[quote]One reason I hate the timers. It's counter-intuitive.[/quote] I think the Bonus Timers are [i]generally[/i] fine as they currently exist in the Solo* and Pinnacle Ops categories as both offer Objective-based scoring, allowing one to rush through to check each mark that presents itself without penalty. [i]* Although there are instances in certain Solo Ops Activities (eg. the Mines when Scorn enemies are featured) in which must-kill ads spawn in very slow waves of ones and twos which can make it difficult to attain the Timer Bonus.[/i] The major issue is in Fireteam Ops where often quite limited Bonus Timers can feel at odds with the Takedown-based scoring criteria; this seems to encourage players to either use ad-clearing focused builds to explode all the world all at once, or simply ignore the timer altogether and make up the difference through the use of additional negative modifiers. I wonder if Fireteam Ops may perhaps be improved by switching to a [i]predominantly[/i] Objective-based scoring criteria that offers somewhat fewer overall points than the Solo and Pinnacle Ops counterparts, and supplementing that with two separate available bonuses, one for Time remaining and one for total Takedowns, and have each bonus give out three levels of possible bonus points (say, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels of points) before zeroing out entirely. This would allow Fireteams or Solo players to choose what sort of balance they may want to strike between Time and Takedowns, which [i]might[/i] result in a more enjoyable Activity than the [b]all or nothing[/b] Timer Bonus currently available under Takedown-based scoring criteria. Of course everything is subject to change at some point, so there’s every possibility the devs may take other, more well thought out measures to address the inherent push and pull between the Timer and Takedown requirement for Fireteam Ops. (΄◉◞౪◟◉｀)

I appreciate you taking the time to reply and clarify. 🙂 [quote][i]...this gives the community what they have been requesting for a long time: a way to play through Strikes without other players so they can focus on completing Quests/Bounties without having to fight for kills against randos. This essentially fulfills what many players had in mind when the Solo Ops option was first described by the devs.[/i][/quote] Unfortunately I don't believe that the goal was actually reached with the way Solo Ops is currently set up. [b]There aren't any strikes in the Solo Ops menu[/b], and as others have pointed out, the only way to actually play a strike solo is to customize the experience within the Fireteam Ops menu in order to disable matchmaking. While the short activities currently in Solo Ops are fine, they aren't rewarding like strikes and Lost Sectors can be, even with the bonus reward rotations. [quote][i]The combination of these two factors is likely intended to funnel players toward a limited subset specific Activities in order to keep the queues healthy with limited wait times. Offering specific/improved rewards and Matchmaking for all listed Fireteams Ops Activities at all times on the other hand may run the risk of further stratifying the player base between Activities, leading to slower overall queue speeds.[/i][/quote] I actually think that having separate queues for different PvE activities is great, but it's honestly a bit silly to disable fireteam matchmaking for activities that are literally in the Fireteam Ops menu. That's why we've been asking for Solo Ops, so that we can play the same activities like strikes and offensives without being matchmade into a fireteam. With the removal of Pathfinder and ritual vendor objectives, the problem of "fighting for kills against randos" is barely a problem anymore. This is actually where my confusion comes from. The community has been asking the developers to implement the ability to play content solo for the reasons you mentioned. Instead, we were given content in Solo Ops that weren't necessarily what we wanted but had the same concept. On top of this, the removal of Pathfinder with its Bright Dust rewards adds to the lifeless feeling of doing any Portal activities.