Feel free to move or merge this topic with others, was just sharing my random thoughts on it, and I did only very recently reinstall this session, last time I played was last session, so my thoughts on it are likely different from those posting about the start of the session etc.
Again I like a good majority of the changes, the things I dislike are random and few (wasn't a big fan of nerfed caravan XP, and didn't like the magic reno locker disappearing and that's about it), and with other things I might not like on first impression like with no loot drops I am more than happy to at least experience/play the game with them to see what the results are over longer testing periods.
I think the main downfalls currently are directly related to loot availability, the lack of incentive for exploring/farming/fighting at new locations (west side freeway is a good example, nice little new location, interesting for small scale fights/ambushes, but no real reason to actually go there currently) obviously impacts the popularity of such locations in general. Spreading out the pvp and areas where pvp is viable is one thing, spreading them too thin with an already low player base (along with the loot incentive) mostly just results in what looks like an empty wasteland most of the time (empty of players only though, swarming with npcs). So perhaps all or most of my fears will be abated when t4 and better magic lockers appear again. Here's to hoping at least.
P.S. Just anecdotally; I ran one of the most expensive squishy builds last season (solar sneaker), but I kept grinding out gear and trading for what I needed to PvP etc, with the amount of pvp battles going on most gear usually went around in a big circle to the main factions unless it ended up in some greedy hoarders tent somewhere gathering dust. You realise how many other solar players were in the game and what my chances of getting regeared through pvp were too? There was 1 other player I knew of that used solar in pvp, 1. And still somehow I didn't mind loot drops and kind of miss them, perhaps I am a glutton for punishment? Who knows.
P.P.S. Despite what some just automatically assume about forum posts, I can deal with change pretty well, technically "my build" was "nerfed to hell and not worth it" according to some players I encountered, but nope, I actually like the stealth changes and perk changes (like pyros nerf, for example, I back 100% even though I shoot solars at faces all day), so please don't think of this as a selfish "my play is effected so QQ" type post. My honest core concerns are about the player base size and focus on the idea of fun, for me it was always about building character up to pvp and having fun pvping against other pvp players, for others it will be different, incorporating areas that accommodate as many play types and mentalities as possible is for the best, but most importantly maintaining older players while getting and retaining new ones is surely the main developmental goal too, right?