Sorry couldn’t hear you over the sound of 
While I do think it was an unfortunate choice to put so much ranged DR on the armoured mobs, I am having so much fun clobbering them!
Maybe I’m just easy to please (OK, I am) but the majority of events this year have been great imo. My biggest disappointment is that they’re gone, like tears in the rain, because we don’t have the choice as players to re-use these modifiers a la custom lobbies. Bummer!!
OK not sorry for this one, the old system was hot garbage. TRASH. If you thought it was bad explaining to your friends they have to play the game again, how would you feel explaining that they can’t play it at your level until they pull the slot machine again and again for the chance of gear they want?
The crux of the issue was that the game is fun – it’s always been fun. Gatekeeping that with brutal RNG and no deterministic progression… just, no. This is not the retention mechanic.
I’ve always been a player for whom the gameplay alone is sufficient – though I’m not against meta-progression – so I think the penance system is pretty solid for number-hunters (although the penances themselves I consider lacking) as it provides a good mix of achievements and rewards without compromising the actual gameplay. For my part I have gotten so much more enjoyment from experimenting with gear combos than I ever would have rolling for them.