I'd say the game did a lot right (the moment to moment PVE is way more fun and engaging, the missions are more interesting in setting and firefights, there's a shit ton to do, etc.) and a few things wrong that really soured the diehards from Div 1. Chief among them:
- right now PVP is a really, really awful. Compared to what players were used to at the end of the first game's life (Last Stand - a PVP mode with objectives and kills, Dark Zone, Survival, etc.), it was really barebones, with Conflict being a mess on spawn camping and the DZ feeling like a huge step back in terms of size/population/and builds, and the balance of the game made it so that there was really only one build worth using at a time. For awhile it was one shot headshots, then tanky shotguns, and in all cases the PVP just wasn't fun. It still isn't and there aren't really any changes on the horizon that suggest it will get fun.
- RNG madness. The loot is generous...you're swimming in gear at all times. The problem is that every piece of gear has some many layers of RNG on it, not just armor rolls, main stats, talents, and brand sets, but also combinations of offensive/defensive/utility rolls...where one being off can turn a piece from the perfect gear to useless for a build, because you can only recalibrate similar stat types and only once.
- Because of this, and the lack of optimization stations, the end game grind is ridiculous. I've gone months at a time without even a minor upgrade to my build, despite being able to look at it and know that at least three pieces out of six could use a complete stat change or higher roll through recalibration. It's a loot based game, where there's tons of loot, but you are rarely upgrading your loot.
- Build diversity. Even for PVE, almost every activity prioritizes builds based on DPS, because skills have been more or less useless outside of heal skills and because it's always quicker to stack damage and kill things than it is to deploy skills. Even the game's first raid just focused on DPS checks, with almost no need for stats outside of damage and elite damage.
- The raid was balanced for PC and had no matchmaking. It's clear that console aim gives players a severe disadvantage to taking the raid on because it's harder to hit headshots consistently. That, combined with the fact that the hardcore playerbase on console was already shrinking, made it hard for players to take on the one bit of content that could yield an actual upgrade to most builds (the exotic AR).
In the end, I think the update on Tuesday may help, because all of a sudden skill builds should theoretically become viable. That'll turn a lot of shit loot into good loot. But ultimately, the game is going to need to:
- Improve the PVP experience;
- Address the severe loot RNG that makes it feel like you're never upgrading;
- Drop new content that is meaningful - whether it's new modes like Survival or something else entirely.
All that said, I still love the game and play it weekly.