Or new players that can completely bypass year one and get straight to taken king. Higher editions even came with the codes to unlock the year one dlc without a season pass. And even if they don't have the old content, the new players aren't left behind. Once they get up to 40 and level up the subclass they prefer, they're indistinguishable to those of us who have been playing since the beta or year one. Rng is the only thing holding them back, but I have friends that started at the taken king and have gotten to 320 because they got lucky drops in the normal raid to make them close to 310 so they took my place when I only got a 301 chest piece and a 302 auto rifle. It downs matter how serious of a fan you are or how long you've been playing, the game will treat you no differently. It was a pointed statement. Even updated players can have friends join them in any game mode of Gears. There is a dlc playlist for versus, but all of the original game types and matchmaking are available to anyone who went out and got the game today. The dlc offers no level advantages, but offers 300 more levels to rank up. Many of the best maps for horde are available in the base game, and the only advantage you have there is being able to get bigger upgrades for fortifications to help your team. If you put rockets on a siverback, you can still let your friends jump in and use it. If you get a command center, your friends are still able to pull the handle. No blocking out, no pushing others down or holding them back, just more ways to help your friends that don't have the dlc. Gears is just an example though because I know it well, but other games offer free dlc to let other join or a trading system to let friends share dlc equipment (though not all games allow it to be used without dlc).