Fatebringer was the only hand cannon with firefly. Elemental burns didn't matter in raids. Enemy shields don't resist anywhere but nightfall. VoC was a scout rifle with 27 rounds, great stability, and full auto. The only other scout rifle close to it was the Fang. Everyone used Red Death at Crota because it had the best perk for the job, not for the element it didn't have. VoC and FB just had the best perks for [i]every[/i] job. People would still love FB if it wasn't arc. It's just that good.

Those weapons are good. I love them. But for a lot of people the biggest positive of a gun was the element burn. Take for example the trials adept weapons. Those weapons perks were mostly for pvp but people used it in PvE cause of the burn effectiveness. I like that they are staying away from elemental primaries because it frees up your primary to whatever you want it to be. Say it's void burn for NF, you can play with your favourite primary with your perfect roll and not have to switch over to a crappy void burn gun. You are given more freedom I think. When arc burn and solar burn was up year one if you weren't using fate, fang, or VoC or any other primary with arc or solar you were either dumb, trying to make it hard, or you just didn't have it. You most likely ran with those guns because, yes they are great guns in their class but mostly for the burn. You're telling me if fate, fang, and VoC had no burns people will use them over guns that do have burns even if they had bad perks? I really don't think so. People will always flock to the most efficient way and fastest way to get a job done. And if you had a weapon with the same burn as the NF, no matter how bad it was you went with that regardless of how good the weapon was.