No I've been here since the beginning and despite the fact that I love shotguns, special in general needed to be put in its place. I only wish that they wouldn't have nerfed shotguns, and rebuffed sniper rifles to account for the limited ammo changes. The thing is, there is a minimal investment required for people to be able to snipe... this is why snipers were never out of control from a usage standpoint(with the exception of the 1K stare meta which boasted numbers like 35% usage across the board). Shotguns in the current map design would always attract more users because frankly, its a bit easier to shotgun ape than to snipe, but not by much. Not to mention, the gains are MORE for the investment required to be a decent sniper, much more so than shotguns. Usage, unless the numbers are extremely disproportionate, may not reveal what weapons are dominate. An example of this would be the Thorn/TLW meta during how. From a usage standpoint, the Thorn would have appeared to be the dominate gun. However, when you look at raw stats and TTK breakdown between those two guns, TLW wins in almost every category. Thorn was used more because it allowed for lazier play and less effort concerning position. When I say Snipers dominated the game, I'm talking about the micro, not the macro. If you play another team in doubles, or any 3v3 playlist, they may attempt to engage, but if are unsuccessful, they will often back up and hardscope tight corridors that would otherwise be conducive to CQC weapons such as Autorifles and Hand Cannons. Sniping doors, grenade traps, running away constantly(disengagement), and camping in general has been the default dominate strategy in Destiny since release, Snipers augment that style of play. Honestly I don't really see how there is any counter argument to this fact ^

...Did you just magically skip the shotgun meta? The game existed prior to ttk, even though it doesn't support your shotgun argument. There's a reason shotguns were nerfed like 10 times. And Your argument is not objective fact, it's a subjective viewpoint.

I don't understand why everything has to be reduced to a shotgun vs sniper rifle argument. Special vs Primary weapons has been a major issue in Destiny for a long time, and Snipers are the best special hands down. Low risk, high reward, and maps that allow you to easily funnel enemies into doorways for easy kills. You can say that my opinion is biased or whatever... but the fact of the matter is, Destiny 2 is not going to be a special based game.

I'm not arguing it will be a special based game. I couldn't care less honestly. I'm saying snipers have not dominated the game exclusively for 3 years. Shotguns have been the meta numerous times. And my evidence of that is the amount of nerfs the weapon has received. The only evidence you are presenting is hypothetical situations, anecdotes, and uncited statistics that can be easily misinterpreted and twisted to fit either of our arguments. That's why you have a viewpoint, not facts. So I'll ask you again. Did you just magically skip the shotgun metas?

I already responded about why I thought we ever had a Shotgun meta.

So you acknowledged we had a shotgun meta is what you're saying?

Of course there was a shotgun meta, it followed the 1K stare meta, which followed the TLW/Thorn meta(which featured relatively equal usage of both shotguns and snipers). The house of wolves was imbalanced from a primary vs primary standpoint, but spot on concerning primary versus special balance. Shotguns were arguably more powerful at this time but did not see the out of whack usage numbers that we saw in 2.1.3. If they intended to change the special economy at the current level, they should've done it long ago and never nerfed snipers or shotguns.

ugh. nvm. you keep adding in irrelevant things.

My post was very clear, I'm talking about snipers versus every weapon in the game, not just shotguns. Within the context of this discussion, the fact that there was a shotgun meta is completely irrelevant, I merely entertained that notion. This was a notion that you introduced to the discussion. If I'm understanding correctly, the idea that there was several shotgun metas, One of which is not supported by any data, that means that they were the most powerful guns(not snipers)? I disagree, and have explained this throughout my responses. Our primary disagreement lies in the fact that I don't believe usage numbers show what weapons are clearly the best options in the game(unless they are extremely disproportionate). I look at what situational advantages that a weapon has, Globally over the largest number of maps. At it's optimal range, and behind the hands of a somewhat proficient player, The sniper Rifle wins against the following guns; Auto rifles, hand cannons, scout rifles, pulse rifles, as well as most other specials(barring a calculated shotgun rush). In contrast, the shotgun at it's optimal range wins against the following guns. Sniper rifles, auto rifles, and scouts. You have to engage to use shotguns. Any high-level player will tell you that disengagement is the most important aspect of the game. Shot Counting, waiting for picks, calculated pushing, grenade traps, running and camping in general are all tactics of the dominant play style. The Sniper rifle compliments the dominate play style, always has, and always will in DESTINY ONE! This brings me back to my original post. We are moving into Destiny 2, and it doesn't look like the previous dominate style of play will be as frequent, therefore the sniper rifle will be confined to its optimal situation. Hopefully, due to the limitation in special ammunition, Bungie will make them powerful, so that they feel truly "special".