I know I've been deeply critical these passed few days, but I hope this post can trigger some cronstructive discussions. Random weapon rolls have been a controvercial issue for a while now and I just wanted share some thoughts. Before we get started I ask that you read the entire post if possible. Today we'll be covering several topics, it might get lengthy, but hopefully we can have an interesting discussion! Let's start with the current fixed roll system and It's percieved strengths. Fixed rolls provide a finite time investment. Fixed rolls allows the player to acquire every weapon in a realistic period of time. Fixed rolls also increases the level of balance between each weapon. Many players want fixed rolls because they want the outcome of gunfights to be based entirely on skill. Another reason guardians liked the change is because they don't like 'God Rolls' and don't wish to be compelled to grind just to feel competitive. Some guardians simply don't like grinding for weapons. Some would go as far as argue that random rolls don't respect your time and they offer an "imaginary depth". Lastly fixed weapon rolls removes the possibility of recieving a usesless weapon due to a bad roll. If you haven't guessed it already, I'm against the current fixed roll system. I can aknowledge some of the potential benefits of the current system but I believe the costs outway the benefits. Hold up! Hear me out my fixed roll bretheren, we're all friends here. Random rolls provided a long term potential incentive for the player. Sure random rolls may seem like they demand more from the player, but the grind is entirely optional. It was never a requirement to own a 'God Roll' in order to be competitive. Granted a God Roll doesn't hurt, but individual skill will always trump perks. Let's Do a quick Q&A! Q: "I don't like losing gunfights to someone with better perks." A: First, that isn't a question. Second the answer is to grind for a weapon with better perks. Q:"Why should I have to grind for a weapon in order to have a fair gunfight?" A: There is no such thing as a 'fair gunfight'. Every firefight has some element of randomness, especially in game's with loot. Q: "What about God Rolls? What about felwinter's lie?" A: There is NO problem with God Rolls. If you want a God Roll you can grind for it. It's optional content. Losing a gunfight because your opponent has a better roll, is the same as losing to a player with better skills. Q: "How do random rolls and player skill have anything to do with one another?" A: Simple. If you lose a gunfight because of a God Roll, the solution is to invest time grinding for a God Roll. If you lose a gunfight due to lack of skill the solution is to practice more. Both problems require the same solution--an indefinite amount of time investment. Q: "Doesn't randon rolls undermine player skill?" A: Not necessarily, player skill will always be the most important factor that determines outcome. It is much easier to obtain a God Roll than it is to be the number 1 ranked crucible player. Therefore it's always more likely to be outgunned by your opponent's skill than perks. Q: "What about weapon balance? Don't weapon rolls make the game less balanced?" A: Yes they do, but that's ok. We have to keep in mind that Destiny is about collecting loot, and that creates an intrinsic imbalance. Destiny never was nor does it need to be balanced. Destiny was never designed to be a competitive e-sport and that's ok. There are plenty of non loot-based shooters on the market that have the level of balance needed to be an e-sport. Moreover even though Destiny 2 is more balanced than the original--there will always be a meta. Certain weapons will always be used over others regardless if there are random rolls and regardless if the game is more/less balanced. Q: "How come Destiny won't be an e-sport even with fixed rolls?" A: Even with fixed rolls, a loot based game like Destiny will be more imbalanced than a conventional competitive shooter. Secondly Bungie has no clear intention of making Destiny 2 an e-sport. Many influencial community members have been requesting features like in-game ranking and leaderboards since Destiny 1 vanilla, and they've gone mostly unanswered. Bungie's current design philosphy doesn't involve e-sports. Q: "What about all the bad weapon perks? I hate earning guns with unusable rolls." A: Simply remove them. Only keep good perks or better in the loot pool. I think it's better to potentially earn a weapon with bad perks vs earning the exact same weapon over and over again. Just look at most of the perks on the weapons in Destiny 2. Most of the legendary guns in D2 are just an average to below avarage roll in D1. If you were to take any random weapon in D2 and reroll the perks odds are it would be an improvement. A weapon shouldn't be top teir just because it has explosive rounds. This concludes our Q&A and PvP portion. Stay tuned for part 2, where I'll discuss random rolls in PvE. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!