My guns in Destiny should be collectibles

Here's a great example:

Why 'Destiny 2' Isn't Working, And How to Fix It

VICE US by Doc Burford

"Luke [Smith, Director, Destiny 2] makes repeated comparisons to Magic: The Gathering and its new card sets, but he forgets that this is extremely exploitative, that cards are something you can collect and sell for real money, and that most players actually play the legacy modes like Commander. Magic’s players don’t want to be exploited, so the majority of them don’t, and the stress is lessened by the fact that it’s a trading card game—you’re not meant to form a connection to the cards the way you do with your gun. If Destiny 2 were to offer Commander-equivalent Raids and Pinnacle Raids, I’d be willing to be more players would stick with Commander Raids. Why give up the gun that’s been by your side for years? Guns are characters, like Chun-li is to Street Fighter fans; Capcom learned how bad it was to remove popular characters back with Street Fighter 3, and they haven’t repeated that mistake since. Bungie has held weapons back twice, once during The Taken King and once with the release of Destiny 2. Both decisions were wildly unpopular."

I disagree with the connection to the cards, decks are the equivalent. But I wholeheartedly agree with the comparison between a physical and digital collectible. When the server shuts down what will you have left?

As a hardcore Destiny player I'm generally in favor of deprecating gear after a year or so. I'm at the point in Destiny 2 where I have multiple "god rolls," or at least very good rolls, of just about every type of weapon I would want to use, as well as virtually every exotic weapon in the game. So with each passing season I have less desire to grind for the new stuff, because inevitably I will just stick with what I have since what I have already is just as good if not better.

This isn't exactly unprecedented for MMO-like games either. At the beginning of each WoW expansion players typically dump their gear from the last expansion within the first couple hours and begin the process of gearing up all over again. Collectors can always go after old stuff, whether for aesthetic or trophy-gathering purposes, just as they will still be able to go after (at least some) old gear in D2 for the same reasons, even if the old gear is no longer gameplay relevant.

I bounced off Shadowkeep pretty hard not entirely because of the new loot systems, but because the game makes it a huge pain to manage your new loot. At the release of Destiny 2 the Vault was fine because every gun was the same if you had 2 just get rid of the lower light one (simple), but with all the new loot having different properties not being able to make tabs and organize everything makes it impossible to figure out what you should keep. I don't know if this is the biggest problem they need to solve but it was a big one for me

@tds418: I kind of think of it this way you're describing. If I have an empty space in my collections tab, and somebody was willing to pass it on, I'd love to be able to trade. Instead of sharding some exotic or something let me pass it on. Or instead of making me do Rat King this many years on...