Honestly man? The level advantage is bullshit. Level 34 here, started a new IB run on my Titan and I haven't got a single win so far. I'm not playing IB anymore. It's bullshit. I can grind and grind and grind on IB, or I can get one etheric light per character AND an armor piece guaranteed from PoE. What's wrong with you guys?

ZERO weapon diversity. Thorn, TLW, and Felsniper. Good job, Bungie. Nice 'balance'. ARs still a non factor. Haven't been killed by a Fusion Rifle or AR in who knows how long. Just change it back already.

Power advantages? Lol really? Only about +2 damage increase from a 331-365 and level doesn't play that much more of a roll. A level 31-32 can still crush 34s same goes for trials. I know not everyone has hit 34 but, the falloff should be more visual

As far as lvl advantages, everything seems balanced. The only real problem is players are still hacking especially during the evening hours. It's hard to tell when you shoot a lower lvl then yourself with a shotgun and they take less damage then they are suppose to. Or when a lvl lower then you hits you and kills you in one melee strike, while it takes you two hits to kill. Also noticed some player reading immune for damage when hit. Used the reporting system to report all suspect game play. As far as gun damage to lvl advantage, it's only about 3 to 5 damage points difference up or down depending on the persons lvl.

I find people cry a lot about the thorn, I agree the thorn is a great gun for the crucible, however it is a great gun when used in the right situation and does take a fair bit of skill, it can easily be best by last word, or at long distance red death or mida multi tool, also if you know someone is using the thorn there are tactics you can do to put the advantage back in your court.. I think it's dumb that people find something that works and right away people ask for nurfs I think if anything we should un mutt auto rifles and un nurf the vex and let all the powerful guns do what the do best..

Where's matchmaking for the rest of the game?

It was pretty awful, not gonna lie probably 75% of the PvP population is using the Thorn. This gun is honestly out of control, sometimes you're dead before you even realize that you're getting shot at.

Haven't seen any difference in power from normal crucible. In fact i watched a 26 pull mid ground kills against a team of 33+ so it seems like the level advantages aren't there. I honestly noticed more of a difference in ToO first week where i could barely hurt 33 or 34 guardians.

Might as well call it the thorn banner. That's the only gun that seems to be used

Iron Banner? rename it Thorn and hawkmoon banner. guns are OP and abused.

Constructively speaking, it felt no different from Crucible and my weapons did NOT feel any more powerful. Except Felwinter's! That gun is just ridiculous.

32's do the same damage as 34's, and the lower level characters seem to absorb more damage. The only weapons being used are Thorn, TLW, Red death, and (invulnerable) sliding shotguns. Non-maxed weapons seem to do the same as maxed weapons. And lots of lag!

Nobody invited felwinter but he still came

honestly, at level 34 I felt like I was at a DISADVANTAGE almost constantly. I'd land multiple headshots on players 3 levels lower and they'd turn right around and kill me. teams never felt balanced. would alllways be put on the losing team making it very hard to gain the needed rep. all I want is the etheric light since it's yet to drop for me in 6 runs of Nightfall but IB is taking way too long to even get to Rank 3. hits aren't being detected, direct rockets aren't killing, seen grenades hit and do zero damage & a golden gun shot didn't kill someone last night (damaged, but did notttt kill). this is all with my level 34 w/ 365 weapons. it has been VERY unenjoyable.....

Aside from two enemy players red-barring so much they took an extra 30 seconds to keel over and die (during that they just ran into wall, didin't kill anyone), the games ran pretty smooth. A few t-baggers and dancers annoyed me, but that has to be expected. Most used weapons that I saw: Thorn, Hawkmoon (I'm on PS4) and the Last Word for Primaries. Felwinter's Lie, Matador 64 and Judgement VI for Specials (Shotguns, no surprise there). No specific Heavy Weapons (lots of diversity, from Ghorn to Hannibal). I have played both Crucible and Iron Banner a number of times and I saw and felt no difference in terms of level advantages (I feel like that would actually mean something if more 10's and 20's played Iron Banner). Those are my thoughts, take 'em as you will.

Lag and I get stuck at the end game screen from time to time.

Lag lag lag, every single match!

Titan Mark is horrendous and should be replaced with old one that actually looked like a sash and was actually cool looking. Need some decent boots that honestly don't give you/make you look like you have Thunder Thighs with everything from the knee down looking too skinny to support the weight. Same goes for the shoulders seeming to down. Ruinwings has the right amour of lift to make it the Titan look broader which I think should be the point with them, not looking chunky/fat. To each their on in that regard which just translates into allow people to choose different armour that not only can meet with what they are looking for in a build but also performance & looks. Lag still breaks games honestly. People become invincible, get supers instantly & other shenanigans on top of forcing other players out of the match. Thorn & Shotguns seem to be the One Solve All solution to every match. Why even bother with anything else? When neither is to your liking there's the Iron Banner sniper rifle whom is usually tricked out with broken perk sets/rolls & proceeds to being broken provided it didn't start out broken. Which again if you have a Thorn & either Felwinter's Lie/a shotgun or/and Elfdeet's Spear why even bother with anything else? Those weapons will carry you on through everything and honestly you don't need any other weapon from the looks of it. These same problems also work for being problems in Trials of Osiris. Also Saladin should off full armour instead of just two variants of the same armour. Heck have that be it's own reward section. Where you can buy the different pieces(Head, Torso, Arms & legs) and their alternate stats/benefits. Would help put all the glimmer people are racking up to use. This could also be applied to the factions as well.

My experience was great! I only had one really bad lag switcher out of 36 games. I keep a win loss so I do know how many I played. I loved having more maps and I guess Iron Banner just doesn't happen on the larger maps with turrets and vehicles? Or our map rolls sucked. I didn't detect any advantage attributed to my more powerful gear and weapons which made sense since my last Iron Banner I was equal to max level and this Iron Banner I'm a level below. (Trials of Osiris didn't go so great. Don't get me wrong, I like the mode, I'm just not quite "there" yet.) This Iron Banner DID feel a lot different though because I went with an entirely new strategy. This is my third Iron Banner and I really enjoy the event. That is not to say I did well. It's pretty much been a process of watching how people play while I foolishly ran to be first on point (no I didn't. The others on my "team" literally stopped and let me be first. He doesn't know any better? Right then something else we can abuse!) So my strategy this go was less Sun Tzu and more Monty Python: Don't be seen, cover the points, learn the maps, only strike with a multiplier of one, raise multiplier whenever possible. Also my loadout was literally created by counting nerf posts then adding to it the Jolder's Hammer I won during the last Iron Banner. It seemed fitting. The loadout was freakin' gold! You can probably guess: Thorn, Judgment VI (Shot package, rifled barrel, luck in the chamber) and Jolder's Hammer which still has it's default rolls and it really doesn't matter. The Thing's a beast. So power-level advantages weren't something I really felt. If something new did give me an advantage, it was the gunsmith. That Judgment didn't make itself.... That and the meta game really made the difference and yes, the results have been different - and greatly satisfying. Also I didn't get tea bagged at all this go, and to all who were doing it before and just decided to suddenly show decency, Thanks! My first two goes at Iron Banner were about one teabagger short of a really good Bill Maher sub-reference. I also can't speak to the difference between normal Crucible because I don't play it. I play all parts of Destiny and my PvP usually IS the big tourney's and events. Which I love. An' I'm an immigrant from the MMOs. Yeah it's new to me, sure I'm not the most experienced, does that make it any less fun? Nope. Not at all.

Lag was very noticeable w players teleporting or running into wall. Half the connections were yellow or below.

First game was okm