I refuse to let this go unseen. My post was removed due to Rule 2, so here it is again with a better title and nothing else changed.
You managed to kill the interest in this game for my entire clan.
We’re a 95-member clan with a core group of 6 to 10 highly active players. We focus mainly on high-level content, and we love it. We’ve earned almost every raid title, completed all Salvation’s Edge Master challenges, and collected all raid exotics and catalysts.
We prepared for the Contest Raid Race like our lives depended on it. We pushed our light levels as high as possible. But when we actually entered the contest raid, it wasn’t a lack of skill that held us back. The DPS checks weren’t tight; it was unbearable. Some of us refused to chase broken builds just to pass arbitrary DPS thresholds. We wanted to clear it with our own skills, using builds we crafted ourselves. And even at our absolute best execution, the most we could do to Agraios in a full damage phase was around 25%.
We refused to be disrespected by a system that demanded such extreme workarounds, so we abandoned the contest raid and switched to normal mode. After a few attempts, we cleared every encounter once we learned the mechanics. But when we finished the raid, the feeling wasn’t excitement or satisfaction. It was relief. That was a first. I was over 2055 light level before the Edge of Fate. I used to play daily, almost religiously. But this was the first time I felt relief instead of fulfillment after completing a raid.
Now, none of us feels motivated to keep playing. Here’s why:
None of us wants to farm light level anymore. It’s just a key to enter harder content. Whether you're 100 or 450 levels above the soft cap, you're still stuck at a fixed power delta. It doesn’t matter anymore.
None of us wants to run the raid 5 or more times just to get low-quality loot and maybe, eventually, a good roll.
None of us wants to teach the raid to others in the clan. Salvation’s Edge was already difficult to explain, and this new raid is even worse. Nearly every encounter is a mechanics-heavy slog that demands equal effort from all players. Desert Perpetual is possibly the most anti-LFG raid you've ever made.
None of us wants to rebuild our loadouts after so many of our builds were broken. The new stat system ruined a lot of setups. Even with full preparation for Edge of Fate, many players still struggle to hit desired stat tiers because the new archetypes bottleneck almost every build.
None of us wants to grind side missions or high-difficulty campaigns for two tokens and a blue™. Even if they occasionally drop Tier 3 or Tier 4 loot with good perks, it’s not worth spending 20 to 30 minutes for one roll from a slot machine.
None of us wants to engage with Vanguard, Crucible, or Gambit anymore since Pathfinders were removed. That was the only consistent way to earn Bright Dust. Sure, something might eventually replace it. But Pathfinder also gave XP, which meant Bright Engrams and light levels. Now we’re stuck with only three daily objectives and nothing else once the weeklies are done.
None of us wants to farm ritual vendors since Vanguard, Crucible, and Gambit weapons no longer drop with multiple perks. The reset feature is gone, and it is also old loot now.
None of us knows where to get Ascendant Shards or Alloys consistently. Expert Nightfalls might drop shards, but without seasonal activity, there’s no reliable way to get Ascendant Alloys. I’m not even sure if Sieve drops them, and it’s timegated with its own system.
None of us wants to raid or solo dungeons anymore. The power delta and negative penalties completely broke the balance. We barely defeated The Witness in normal mode, not because of the mechanics but because our damage output was terrible. We constantly ran out of heavy ammo, even with 150+ in Weapon stats. I’ve solo flawless’d every dungeon except Vesper’s Host, but I don’t plan to try another unless something major changes.
None of us wants to run Fireteam Ops together either, since rewards and bonus drops are different for each player. It feels like we need to draw a complex Venn diagram just to find a single activity that benefits everyone equally.
And to be clear, this isn’t Reddit echo-chamber talk. I’m the only one in the clan who even reads Reddit. These are our real, shared experiences.
With a single patch, I went from having many reasons to play Destiny 2 to having none. Even if I wanted to stick around, the only thing left to do would be grind light levels and chase a few Tier 5 weapons or armor pieces. Anything short of Tier 5 feels like a waste of time. I’m not going to grind up to 450 light just to maybe get a shot at something good.
This seriously feels like the first time I'm done with this game after 4,000 hours of gameplay.
