Just as an example, make Comp the gun focussed playlist and turn one of the regular side playlists into a permanent space magic/party one — it’s not massively splitting the population from what we currently have. Permanent gunplay and space magic options would take some pressure off tuning the middle ground. I’d be happy for Bungie to pick a single direction and make the best possible version of that, but if they want Crucible to be a “jack of all trades”, I think having strong identities for individual playlists is the next best option.

I'm not intimately familiar with NFS but presumably the mechanics of driving are different; the feel of varying speeds presumably aren't identical, the OOB mechanics probably differ, the maps surely differ, the game modes probably differ, and I have no idea why you would dismiss the visuals which are a big part of games as a medium. What other things can you think of that aren't identical between the two games? I'm sure there's quite a bit more for those more familiar with the franchises.

If Bungie wanted to nail down a specific identity for Crucible, I’d be all for that, even if it’s not to my personal preferences. However, they’ve shown time and time again that they want to appeal to a wide range of players. I assume because Crucible is a side activity in a PvE focussed game and that’s the way it has to work — they can’t afford to lose a chunk of players because they don’t think they’ll make sufficient gains to justify that. They’ve been tuning special for a while now and it’s a mess. Alternatively, they could have left the regular playlist/s as they were and introduced a primary focussed modifier into a gunplay focussed playlist. That’s why I think they should give playlists strong identities for different kinds of players. Constantly tuning everything backwards and forwards to try and please whoever’s annoyed ends up annoying everyone.