Yes it seems that they are forcing you to upgrade. You can no longer get old legendary gear from HoW and TDB on strikes, as for the leveling that is more for the people who bought legendary and want to play the meat of the game right away, It seems to me Bungie is more focused on making money now then sustain a long term and stable game. Switching leveling up in a game mid way through its life is just plain weird. So anyone who does not buy TTK you will have a stagnate experience with a smaller pool of gear to use. As my good friend Crow says, "Good Luck" .