Korny and I went in alone and got to four wins easily. We ran into a stream of bad luck consisting of matching with fairly good 3-stacks while simultaneously being graced with clueless teammates. We pushed through, though, and ended the night with something like 8 wins in 13 matches. That was enough for 7 rank ups, which was quite lucrative.

I think the switch in focus to winning rounds to get rewards was a good one. It takes some of the pressure off while also keeping the tension of trying to get to the Lighthouse, which makes winning games still matter. Even though we didn’t make it, it was also nice to feel like getting there was a realistic goal. We’ll see if that holds true in a month.

I do wonder what the general consensus will be, and I wonder if they overcorrected a bit. I genuinely don’t think so, but I ended the night with four weapons and three armor pieces, which is more than I’ve previously obtained total.

I do have to wonder if we will big populations for the first few weekends and then see a big drop as people get stuff they’re happy with and stop playing. I hope not, because, for the first time since the Trials of the Nine and I had genuine fun playing Trials.

I do like that even though we had to go in a couple more matches to get a Tier 2 pinnacle, the games are short enough that it wasn't such a daunting commitment. And being able to fill out our win card for even more rewards was icing on the cake. All things considered, it's an easy Pinnacle, and the fact that you're leveling multiple reputations at once (with a cheap way to Focus as well) makes it even more lucrative (we both had to reset Valor).

I really didn't feel stressed out for a single match, even the three-stacks, so I'm confident that the population won't drop so sharply (especially given how there doesn't seem to be a "Meta" outside of some people running Mythoclast, which isn't even all that broken to be honest.

Here's that bit from the one match where none of us died... Until that guy tried to shotgun you right at the end. :P

PS. We even got a rando to the Lighthouse! Who's next? :P

I agree. It is a ridiculous night and day difference. It's a curiosity that this wasn't changed sooner. That said, with all the praise I have to give this, there is of course, OF COURSE, one fly in the soup (talented as it may be committing to that backstroke form). But I'll get to that.

First of all, and this is a touch of a side note here, I don't know what black sorcery Bungies weapon smiths did to "Wolftone Draw", but I've in these last weeks pulled off plays with this thing that flabbergasted me the moment I made them. Like, this thing I've been using as my main feels better to me then some exotic bows do. I don't know what to do with this emotion! AAAAA! AZAAAAAAAAAA@! *ARM WAVING NOISES* *Ahem* So.

For my first playthrough of this shiny new Trials, I gave both my Warlock and Hunter a go. I had intended to give my Titan a whirl too, but I kind of lost all my appetite for the evening due to... no, we'll get there. Story to tell. Here is how the evening went.

First I Warmed Up (Video) with my Warlock in Rumble (where I came in Second), and than I jumped straight in to this "New and Improved" Trials. And in 10 games, things went better than old Trials for me (which was not a high bar to clear), and yet I could never seem to get past two games perfectly before getting taken out in the next two. That's 6 Losses and 4 Wins (built from two sets). Oh, right, did I forget to mention that? I was trying my hand at perfection. I'm not too sure why either.

Anywho, on my 11th game... I also lost again. BUT! I did have this kinda cool play. Felt kinda neat to pull off.

By all accounts, I should have had a loss on my 12th game as well. Should have.

Also yes, I know I know... playing chicken with a sniper rifle is a fools gambit, but SOMETIMES IT WORKS! :D

Anyway... that's all the highlights I got out of my Warlock. Don't recall getting any weapon rolls worth much, but I did get the Helm and Torso, which was 2 of the 3 pieces I was hoping to get. SO... that was cool. I switched to hunter when I got the pinnacle.

For my Hunter, I decided to go for a Dodging Cloak centered build. It's been a long time since I used Graviton Forfeit, but... I think (with the newly added buffs) it helped. I only had 10 games, 9 if you want to get technical about it.

1st was a Victory! 2nd a Defeat. 3rd was a Victory! And forth... yeah. But I got this cool clip from it!

I reset my card. And do you know what happened next? DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! I'LL TELL YA!

FOUR. (3v2 game :/)

FLAWLESS.

WINS!

Boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. lol.

Which leads to... but INSANEdrive, what about that 5th?

-_- We'll get to... tha... oh. We're here.

Well then, fifth was as is to be expected. It was almost a shut out, with one person pulling out a 9.0 K/D. Hey, fine, this is End Game PvP, plus this is forgiven. I can still get, for the first time EVER EVER EVER, FLAWLESS FIVE.

Then enters my 2nd "chance".

In the event this image no longer works, it was showing my two teammates grayed out with "DNF" next to it, other wise known as "Did Not Finish". They quit. Don't know what happened to the first guy, but after the first round the other dude left. So, it was just me. On a game I "needed" not to lose.

TO say it kind of soured the joy of the evening would be an account description. Again, I've ranted about this before... dang it! This is a competitive mode. If my Randos quit on me, DON'T DEMERIT ME! Save My card!

I Didn't forfeit the darn game!

Dumb.

DUMB!

... and that was my evening of Trials. All in all an improvement to eating shit, but Bungie apparently forgot to wash the dishes first.