Taking a survey and sharing some feedback. I'd appreciate it if fellow Guardians voted in this poll. Upvotes at your discretion, and appreciated by yours truly. [b]Edit: If you vote or comment, I'd appreciate a good reason if you're inclined (other than "Rift is awesome" or "Rift sucks") as to why you voted yes or no. Just so I can get a good understanding from where you're coming from. And throw an upvote in for the post if you liked it. Thanks![/b] I'm for it, of course. (Why do you think I made this?) I swear to the big white ball in the sky, bring back this game type. ~~~~ Caveat to newbies: For those of you who don't know what Rift is, it's [spoiler]already your favorite game mode ever and you don't even know it[/spoiler] a D1 6v6 Crucible game mode. Think of it like paintball, CTF, rugby, and soccer had a baby. There's a Spark of light that spawns in the middle of the map. One person on your team (designated as the team Runner) acquires the Spark and weaves through gunfire while their team escorts them to blow up the Rift. If you face away from the Rift while in possession of the Spark and dunked it backwards, your Guardian does a backflip flair dunk and you net double points for your team. While in possession of the Spark, no Supers are allowed for the Runner. It's the job of the team without the Spark in this situation to stop their own Rift from getting dunked on so they can turn the tables and try to score themselves. The game's over at point cap or time limit. ~~~~ Now for feedback. Feel free to skip to TL;DR if you're not in the mood to read my lamenting. So, I don't think I should have had to explain how much of a crime it was to see Rift cut [spoiler]AT ALL[/spoiler] from D2 when people played it on the regular in D1 on rotation and in Private Matches. That should be pretty telling. In my mind, I genuinely thought Bungie was going to upgrade it in some manner, for say, considering their e-Sports musings. maybe bring Rift into that whole realm- [i]which could work, as a matter of fact, with how competitive it can be[/i] (now wouldn't that be something!) In my humble biased opinion, Rift is the most challenging and personally rewarding game type, and way fun, up there with Mayhem-anything. I got hyped and felt like a team player whenever an enemy squad came around a corner to pummel my fellow Runner. A champion whenever I Shadestepped a Shoulder Charge and dove right into the enemy Rift as the Runner. Inches from death only now to be dancing on hies grave before I get blindsided by a shotgun and cheering with my teammates during respawn. [u][b]Like I said- it was fun.[/b][/u] Pure fun. With how it is now, as a player who's put time into this franchise since the very start, the best way I can describe it is the feeling you get when your parents take your favorite toy from you and say you're no longer a child and you're too old to play with it anymore. (That never happened to me as a kid or as a young adult, but this is as close as I can get to it.) "All good things come to an end" be damned when you have Rift sitting there on D1 still rotating in and out of the playlists and you have people who want to keep playing it but can't due to lack of players, and not everyone's clanmates or buddies are going to have D1 installed just to Private Match Rift with you. [spoiler]To be fair, not everyone is like me and harbor a love for [b]just one game mode[/b] and keep a game installed purely for it. Yes, that's a little extreme- but how else am I going to play it if it's not brought to the newest game out there? People play on D1 still, not just for the thrill of Rift if one can be matchmade at all, but also of D1 Crucible. But that's a different story, a totally different argument altogether and not one I'm chasing or focusing on here.[/spoiler] Bear with me... Emotional heartthrobs still to be sprinkled here and there- Rift is a very unique and integral experience that left very positive impressions on Crucible players. It fostered actual good tactics for both teams, and gameplay I haven't seen in most of the other modes. Now, it just seems like it's being swept away into a closet, when it could bring more players in or keep people around. I can't say everyone enjoyed slogging through Iron Banner Rift (or as I like to affectionately call it, Blood Rift) because, let's be honest, it was pretty rough (I did, but that's just because I love it, I was able to be competitive and still come out having a good time with it). The Crucible would really benefit having a game type that offers more variety in mechanics, hype, and teamwork other than all of the good ol' plain shoot-n-scooter or static attack-defend TDM types like Control, Clash, Survival, Showdown, or this 'new' Call of Duty-Headquarters-like game mode (because...that's literally what it's modeled after) that's being 'introduced' in Forsaken. I honestly felt my heart sink when I saw that in the recent trailers. Whatever hope I, like-minded people, and my own buddies have left for it now is being put into this post. Point is, there's a flow to Rift that's not replicated in any other game mode with how players approach this objective of trying to demolish the other team, by simply scoring a goal, and it isn't so simple (which is a good thing). A quick sticky note to go with that mechanic statement- I find Crucible Labs to be a marvelous way to present relatively interesting, toss-up modes of PvP matches. I've been participating in these tests and I'm having fun trying out what is being offered. I guess that's why I'm surprised Rift hasn't even made an appearance there yet either. To that end, I think Bungie could introduce interactive objects, something for players to, y'know, play with instead of shoot with. (Take Salvage for example (I know. It was hardly played, and thus could rightfully say it deserves to get an upgrade. It was a fun concept, but I think it needed a little [i]more[/i] interaction, like a grab-retrieve-deposit mechanic (such as those in Gambit, as a very applicable comparison) where relics are capped by a team, and their contents need to be brought somewhere to deposit, before the other team can do that for their own capped relics. You and your team can try to steal the relics of the other team who dropped theirs for more points. Just an idea.) Back to Rift though. I just want that hype back. To log into D2 and smash a Spark into the faces of an enemy squad surrounding the Rift and trying to yank me by the cloak and murder me with a shotgun, only to see my screen light up in burst of light, a loud explosion, and accolades and a massive kill feed flooding my screen to warrant a victorious taunt. I [i]promise,[/i] [b]nothing[/b] compares to that feeling of glory. I have yelled on more than one occasion when I score or stop an enemy Runner on their merry way to destroy our Rift. To me, for D2 to have come this far and that I'm having to call Rift a 'pastime with my buddies' or to 'move on' from something that fun, is a major disappointment is all. [b]TL;DR: I can absolutely guarantee returning 6v6 Rift in D2, [i]and beyond in future installments[/i] will do a lot more good than harm. I'd hate to see this turn into a League of Legends Dominion situation.[/b] That's all. I appreciate you reading if you read all the way through.