If you're all about that [url=https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority]appeal to authority[/url] and think my Trials record is relevant, click the spoiler. If not, continue downward. [spoiler] I went Flawless twice in Year 1, specifically in the first Trials and the first trials on Black Shield. The only other one I played in was the first Trials on Widow's Court. I went Flawless a few hours after ToO launched in Year 2, on our first run, and every game ended with a team scoring 5 and 6 players in the game (I think we got through before the booting started). I put the following together for a private group. I don't know how long the clip links will work, but the game links should be there awhile. If you feel the need to scrutinize our play-style, have at it. [quote] [u]Pre-Game[/u] Waiting for Chimp to get on. Commander Shepard kicks Wheatley off the edge, then morns her shameful decision. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/4aaff33e-534c-4ab2-a5c5-4e72f38fe1a9?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4101801829&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 1[/url][/u] 5-4 (3-0) Matching gamertags couldn't save them. With boons this counts as three wins. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/8bf2cc34-fc3b-4d54-a7b0-8b968e7d0f8e?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4101869659&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 2[/url][/u] 5-1 (4-0) LET. ME FINISH. MY KILL. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/a079ab9b-e7e5-4d57-937a-18d67c8c1dd2?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4101938836&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 3[/url][/u] 5-0 (5-0) Pyro really worked for that revive. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/2d3d5256-a637-462d-96d1-87a58796e404?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4102008189&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 4[/url][/u] 5-0 (6-0) The one place we actually had someone leave "early," but it was just a rage-disconnect after the match was over. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/3d306c0a-3401-4563-b754-a04328b09ca9?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/Stats/1/4611686018430598930/2305843009267749934]Game 5[/url][/u] 5-0 (7-0) I don't know why I made this clip. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/9f67d0c3-ce1e-45f8-9032-930852917dea?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4102189780&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 6[/url][/u] 4-5 (7-0 [Mercy Boon]) You wouldn't guess it from these clips, but this is the only one we lost. HoS actually stops, not trades, not evades, but stops a Nova Bomb. Incidentally this is also where Chimp's "Just die already Bolt- oh nice" comes from. This game is also where my "Family Mediator" role came about, but not until much later. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/4a2fa400-485f-473e-a24e-81be66e71853?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 Just call me Dr. Frank N. Furter 'cause my drag-scoping's horrifying. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/0beac353-f808-4b4e-9601-805d541f3db0?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 And then nothing good ever happened again in that game. [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4102294651&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 7[/url][/u] 5-2 (8-0) We actually start watching each other's backs. Trees are forbidden. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/54ab8e30-df23-4309-af3f-bd79cfad642c?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [u][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Legend/PGCR?instanceId=4102367970&characterId=2305843009267749934]Game 8[/url][/u] 5-1 (9-0) Good thing this hunter went so ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) for Chimp's booty while I was watching his back. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/b8d48bed-411f-4f18-8c54-455ac9b6f987?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 The ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) shot. https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/7be41bcd-560e-4920-9b66-86fff8925654?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 https://account.xbox.com/en-us/gameclip/a6e35a8e-f50c-4b43-a91a-3e3c662e2b32?gamerTag=Boltfan&scid=37770100-f9ae-4b80-9dad-7c1d0ec14469 [/quote] [/spoiler] During Year 1, if you asked players what their primary interest for playing Trials was, most would tell you it was going Flawless, and subsequently going to the Lighthouse. This made sense for a number of reasons. Besides the accomplishment itself, at the time (House of Wolves) almost all weapons could have their stats re-rolled through the Gunsmith, meaning that (with a few exceptions) as long as you had a weapon that was the same archetype as a Trials weapon, it could be just as good or better. The Lighthouse contained elemental primaries, most of which had archetypes that had no other elemental version. In addition, during this (relative to TTK) content-lacking time, a new planet was a big deal. Consequently, one of the biggest complaints about the Year 1 Trials was that they locked too much content away from players that weren't above average in PvP. The fact that elemental damage only has applications in PvE activities didn't help with the fact that PvE players felt like they were being forced into PvP. The result was a pretty unpleasant weekly contest. Beyond the tensity inherent to an Elimination gametype, there was plenty of Cheating, Cheesing, and Carrying being done to get players into the Lighthouse who didn't belong there, at least not yet. Worst of all, if you didn't have a reasonable chance of going to the Lighthouse, there was very little incentive to enter the playlist in the first place, which in turn made Trials even more exclusionary, as it became populated primarily by higher-skilled players, making it a poor place for casual players to practice. I believe the changes made in Year 2 were done to address a lot of these problems, and have a good chance of solving them once people realize how things have changed. First off, take a look at the bounties, which have replaced the tiered-reward structure from Year 1: [quote] -Assist in 5 kills (Bronze) -Revive 5 Teammates in Trials (Bronze) -Win 2 Consecutive [b]Rounds[/b] in Trials (25 Legendary Marks) -Defeat 5 opposing guardians with your teammates alive (25 Legendary Marks) -Earn 75 points in Trials. Round wins +3, [b]losses [u]+1[/u][/b], ties +1. As a fireteam defeat 3 opposing guardians without anyone in your fireteam dying.(Silver) -[b]Complete[/b] 10 Trials matches. As a fireteam defeat 75 opposing guardians. (Gold) [/quote] Notice something odd? You don't have to win a single match to get Gold Tier rewards. This means that players who aren't ready to go Flawless can still grind out the majority of the rewards in the playlist. Now consider that the only rewards from the Lighthouse itself are weapons (and an emblem) with unique appearances, but identical stats to those that can be earned from packages or just winning matches. These weapons are no more relevant to PvE than their non-adept counterparts. In addition, neither are stand-out weapons for any end-game PvE activity, and as far as I can see, most stand-out PvE weapons come from PvE. So why is this good for everyone? Combine this with the new system that tries to match teams with similar records, and it becomes pretty clear: [u]"Flawed" Players[/u] -Have plenty of reason to play and practice in Trials of Osiris other than going Flawless. -More flawed players in playlists means more even matchups at the low-end. [u]Flawless Players[/u] -Get a few easy wins at the start of a passage. -Still have rewards unique to their accomplishment. [u]Everyone[/u] -Now that the Flawless reward is pretty much just a sticker that says "You went Flawless," there's significantly less incentive to cheat for it. I can even say from my own experience that Flawless players will have reasons to play less seriously in this new system. My group went Flawless before we finished the Gold-tier bounty, so we went back and played two goof-off matches using un-upgraded adept weapons and the Festival masks (We actually won one of those matches, so hopefully the other team was goofing-off too...). Most important of all, I think this will ultimately result in less people cheating their way to the Lighthouse. Granted, we see it now, but no one ever said that cheaters were a particularly bright bunch, and it may take time for it to dawn on them that they really aren't getting anything good out of it (and are certainly getting a lot of bad). I won't say it's for certain, but I'm optimistic that in a few months, we'll find it pretty funny that anyone tried to cheat for this.