Still need to listen to the last half of the second interview. But what I've heard so far, has convinced me that my overall impression of the process has been correct. That most of the problems are arising from the fact that Bungie is working a from a badly flawed DEFINITION of what weapon balance is. To explain the problem simply, take the following analogy. If you're standing, you're going to want to remain in balance. But if I push you to the right...and you try to stay centered...you're going to fall over. The only way you'll stay balanced is by pushing back to the left. IOW, in a situation of unbalance...."balance" is actually an overcompensation in the other direction. Which is why this notion of "equal usage" being "balance" is such a problem. IT IS ONLY A MARKER OF BALANCE IF EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE GAME IS BALANCED. Guns. Map designs, and play modes all favoring every play style equally. ...and anyone who's actually played this game realizes that this is FAR from the in-game reality. So what happens is that instead of balancing the game, each one of these patches puts the game EVEN MORE out of balance by putting Bungie's thumb on the scale. IOW, The year Two Meta has been shaped by maps that strongly favor mid-to-long range engagements (open designs, long sight lines) and play modes that favor low-risk/ high-reward play styles (Trials, Elimination, Skirmish, etc...) So "balance" in this situation is the meta that developed. People picked the best weapons for mid-range combat (pulse rifles) ....and snipers started to play a role in the game equal to shotguns. In an effort to enforce "equal usage" Bungie then nerfs pulse rifles...and BREAKS shotguns...... ...but we are still playing in the same ENVIRONMENT that generated the first meta. So now you have a situation that is even more balanced since you've put snipers into an advantaged position relative to other special weapons....and since you've weakened pulse rifles, they're starting to encroach into the mid-range. Just like what happened in the CQC dominated environment of Year One...when Bungie tried to force "balance' in an Unbalanced environemtn by breaking auto rifles. At this rate, Bungie will NEVER get this right, unless they step back and change what they're doing.