Disclosure: I pre-ordered base Destiny, then pre-ordered both first expansions (Crota's End and House of Wolves). I did not buy the Taken King. Recently, after a month's absence, I began playing Destiny again and found the state of non-TTK owners (non-TTKers, for slightly shorter) to be more disappointing than I had initially thought. I'm aware that while some issues have been discussed at length, others seem merely mentioned by comparison. Now here, I would like to ask for an improved experience in three areas that deteriorated for non-TTKers after the release of TTK: the Crucible, rewards, and stats. The Crucible This one is simple. Non-TTKers had all their Crucible playlists replaced by three Classic playlists that deliver specific crucible modes at random. Personally, I like to play Control, yet I feel like I'm playing Clash more than anything else. It is unfortunate enough that I cannot play Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris and it seems that I will not be able to play Inferno anymore either, but at the very least, may non-TTKers have separate playlists for the separate base Crucible modes? Rewards This one is not so simple. Yes, non-TTKers no longer have access to Nightfall, Weekly Heroic, and Daily rewards, but it seems they do not even have access to simple legendaries anymore in addition to a reduced glimmer income. I have played Crucible and Strikes for many hours without receiving a legendary or seeing any other level 34 receive one but I have seen level 40s receive them. At the same time, I have noticed I am not receiving as much glimmer as I used to. Admittedly, I do not have much evidence outside my own anecdotes and observations in regards to legendary drops, but I have found a few posts on glimmer. One such, Rxninja, from Reddit (https://redd.it/3nh2ue), wrote [quote]Majors used to give 25 glimmer, then 38 with a consumable. Now they give nothing, then 25 with a consumable.[/quote] This all then begins to make sense when we remember that ghosts now give bonuses to glimmer extraction from either a particular crucible opponent or a particular darkness enemy. Even more, most Crucible and Vanguard bounties still award a reputation of 50 or 100 with an unchanged rank up requirement of 2,500 for their vendors. This is pretty standard pre-2.0 level... if you didn't do Nightfall. With no more Nightfall XP and reputation bonus in TTK, the difference is probably more or less made up by the new class items that award bonus reputation to either the Crucible or the Vanguard. Keeping the same tactic, I wouldn't be surprised if now weapons require more XP to level up as a way to account for class items also giving bonus XP to particular weapons when upgrading them. So what does this mean for non-TTKers? Well, since they can't equip ghosts or class items that give the above bonuses because they have a level 40 requirement, they receive less glimmer and less reputation from bounties than they did before TTK. Then, there's the no legendary thing, but wait, there's more... Stats This one hurt a little. I pretty much grinded for the armor that I have because I want a particular setup. TTK released and my Intellect, Discipline, and Strength went down... way down. Pre-TTK, I could max out two of these stats. Post-TTK, all my stats (Intellect, Discipline, and Strength) added together are not enough to fully max out one of my stats. This affects me in both PvE and PvP, and with the number of level 40s (level doesn't matter but their stats and subclasses do) entering the Classic and Vanguard Legacy playlists (why do you guys do that, by the way?), the game becomes a little pay-to-win-ish, or at least pay-to-reach-same-level-of-efficiency. I would understand if my stats had been reduced because they were too high for the balance of the game, but considering that two of the three stats can still be maxed out with level 40 gear, this just feels like a nerf to non-TTKers since they can't reach previous stat levels (and from the looks of it, possibly even a little more) without access to level 40 gear. Still, there's more. The orb generation cap was reduced to a max of 8 when wearing exotic armor that increases spawning rates (so 7 without it? that's been my experience). Additionally, orb generation rates were also reduced. I am sure I am not the only one who has noticed majors now produce three orbs instead of the previous standard four. My guess: an update to account for the addition of Artifacts, which provide other means of producing orbs. Once again though, another item non-TTKers do not have access to. Whether or not people with TTK currently generate as many orbs as they did overall pre-TTK, I do not know but I can tell you with certainty non-TTKers do not even have a chance of it. This all said, I am not going to claim to have discovered a solution that somehow Bungie missed. I am sure these have all been conscious decisions. I merely ask them to reconsider and grant what could be one of the following possibilities (the liberty to choose to play specific Crucible modes is not included for space). Bungie could: Allow non-TTKers to reach level 40. Allow non-TTKers to receive Y2 legendary drops from Crucible and Vanguard Legacy. Non-TTKers would receive and use level 40 weapons, armor, Ghosts, class items, and Artifacts. In other words, they would have the unhindered rewards and stats experience while playing the Crucible or Vanguard Strikes. Bungie could: Add an infusion node to all Y1 legendary armor. Allow non-TTKers to receive Y2 legendary gear from Classic Crucible and Vanguard Legacy. Remove Ghost, class item, and Artifact level requirements (for glimmer, rep, and orb purposes). By adding infusion to old armor, non-TTKers could enhance their stats (Intellect, Discipline, and Strength) by using Y2 gear as infuse material. Ghost, class items, and Artifacts would further add onto those stats. Still at level 34 and unable to use level 40 weapons and armor, non-TTKers would at least be able to receive legendary rewards, even if only for infusion purposes. Bungie could: Allow Classic Crucible and Vanguard Legacy to drop all Y1 legendary and rare weapons. Any little win is a win, and receiving legendary gear from regular activities again would be nice. Bungie could: Do absolutely nothing about it. It's a valid response. There already is one way for non-TTKers to earn unusable Y2 gear: packages (Cryptarch, Crucible, etc.) award them. The above is listed in order of what I believe to be likelihood, rather than preference. If it were my preference, there would be Rift up there. I bought Destiny thinking there would be more Crucible game modes. I bought the expansions hoping for some Capture the Flag Crucible mode. TTK released and you can feel free to LOL. Not only have existent variations like Inferno and Elimination seemingly disappeared and the base Crucible modes merge, but the long awaited CTF style Crucible mode has released. Yay. Anyways, I really hope something is done about this. I know some people would be very unhappy for non-TTKers to receive any free content of any kind. Personally though, I think that's pathetic. When I bought TDB and HOW, I did not mind if others received a small experience of free content. When I bought those expansions, I bought them not because I wanted to have something that others did not but because I wanted the full experience. By this, I do not mean Bungie owes non-TTKers anything. However, I do mean there is nothing unethical by it. And hopefully, this can be addressed soon. I still remember 9 months of Thorn. If you manage to read this, thanks. Even if you just skimmed, I still appreciate it.