Oh yeah I totally understand why from a business standpoint. However, the main problem the game has right now is burnout and mistrust. Say a player is tired of being let down by bungie but buys into the hype for into the light, hype grows further as they see the weapons returning that remind them of better times (like say hammerhead). They've now built up a fantasy in their mind of logging on at into the light launch and grinding for that weapon, whereas before they may have just waited for the weekend or another time to see a new content release. The blog post is a slap in the face, and that person has now just lost the main reason they wanted to return. Sure they'll log on, and when the weapon is released they'll grind it, but the retention will be much lower because it is no longer a priority. Why dedicate that extra time to grind when the weapon you want is not released yet and there are plenty of other games competing for your time? Regardless of the above argument, the reveal of the time gating has had an undeniably negative effect on the community: people are disappointed and some even feel betrayed given zero mention of the time-gating in the stream. I know it may sound crazy, but that could be the final straw for some, and a serious hype killer for others. Regardless of how time gating plays out, into the light now has a stain on it, a stain that has undeniably killed hype and community sentiment. Do I think that destiny is not going to see an uptick in numbers? Of course not. New space, new quests, new activity, people will play. However, I think the overall retention will be lower than it could have been without the time gating given how it is limiting players.

Most players will not give a damn about the time gating besides the forum whining. I mean be honest, are you going to not play Destiny until the weapon you want comes into rotation? This situation is similar to the Raid and Dungeon rotators, which are still in the game even though we are in the final stretch of Destiny. It’s ridiculous I can’t grind out certain loot more than three times a week for weeks on end because Bungie has a stupid rotator. I can’t remember the last time Ghosts of the Deep was in rotation. However, people still play, even if the raid of the week isn’t what they need. People will play with Into the Light.

I kind of disagree about it just being the forum whining. I game with a relatively large destiny group, around 30-40 people when the most active, although that number has dropped to around 4-5 due to burnout (me included). The whole discord was buzzing with the reveal of into the light, with people who hadn't even played this season's questline yet making plans to be together at launch. The time gating announcement was a huge mood killer. Even if it is just "time-gating weapons" its like the hype completely died. Now, almost half of the members aren't planning on even playing into the light, instead just playing the content whenever they eventually decide to pick up the final shape. Those that are still planning to play are now much more reluctant and are treating it as a weekly grind (similar to the seasonal story) rather than a celebration. Mind you, this isn't a group full of casuals. The majority of us love running raids, dungeons, and gms, while the more dedicated few even run low mans and have consistently finished day one challenge mode raids (not me lol, I only have the RON challenge mode). Obviously there is nothing wrong with being a casual, the reason I wanted to mention that is these aren't people who picked up destiny and play every so often, these are people who have thousands of hours in the game, with some even being at the top of the skill bracket. Essentially, if these players - who have dedicated a large amount of their time to the gameplay and lore of this game - are now uninterested, how are more casual players going to react?