I posted this earlier, but it got bounced to the bottom of the board. It's a long read, but a good one. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ok Ladies and Gentlemen, yes there is no raid. Lets pause for a minute and think about this. Bungie knows no raid = a crap ton of complaints from the community. So, before we start the demands for refunds, etc. lets for a minute assume Bungie hasn't completely lost it and that the arena is going to satisfy raiders, strikers and other PvE players. I really hope it's not just a COD Zombie's knock off. Endless rounds, guns for sale, limited ammo, etc. I'm not saying that type of mode isn't fun, I'm just saying we deserve something better. We deserve an arena mode that's true to Destiny, and Zombie's is not destiny. So, lets not cookie cutter something, lets try to achieve something new and great. How I hope it works ... Think of The Prison of Elders (Arena) as a planet like Earth, complete with the Dark Below Content. So, Earth has something like 10 or so areas (I didn't count) you can jump to. Various story and strike areas. Everyone with me? Ok good, now here our first difference, the Prison of Elders only has "Patrol." Yep, that's it. You can't jump to various stories, etc. You just start your Patrol at the entrance to the prison. Second difference, the Prison has "arena" areas, but Bungie isn't tell you how many, or how to get to them. There's no in game compass pointing you in the right direction. It's a maze you need to explore and figure out. How does the arena work? After you enter the prison, like any planet there are a few paths you can follow. Each takes you to an "arena" or "story" area. As with all things Destiny, each "area" has three "stages" complete with a survival (while Dinklebot opens the door), maybe some kind of mini-boss, and the end boss. Once you defeat the end boss, loot drops (or you find a look chest). So far sound like Destiny? Ok, here's the next big difference. After the loot drops you don't go back to orbit. You're still in the Prison. You have either now opened up a new area to explore, or have to work (fight) your way back and choose a different path. Your stuck in the Prison, until you're ready to leave. Here's an example of how it would work. Think Venus and think the House of Winter story and strike. From spawn, you travel to the first area and fight your way into the cave. Next you battle through the cave and come to the clearing. If you're on story, you have to fight your way onto the Catch. If you're striking, you have to survive 3 rounds of Vex and proceed to the pikes. In arena mode once you get to the clearing, you have to choice which way to do. There will be 2 "doors." If you pick "door A" it opens up to the Catch. Door "B" takes you to the pikes. Let's say you choose door "A," and fight your way though the Catch and kill the House of Winter's Kel. Once he's dead, loop drops. So, now your choice is to move forward (lets pretend there's another way off the Catch, or back through the entrance to the throne room. Going back, you'll have to fight your way off the Catch, into the clearing, where either you can open door "B" and go to the pikes, or door "C" and go back to the caves. If you choose to go forward from the throne room, it will take you somewhere else. Someplace you can only enter from the throne room. So, anytime you want to go to the "post throne room area" you'll need to clear the throne room first. Eventually, if you go deep enough into the Prison, you'll either dead end, or work your way back to the entrance. Each arena area also has something you need to collect (think Zombie's Easter egg here). The only difference is this isn't an Easter egg, it's part of the arena. In order to enter certain Arena area, you'll need to have cleared others. There will also be puzzles along the way (think raid here), just to make things interesting. Eventually, you will have collected enough to get to the end boss. Once you've defeated him, no you don't go back to orbit, you're still in the Prison. The only way out is to go to orbit. How is this an arena, and not just patrol? In Patrol, you either can't go into certain areas, or the spawns change. Think "Devils Lair." You can enter the start of the Devils Lair in patrol. Once you get to the first area, everyone is level 8 and the door to the devil walker is already open. In this mode, the door is closed and you are forced to choice do I open the door, to the devil walker, do I go to the cave. In this case the "cave" also has a door. Opening either door forces the Devils lair 3 round survival. Then you can proceed onward. Unlike Patrol, there are no "open" doors. Anytime you want to go somewhere, you have to open the door and survive until the door is open. Once you defeat the area boss, you don't go to orbit, your stuck in the prison. There will also be "common" areas, where you can "bump" into other fireteams. Maybe they can work in public events too. This should please everyone to some degree. The horde mode guys get their round survival while waiting for Dinklebot to open the door (they can put in say 5 rounds, instead of 3. Or make the round bosses really tough). The only think the survival mode guys don't get is endless rounds of horde. The strike guys get what they want. Each area is a strike. Once the end boss drops loot and it's time to move on, you can go to orbit without abandoning your fireteam. The raid guys get what they want too. A big puzzle with lots of really though bad guys. You can invest 15 minutes or 15 hours into the arena, its up to you and your fireteam. The only thing raids do not get, is 5 friends. They're stuck at 3. Does this idea, not sound like a decent arena mode?