Let me start by saying thank you Cozmo for a little bit of transparency, it's nice to see that from Bungie these days. Hopefully you take what's being said on these forums into consideration and looking past the one-sided "Buff this because it's my favorite, and nerf this because it kills me too much" arguments. I've been playing this game hardcore since May 2015 and I've seen the greatest times in the Crucible come and go. I've also been there when, in my opinion, things were worse than they are now (let's not forget about the Universal Remote and the Doctrine metas). I know nothing about coding or development but I can at least give feedback on what me and many others think would improve the overall enjoyment in the Crucible. I'd like to begin by saying that [i]I do not think shotguns need a nerf at all[/i], and this is coming from a two year sniper main. It's easy to put all the blame on something in the crucible when it's visibly the strongest thing on the market. Shotguns themselves are not over-powered though, [i]the problem lies within primary weapons not being able to kill someone running at you in straight line fast enough[/i]. Destiny player movement is incredibly unique, with many movement altering abilities and exotics. It's easy to close the gap between you and another player when their primary weapon does very little damage to stop you. Instead of immediately looking at shotguns as the source of the problem, try to look at the bigger picture and think, why can't I stop this guy from running at me? In Year 1 the Last Word was the perfect shotgun counter, in the middle of TTK the Doctrine would mow down any shotgun warrior. Now we have nothing to consistently stop someone from running straight at us. This was made worse by the absolute destruction of sniper rifles in the last weapon update. More people are inclined to use shotguns because snipers are not as effective. I do understand people's frustration, but nerfing another weapon type is not the way to go about it. [i] So what should we do? [/i] I believe that an overall primary weapon buff would be the most effective way of making crucible interesting and satisfying again. [b]Hand Cannons[/b] - [i]Remove bloom from hand cannons completely[/i], damage drop-off where it's at is enough of a balancing factor. Hand cannons take skill to use, and a three tap should be rewarded. - Removing bloom would also eliminate the absolute necessity for rifled barrel, as hand cannon range is directly associated with the accuracy stat - Please look at the Thorn, the Last Word, and Hawkmoon. [i]These weapons are no longer exotic feeling[/i], as they have been nerfed countless times. A weapon that is exotic should feel exotic, not just look the part. Thorn DoT is in a good place, but the accuracy this gun has is pitiful, the Last Word is lucky to hit 3 out of its 8 bullets, and the Hawkmoon... well one day hopefully this thing will hit its mark again. [b]Pulse Rifles[/b] - Revert Hawksaw archtype Pulse Rifle damage back to how it was at the release of Taken King - Revert low RoF Pulse Rifle damage back to how it was at the end of House of Wolves, there isn't even a reason to use low RoF Pulse Rifles anymore in their current state - [i]Remove HCR from high RoF Pulse Rifles[/i], they should not be out gunning Scouts at range due to a broken perk. [i]Flinch makes primary gunfights RNG[/i], which should not determine the winner and the loser. - Again, I can't think of any of the exotic Pulse Rifles being stronger than their legendary counterparts. [b]Auto Rifles[/b] - It's hard for me to speak on Auto Rifles because I have never used them, but an overall Damage buff seems favored by most. Not any of that .04% mess either. I'm talking large percentage buffs! [b]Scout Rifles[/b] - Scouts seem to be in a good place, it might be smart to put High Caliber rounds on all of them intrinsically though, as no body uses legendary Scout Rifles for anything PvP related it seems. [i]Now onto special weapons! [/i] Special weapons themselves feel wonky these days. While shotguns seem to dominate the crucible, they too at times have their fallbacks. Remember though, [u]shotguns are not the problem[/u]. [b]Sniper Rifles[/b] - I believe that an overall reduction in flinch would be an incredibly solid buff to sniper rifles. It's almost ridiculous the amount your reticle bobs all over the place when your being gunned at by a high-caliber pulse rifle. In my opinion, [i]flinch makes this game not fun[/i], and is a mechanic that should be heavily adjusted. - A reduction in body shot damage, with increased headshot damage on mid high impact snipers would be lovely, please reward us for sniping a storm caller mid Ionic Blink. [b]Shotguns[/b] - Shotguns right now feel fine, especially with the introduction of the Matador, I find my shotgun blanking much less than before. - In air accuracy on shotguns, as well as on ground accuracy could have a consistency buff? If that's even a thing. I hate it when I'm in the proper range and all of the sudden my shotgun shoots a health pack at my enemy. - Why does my shotgun seem to jam when I equip it some time? I'll pull the trigger and it won't shoot. Maybe a glitch? Or a balancing factor. /shrug [b]Fusion Rifles[/b] - I've never been one to use Fusion Rifles, but when I do, I can't kill a damn thing. - Fusion Rifle handling seems incredibly low, and they are only viable with the perk hot-swap - Fusion Rifle bolt accuracy could be buffed a bit. - Again not my strong suit, so my opinion on them should be taken lightly. This is just a view on a potential weapon balance. There's no thoughts on subclass changes here. If a post comes up asking for those, I'll express my ideas there. I'd like to add that I am by no means an amazing player who is just trying to get my way and pubstomp. I'm always looking out for the casual player, as well as the dude that likes to bring his No Land Beyond and favorite Fusion Rifle into a Control match and still do well with them. Hopefully this post can bring attention to what me and many of my friends feel like the problem with the Crucible is. If anyone has questions or feedback to share on my ideas, I would love to hear them. [b]tl;dr[/b] - [u]Shotguns are not the problem[/u]. - Shotguns seem like the problem because primaries are too weak to stop them. - [u]Buff primaries[/u] (remove bloom, increase AR damage, increase low RoF Pulse Damage). - Remove HCR from Pulse Rifles (Flinch is not a fun mechanic). - Make sniping great again.