One year ago today, Valentine's Day 2017, the groundwork for Destiny 2's dual-primary weapon system was dropped into our lap. If it was intended as a Valentine's gift, it was the equivalent of a bouguet of fresh poison ivy, a heart-shaped box of chocolate-coated laxatives, and a ring that turned your finger a color more associated with St. Paddy's Day. We didn't realize what it was at first. The terms were simple: in PvP, when you were killed, you respawned with nothing but primary ammo or sidearm ammo. All special ammo was lost. I hated the change, as most did. I complained bitterly about it, and many others did. I thought at the time, as most did, that this was a way to encourage players to rely on their primary weapon in Crucible. If that was indeed the case (and I will soon explain why it wasn't), it failed disastrously with me. I had relied on my primary weapons before the nerf occurred, but I only considered them usable tools if there was a functional special weapon (and I disliked sidearms) to do the work they couldn't. With no reliable special to compensate for my primaries' weaknesses, they became unreliable themselves. My Titan started lurking around and spamming fusion grenades, and my Hunter became very fond of her Invective. And I became good at these new playstyles; I managed at least one Reign of Terror medal using each of them. But the fact remained, Crucible was now more frustrating than it had ever been before. My K/D probably increased by about 25-30% after the nerf hit, but I probably rage-quit two or three times more often. Several players, including myself, came up with ways to compromise: put specials in their place as RELIABLE secondary tools, but discourage total reliance on them. My preferred suggestion was that special weapons retain three rounds of ammo (compensated for siderams and Lord of Wolves) on respawn, or fewer if the player died with that number. Other players came up with equally reasonable compromises. All were ignored. With no hope in sight, other players found their own ways to address this nightmare. Some quit. Some submitted. And some, like me, adapted. Wormwood-spammers, Ice Breaker snipers, No Land Beyond mains, Shoulder chargers... the Crucible had never been less balanced, or less fun. But amazingly, the fact that the nerf ruined Destiny's Crucible was ultimately proven to be only secondary. Because I am still convinced that it was not a nerf after all. Yes, it undoubtedly was intended to bully players into using their primaries (or ENCOURAGE a primary-focused playstyle, Bungie would say), but it had a second purpose. That second purpose was why no compromise would be allowed to exist, no matter how angry the players got. Given that the dual primary system was announced before the start of summer, I have little doubt that it was well established in Destiny 2 by February. And so, it was almost certainly decided that this nerf would be instituted into Destiny 1 to "prepare" the player base for the changes coming in D2. Only this would explain why they stuck with it. Despite months of savage negativity and player complaints, they stuck with it. Despite polls stating that a large majority of players hated the change, they stuck with it. And despite the change failing to have the desired effect (players just transitioned to Ice Breaker, sidearms, sticky grenades, etc.), they stuck with it. And now, with the dual primary system, we know why. And in the end, this explains the overarching issue that has brought the Destiny franchise to the brink of collapsing down around Bungie's ears. While there are other problems with the game than the dual-primary system, they all seem to emanate from the same basic issue: Bungie is like E. J. Smith, the captain of the Titanic. They decided on their course, they decided on their speed, and they ignored the warnings they received from last Valentine's Day on that they were on a course for disaster. They decided that they knew what was best, no matter what. And just as Capt. Smith ignored the fact that ships are metal and don't float when they're full of water, Bungie's own equivalent ignored the fact that games don't float when they're full of angry and frustrated players. It hasn't turned out well. It didn't turn out well for the Titanic, either. Can this issue be resolved? I don't know at this juncture. Crimson Days shows a lot of positive changes. It is an indication that they can take a hint, if applied with a sledgehammer: Eververse has been pushed back, for the time being. Maybe, just maybe, this Valentine's Day will serve as the reverse of the last. 2-14-17 was the first sign of trouble. Maybe 2-14-18 will be the first sign of hope. However, just as Destiny's current state was the product of many disastrous decisions, the changes shown by Crimson Days and the upcoming patches will have to be the first of many good ones. And they will have to involve improvements in more than cosmetic loot. And I know it's been said before, but it's true: our overlords in Bellevue have to show that they're not only listening to players, but actually acting on what they hear. [spoiler]Moderator edit: This thread has been moved to #Feedback forum so that other Destiny players can weigh in.  [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/139533839/0/0] See Cozmo's thread here[/url] for more information about the #Feedback tag and its uses. Feel free to private message the moderator who moved your post, link to topic for further clarification about why this topic was moved.[/spoiler]