Bungie has recently made some poor decisions—like emphasizing engagement over player enjoyment. But it is too easy to adopt a negative mindset that overlooks any and all positive changes to the game. No major innovation hits the mark with the first iteration. What marks good faith is the willingness to respond to feedback and make continual improvements. For example, the introduction of Armor 3.0 and tiered gear has been a massive improvement, and offers major new opportunities for build crafting. Before these, I was frankly getting bored. I don’t like the current grind, but I do like the new loot and the new builds it has enabled me to develop. That much has kept me around hoping for a better day. Moreover, I don’t have a problem with the Portal as a place to feature particular encounters. It becomes problematic when the result is to effectively sunset the Destiny universe as a whole. [i][b]How can the Portal add to the universe, rather than detract from it?[/b][/i] First, I’d like to see tiered loot rolled out to all that Destiny has to offer—this should not be tied to the Portal. Tiered loot should have a chance to drop with every in-world encounter (e.g., Lost Sectors, Public Events, Strikes, Dungeons, Raids, etc.). Perhaps different kinds of encounters could feature different gear by default, with a Portal-like option to customize the experience for greater rewards. Current in-world rewards aren’t worth the engagement. Second, I’d like to see the Portal become the place where old seasonal content is reprised. Destiny has had some wonderful experiences that I’d like to see come back. Third, perhaps the Portal could feature a new “Gear” or “Loot” icon, where players could go to farm specific loot that they are going after. Fourth, I would like to see a set of rotating core Portal activities I could use when I don’t have a lot of time to play, and just want to keep advancing my power in expectation of engaging high-level end-game content. Please keep that content coming. It should be what players ultimately aim at. Fifth, get rid of encounter objectives that undermine the whole point of build-crafting. For example, the objective to achieve “80 weapon final blows” in The Conflux is a particularly egregious example. Since that’s the vast majority of opponents in the encounter, it effectively means that I am locked out of using my abilities if I want to achieve a good score. That becomes particularly tedious when I’m already at a -40 power delta. It’s too easy to be negative about everything and overlook some of the positive changes Bungie has introduced. The challenge will be reintegrating all this within the existing universe so that Destiny as a whole once again feels like a more organic experience. Done right, the universe could be a better place for it.