I'm one of the people who thought two of those elements dragged down the SS2 experience quite a bit. I posted in that Qt3 thread (as "curst") about how the patch made me enjoy the game so much more. Scarce ammo really wasn't an issue for me, but only because - thanks to the respawning and degradation - I resorted to using melee weapons for all the weak monsters, thus ensuring I had plenty of psi/firepower to take out the tougher foes later on in the game. And since melee combat in FPS games has always and probably will always suck, you might imagine why I found the game to be pretty boring before the patch. Even if I only kind of liked SS2, I have to give you guys mega-kudos for the "best... patch... ever!" because it let me play the game as a more traditional FPS, whether using a Marine or Psi Guy. As far as the ammo scavenger idea goes, I think it would have worked just fine. FWIW, before the patch I honestly didn't enjoy the game on any level other than the story and the sound - two things that are great bonuses to an already-good game, but aren't enough to carry a game alone. After the patch, I may not have been wowed by the experience, but hey, I at least enjoyed it enough to bother finishing it twice. Huge difference, and from what I've read on places like Qt3 I'm definitely not alone. Now how many people went from loving SS2 to suddenly hating it because the patch let them make it easier if they wished? I'm going to hazard a guess that the answer is zero. Why would the ammo scavenger option have a different effect? I don't think it would. If you make it an RPG skill, then you're essentially making it an option just like you made degradation/respawning.