The point is that you shouldn't be able to get any rep for free. The Marks cap wouldn't be a part of the equation: buy/sell/buy/sell could be repeated until you get bored of doing it. Like I said, if materials were sold and bought, and Crucible Rep was no longer a part of the equation, I think that would be both acceptable and awesome.

But the marks cap would HAVE to be part of the equation. If you get to the weekly limit and trade more mats, the game won't give you marks. It has nothing to do with the max holding cap of 200 but the max earning cap of 100. Point is, between that cap stopping you from continuing to earn any marks past 100 and the exchange rate continually yielding less materials through each cycle of exchange, the amount of "free" crucible rep obtainable in a week is too low to even consider it a viable strategy or exploit. Therefore, all that is really accomplished by not allowing exchange both way is to cater to one group who enjoy playing to get marks and don't want to farm mats, while simultaneously alienating and punishing another group who enjoy farming mats and don't want to play certain things to get marks. Neither group is in the wrong for playing their way and both should be given equal opportunity to exchange what they have for what they want.

Please re-read what I said (I'm not being a smart a$$, I just think you're missing my point). I'm saying that being able to buy then sell for currency plus rep is not right. I also said that I myself made use of selling mats for currency and rep, and recognized that the buff applied to all equipped gear, just like Vanguard bounties, when turned in. In the end, I think we would have to agree to disagree. I just think it's wrong to be able to buy crucible XP without having set foot in the crucible. Which I know, is odd, considering my stats, but comes more from my days as a game designer.

I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying is, the amount of xp one could accumulate is not enough to make it worth taking away the ability to get the marks from mats, at least in my opinion. If it makes you happy, I definitely agree with you that removing the xp part of the system would make it easier to justify putting in both trade systems, but then once again you are penalizing honest players not trying to cheat the system, just looking to get a little extra love when they turn mats in like they used to get. There's no really good answer.

How is it free? You had to do work to get the materials or marks. You are spending your resources on something. If someone wants to spend their marks to buy reputation instead of guns, armor, or materials, how is that choice wrong? I can see an issue if there were no caps on how many marks we can have, but we have caps on how many we can get each week and how many we can have total. As it is the time you spend to gain 100 marks you would already have gained more reputation compared to what you can buy.

I go to dead orbit. 1. I buy materials for marks 2. I sell the same materials back for marks + XP then, I repeat 1 and 2, without leaving the vendor. [b]Net cost in marks:[/b] zero. [b]Net XP gain[/b]: depends on how long I can stand doing it. (I'm guessing a long time, though, given how often we repeat strikes.) Even if the buy/sell rate was different, you're getting XP for doing nothing but trading materials back and forth, which isn't what XP is for. Like I said in my earlier post, I take no issue with a 2-way exchange of materials. Just take XP out of the equation.

The exchange isn't even, it's a really bad exchange rate. If you stood in front of him you need 30 marks to buy enough materials for 25 reputation and only 5 marks back. I already showed the math earlier. To start with you have to begin with materials or marks. 60 marks or 100 materials to have enough to trade to get back enough for a second exchange. As I pointed out earlier you are also restricted by how many marks you can have and gain.

I know, which is why in my second paragraph, I said that even if the exchange rate was uneven, "buying XP" could still be done, even with less efficiency. IMO (and it is just that, my opinion), one should not be able to buy XP. And I say this as one that did it: just look at my Patrol stats. I even turned in Mats even when I DIDN'T get marks, because the XP was far more valuable to me. (Remember that XP doesn't just apply to your character, but also all of the gear you currently have equipped when you turn in/exchange.) I'm not saying it's a "one or the other" thing, I'm just saying that if they brought it back, the mechanic would probably still need adjustment. (EDIT: added note on XP and gear.)