For the original poster: I think that you are misrepresenting this particular change to the game. Yes, complaints about nerfs, more gear, and the rest are all matters of game balance and preference, shaded by the biases people have toward their own classes, and it is useless to try to appease those complaints thanks to that bias. I avoid the forums, enjoying the game as it is (as far as balance goes). Bungie has all the statistics they need to make their balancing decisions and screaming on the forum at them won't help. But conveniences like opt-in local voice chat and options to use or to not use matchmaking should not be absent. Your inclusion of the former in your post is invalid. (Unless, perhaps, you meant to object to using complaining as means to get what they want. In that case I have to agree, it is too much.) Things like chat options (such as the options to talk to people other than your friends and fireteam members) should have been in the game from the start. I will give Bungie the benefit of the doubt and believe it was in progress but they were unable to release it with the game because of problems with making it work...however, it is an important option for a game like this. Voice chat is helpful for quickly coordinating people in a strike, it can be useful in PvP, and voice communication is nearly essential in raids. Anyone who raids on any MMO or plays any multiplayer FPS can tell you how much easier it is to coordinate when you can talk with your teammates. A customizable emote system would be nice to have next on the communications list. Enable players to "equip" or keybind whatever four emotes they want from a wider selection than is currently available, as if emotes were another set of gear. This way Bungie could stick with the D-pad arrangement without limiting us to four emotes, total. It would be nice to thank PuG fireteam members at the end of a strike, or warn people on the go when unable to talk to them. Even with the new voice chat system, people can still "opt-out", making emotes the only other option. -- a placeholder