Well, the one reliable way to get Ascendant Shards is now gone. Good job to everyone who got dozens of Shards already, then. Completely fucks everyone else out of progression for months potentially, depending on how RNGesus smiles upon you. I'm sure this is exactly what people wanted!
Not only that, but making loot harder to get? That's wonderful! I'm glad Bungie really has their finger on the pulse of their community. People were just BEGGING for an even more ridiculous grind!
So how long do we have to wait until the Cryptarch gets fixed? Loot is even more scarce now, and the Cryptarch is still completely broken, so the only option is to grind like a madman on alts for marks? FUN.
(Really, what the fuck is going on? How could anyone think that this was a good idea? Patching the cave is fine, but lowering drop rates on Engrams, not fixing the Cryptarch for god knows how long, and removing the only reliable way to get Shards? Absolutely ridiculous. People were frustrated with the maddeningly slow progression before, imagine how they'll feel now! There needs to be a way to get shards that doesn't rely on RNG, because as it is, I almost always get Energy from the Ascendant quests, which is useless for progression. Marks can't be the only way to get gear that isn't RNG. Some kind of barter system needs to be added to the raid and the Nightfall, maybe one token per boss, per week, that can be used at a vendor for Shards, Energy, or a selection of raid gear - just like every other MMO ever. Even if you limit progression to one piece a week (or even one piece every two weeks) it would be better than the RNG bullshit that's in place currently. It's very clear that Bungie has no fucking idea what they're doing here.)
Good to see balance changes, but that's not going to matter much when everyone quits the game out of frustration because of the horribly broken loot system.