Why are all the Trace Rifles in the game Adaptive Frames?
In general Trace Rifles have been struggling in the game for quite a bit (mostly the Legendary ones, exotic Traces all and all are in a pretty good spot) because they don't really have a good place for what they offer. Legend Trace Rifles are effectively a special ammo ad-clear auto rifle, however that role is in direct competition with Auto Rifles (which use Primary ammo) and other Special weapons (like Rocket Sidearms). It's clear that Bungie is definitely looking to make Traces more competitive, with the Act II seasonal mods and the new perk Detonator Beam, however it doesn't seem like they've taken the more obvious approach of adding additional frames to Traces. Lodestar is a pretty good example of how giving new things to Trace Rifles can revitalize people's interest in this weapon. I absolutely love Auto Rifles, but if the only frame of Auto rifle that existed was Adaptive Frame or Precision Frame, Auto Rifles would feel like a fairly boring and repeditive weapon. Trace Rifles are in the exact same place, and this issue is only compounded further when they release multiple Trace Rifles close together that are more or less the same as the original Traces we got. For example, there's no difference between how you would play Warlord's Spear and Keraunios compared to Path of Least Resistance. The only difference is that the former are newer and thus have more up to date perks like Detonator Beam, Jolting Feedback, and Rolling Thunder. Even among Warlord's Spear and Keraunios though, their perk pools are both up to date so they just feel like a the same weapon.
The only argument against this I can think of is the question of what those other frames could be when all Trace Rifles do is just fire a beam, but at the same time I think overall that question has kinda been killed with the introduction of Support Frame Auto Rifles, Area Denial Grenade Launchers, and Wave Frame Swords. There's definitely creative ways to add variety to this weapon archetype (again, look at Lodestar)
Tl;dr
For more people to be interested in Trace Rifles, there need to be more frames for the weapon
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I think another issue is making new frames that effectively just copy exotics. What if they made a trace rifle that bounced an additional beam to a target closet to what you're shooting at? That'd basically just copy Prometheus Lens to an extent. We could argue Microcosm is it's own frame. It may be a heavy weapon and is probably balanced, but it feels like it has a lot less stability and aim assist than the stats would suggest compared to a special trace rifle. And it certainly wouldn't be the first time they've made a weapon with the same impact as others (special/ heavy variants included in here) but do different damage. Look at Long Arm, Hawkmoon, Last Word, DMT, Lord of Wolves, le Monarque, Choir of One, Cerberus, Graviton, Crimson, and more I'm probably forgetting. The next option for a frame would just be one that comes with a trace rifle version of Armor Piercing Rounds. Then there's an option for a frame that overheats after firing too long, stopping you from shooting.