need to max your character...or if you are going to infuse this one anyway...sure...that is totally legit...and more power to you. But please realize that to some people have different wishes or approaches to the game and might feel a little bit sour about the whole situation. For me personally my motivation is always to never expect the best...but to just collect the gear I think looks great and worry about light level and perks later. Considering how I prefer this game..I think the solution of a 320 ghost compensation is nice but a little contrasting...why not offer one 320 and the other design at lowest light level...so...well...everybody can chose to have their favorite design...or infuse the hell out of it. But that is nit picking perhaps. And why spend a lot of time and effort in playing the game if the loot drops can not be trusted? And these feelings were perfectly illustrated in the suicide pacts that became increasingly more common (thank you guys for the many unbroken medals I gt...I didn't have them yet :) Now I can brag and tell that I survived entire matches against multi flawless teams without dying :) ). People were apparently so desperate for a ghost...and the drop rate of 320 end gear ghosts is so low...that enjoyment of the game comes second place to acquiring the max reward possible. Look...I am not judging. I get it. It is not my style, but I can't say that I wasn't tempted these last few days to take the easy route. And it inconvenienced me only for two minutes and I can spare those for my fellow guardians. I was fortunate to get a 320 ghost on my 15th totem completion. I didn't dare say that my ghost was 320 because the entire party were raiding three times a week since the release of Hard Mode and NONE of them had had a 320 ghost...and I was literally doing it for the 5th week...and haven't even gotten that many raid completions in total. So I get it. But fundamentally that may mean that the loot system is not functioning properly or does not connect with the player base. Or that perhaps you need to make god damned sure your lot drops function correctly so that players do not feel the need to cheese a game to the max only for the chance for extremely elusive items. Or perhaps you simply need to have both PvP and PvE events that offer end game rewards so that PvE players who hate PvP aren;t forced to play a game mode simply to increase their tiny chances a little bit. It would have literally been NO problem to change the weekly patrol bounties to two person fire teams to defeat Taken Ultra's together "A romantic date or picnic"...just to spit ball something that takes NO amount of effort to change the little text and icon on...because it already exists So...am I happy with the ghost. Sure. I think it is the right thing to do. I think Bungie made the right decision. I appreciate them making the right decision. And I acknowledge that they made the right decision. But don't pretend this suddenly makes everything go away. that this is anything other than compensation that was earned through effort. That this doesn't raise some legitimately questionable issues and that I now have to be grateful enough to not give legitimate criticism. So I hope this gave some insight in why I am not suddenly all peachy about this. I know this goes for a lot of people. And I am sure people have other reasons not mentioned in this long ass post.