So, we know at least one more type of Heavy weapon, A Rail gun, exists,

http://destinynews.net/new-info-game-master-magizine/

I'm hoping for some more variety in the primary and secondary. Where are the SMGs, are they now just a variety of auto rifle? What about a semi auto pistol? What about crazy things, like Reach's amazing nade launcher. What about non hitscan weapons like plasma rifles? There's a lot of room to expand here, though I guess each weapon type creates an exponential growth in terms of balance.

I'd guess we have 90% of the "Types" for destiny, and we'll see 1-2 new weapon classes per expansion/mainline iteration.

And why can't they give me a cool futuristic crossbow for my hunter?

They do - if you're on Playstation. Oooooh

- CC

Three weapon slots: Primary, Special, and Heavy.
Primary: hand cannons, auto rifles (full auto only), pulse rifles (burst fire only), and scout rifles (single shot only)
Special: sniper rifles (semi auto, no bolt action), shotguns(pump action only), fusion rifles (charge up and fire multiple rounds)
Heavy: heavy machine guns and rocket launchers

Am I missing anything? Have there been any hints that there will be any other types of weapons?

This seems correct to me.

For those who played the alpha, how different did each weapon behave and feel within each group? Are the main differences just fire rate and recoil? Will the biggest variations be the attachments and type of damage they do?

The main differences are indeed the impact, fire rate, recoil and range.

I could certainly feel the difference between them, but it is slight, though it's enough to find the correct difference to suit your playstyle. The upgrades will boost these stats further, as well as sometimes enhance other gameplay elements - an example being a FWC shotgun that allows for extended butt slides; a deadly combo.

There are some damage types indicated by icons on some weapons that I believe apply to enemies outside of PvP.

I'm hoping for more variation in the heavy weapons in particular. In Halo you have rocket launchers, fuel rod guns, spartan lasers, plasma launchers, and incinerator cannons. These behaved very differently from each other. Will we have that kind of variation in Destiny?

I don't think we'll see that level of variation within each weapon type, though we've seen homing rockets in some footage. Who knows what else there is to shake things up a little. In the alpha I didn't experience any drastic difference between the heavy weapon types themselves beyond the stats... we'll have to wait and see! :)

A couple of questions on loadouts: How many weapons can we hold in reserve? I think I heard someone say 9, but is that 9 total or 9 for each weapon slot (primary, special, heavy).

That'd be 9 for each weapon slot. Armour works the same way.

On weapon slots, will we be limited to always having a primary, special, and heavy slot? What if I wanted to not carry a special but instead carry two primary weapons? Could that be an option?

You are limited to the primary, special and heavy combo. I think this is important in regards to the way ammo is distributed around the map.

Only your primary weapon regains ammo after respawn, so if you had two of these equipped, you'd never have to worry about ammo collection. Meanwhile special weapons need to be refilled at green ammo pickups/boxes scattered liberally around the map. Usually you won't have a problem, but if you're getting carried away on a long kill streak, or defending a certain location for a prolonged period, you'll have to venture out to collect some ammo.

Then heavy ammo is only deployed a couple of times per game and indicated by a purple marker to both teams, often creating nice conflict zones for ammo control! Picking it up in the presence of a teammate gives them some too, so the'res no disappointment. Though upon death, any heavy ammo you carry is lost...

And why can't they give me a cool futuristic crossbow for my hunter?

Hah, that'd be great. I'm hoping to see more weapons types. In the alpha I didn't really find a heavy weapon that resonated with me. I was very happy with my primary and secondary combo though - a Scout Rifle and a Shotgun.

Hopefully that answers some things, albeit a bit rambly. Let me know if I've failed to explain something clearly haha!

- No text -

On weapon slots, will we be limited to always having a primary, special, and heavy slot? What if I wanted to not carry a special but instead carry two primary weapons? Could that be an option?

You can access your 27 reserve weapons at any time (even while in combat) from the 'Options' menu. Duck behind a crate, bring it up, swap to the weapon you want and get back to shooting. It's not as elegant as if you could just press Triangle (Y), but it achieves the same job.

In the Alpha, you could even switch between Primaries with no ammo penalty.

So basically, you can carry around 10 primaries - go wild!

In the Tower there is 'The Vault' were you can store an additional 20 weapons of any type. Note that it is shared between your characters.

And why can't they give me a cool futuristic crossbow for my hunter?

I hope so. I think they're saving up cool stuff. The Fallen had a weapon that fired slow projectiles that tracked you. A bit like a Needler. I hope they let you try that out.

My thoughts is that thats it, until we get to exotics. I think then we will see some drastically different stuff.