The edges are consistent with old snow, but I've never seen old snow that had such a consistent thickness - and I've seen lots of snow.

Yes but have you ever tried to create a 3D model or texture with INconsistent thickness? It's a pain in the butt...

(But I agree, it doesn't look like I'd expect.)

1- You can't dance with Phalanxes like you could with Hunters.

That's true. The swings are too fast and too wide, but mostly it's just that they turn around too fast.

2- You can't shoot them in the hand like you could with Jackals. Often my bullets won't hit their hands, but hit their shields instead, even when my reticule is clearly on the hand (I blame bullet->head magnetism). This is frustrating and I shouldn't have to compensate for it.

You always aim 3-4 inches higher than you think you need to (or 3 inches lower, if you're aiming for the foot) and slightly to the left. That's the trick. You're right that it shouldn't be necessary. My pet theory is they made the shield collision box too big but also made the Phalanxes' body collision box too big, or they compensated one or both from an even worse state they were in before launch and didn't fix it hard enough.

3- The shielded guys just seem like bullet sponges (Halo 2 brutes all over again).

If I remember correctly (and it hasn't been changed), the Cabal take less headshot damage for whatever reason, that might be why Centurions feel worse to you than Captains, Knights, and Wizards.

Now, I do like that they jump around, and finishing one off w/ a headshot is somewhat satisfying, but that doesn't compensate for the annoyances of 1-3.

I'd say it makes the kill even more satisfying, but to each their own. Even I think Phalanxes are a bit of a pain if you're not in the zone, and it really bothers me as a Hunter that it's so hard to stab them. My knives don't work! What is a Hunter without their knife?

I'm still going with ice cream and brownie though.

Yeah, it's supposed to be snow, but... I agree, ice-cream & brownie. :)

I'm still going with ice cream and brownie though.

Personally I want more that discusses the Vex because they're so mysterious and so powerful, but I also kind of don't, because they have no personality. The Fallen are scavengers and cutthroats, the Hive are heavy metal zombies, and the Cabal are Space Romans, but the Vex are pretty much just bronze robots.

My money's on the Cabal currently, and I'd really like to see them fleshed out. I called them Space Romans, and they are, but they're also simple country hyper-turtles and have touches of Klingons and Grimhammer 40K-- which still leaves them kind of cliche, but these influences give a lot of potential.

As for Earth, I doubt it.

I hope to see a Vex expansion soon, although I doubt the RoFe (Rise of Iron) will be it. The Vex, for me, are some of the more interesting (story wise) and definitely the most fun to fight.

The Cabal are somewhat interesting story wise, but I do not like fighting the Cabal. I think they aren't as fun to fight for me because:
1- You can't dance with Phalanxes like you could with Hunters.
2- You can't shoot them in the hand like you could with Jackals. Often my bullets won't hit their hands, but hit their shields instead, even when my reticule is clearly on the hand (I blame bullet->head magnetism). This is frustrating and I shouldn't have to compensate for it.
3- The shielded guys just seem like bullet sponges (Halo 2 brutes all over again).

Now, I do like that they jump around, and finishing one off w/ a headshot is somewhat satisfying, but that doesn't compensate for the annoyances of 1-3.

I think the best part about shields in general is that it requires at least a bit of teamwork. The Vex require no team work what so ever. It requires brute force and timing. That is it. That, to me, is boring. I would much rather fight Cabal because they are interesting tactically. The Vex just keep moving forward and shoot you. That is their MO.

I've lived north of the border for most of my life, and seen plenty of snow- It does not look like that when it's been on the ground for a while. The closest thing would be the compound you get when snow is mixed with dirt on the road by plows and cars.

The more I look at it, the more the stuff in the picture provided looks like a white liquid (especially around the edge), more milk then ice water. Hence the Vex juice theory.

Can anybody find a photo of this winter Washington snow for comparison?

https://marissameditation.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/imag1361.jpg

It's missing the large ice-crystal grains that happen when snow's been sitting/melting.

Edit:

I don't know where that photo was taken.

The more I look at it, the more the stuff in the picture provided looks like a white liquid (especially around the edge), more milk then ice water. Hence the Vex juice theory.

Can anybody find a photo of this winter Washington snow for comparison?

Oreo Ice Cream
+
Crumbling Brownie
=

Good luck not getting hungry now.

Thanks for that, and it's about 45 minutes until lunch. Jerk. ;-)

Actually it looks more like cookies & cream than it does dirty old snow. (Edit: To me. Old freezer burned cookies and cream to be more precise.)

Personally I want more that discusses the Vex because they're so mysterious and so powerful, but I also kind of don't, because they have no personality. The Fallen are scavengers and cutthroats, the Hive are heavy metal zombies, and the Cabal are Space Romans, but the Vex are pretty much just bronze robots.

My money's on the Cabal currently, and I'd really like to see them fleshed out. I called them Space Romans, and they are, but they're also simple country hyper-turtles and have touches of Klingons and Grimhammer 40K-- which still leaves them kind of cliche, but these influences give a lot of potential.

As for Earth, I doubt it.

I hope to see a Vex expansion soon, although I doubt the RoFe (Rise of Iron) will be it. The Vex, for me, are some of the more interesting (story wise) and definitely the most fun to fight.

The Cabal are somewhat interesting story wise, but I do not like fighting the Cabal. I think they aren't as fun to fight for me because:
1- You can't dance with Phalanxes like you could with Hunters.
2- You can't shoot them in the hand like you could with Jackals. Often my bullets won't hit their hands, but hit their shields instead, even when my reticule is clearly on the hand (I blame bullet->head magnetism). This is frustrating and I shouldn't have to compensate for it.
3- The shielded guys just seem like bullet sponges (Halo 2 brutes all over again).

Now, I do like that they jump around, and finishing one off w/ a headshot is somewhat satisfying, but that doesn't compensate for the annoyances of 1-3.

It looks like snow that's been there for a long time, and pretty accurately too. You get the feathering with fresh snow, but old snow that's been sitting on the ground for a few weeks? Looks a lot like that.

Go to Spokane, Washington in the winter and you will know what Xenos is talking about...

+

Crumbling Brownie

=

Good luck not getting hungry now.

That strongly indicates the story is set on Earth and Mars. Earth I understand, it makes sense that the early confrontations were in and around the city, but why Mars? Could something have been their prior to the arrival of the Cabal and the exclusion zone?

Theoretically the Reef and the City's forces could have been pushed back by the Cabal before our current offensive. If that is the case then we are looking at the Vex as secondary antagonists this time. Hmmm.

The old old planning document that leaked said the last two expansions would be Forge of Gods, featuring Cabal, and Vex Void, featuring your mom. There was that mission on the Dreadnought where the Cabal ship is signaling the empire, so that may be the direction they're going in, but that's... inauspicious, so maybe not. Then again The Dank Below didn't have a lot to herald it, and House of Wolves had nothing in the previous expansion but some stuff in the base game, and The Tekken King arguably had no raison d'etre since the Hive had already been dealt with twice (although the second time was pitifully short and the Taken were pretty different even if they weren't that new).

Personally I want them to expound on the Vex some more, but I also kind of don't, because they have no personality. The Fallen are scavengers and thieves and cutthroats (and some, I assume, are Variks), the Hive are heavy metal zombies, the Cabal are Space Romans, but the Vex are basically just bronze robots. That said, if the Vex can fold, spindle, and mutilate spacetime, and they seem to have infrastructure in every planetary body of consequence, why are they in the position they're in?

My money's on the Cabal currently, and I'd really like to see them fleshed out. I called them Space Romans, and they are, but they're also simple country hyper-turtles, and they have touches of Klingons and Grimhammer 40K-- which doesn't help the cliche aspect of them so much, but it it gives a lot of potential.

As for Earth, assuming it is about the Iron Lords, Earth is fairly likely, and it hasn't been visited much since House of Wolves. I would also like some new enemies there (like Cabal or Vex, or something new like the Taken), and some explanation as to why they weren't there before. That would set up Destiny 2 pretty well, actually: introduce a new threat close to home, have us take our first stab at it in this expansion, and then make the next game a full exploration and annihilation of that threat.