Well, the way I look at it is the whole advertising structure for the game was customization, then everything released and it almost feels like being lied to. Every single thing in the game from the easiest to the hardest should be built around that premise. I mean what is the point of having all this customization when the end game is always [i]"Must have ___________."[/i] because its the only real effective thing? It defeats the entire premise of Destiny and games like it. Bungie focusing on more top tier players instead of the majority, which, for a live service game is the make or break factor, is a bad recipe for exactly what we see. Just the average raid participation is dismal, and sure they should be the most difficult activities, but its egregiously over-micromanaged in efforts to make it hard for those top people. These should be able to be done by most players with a basic functional build, being more or less difficult depending on build quality. Its about the experience right? Then why is nobody experiencing it? Because its just not built for them. If it is that hard for the most dedicated and skilled builds and players, what hope do the rest of the players have to even have the experience? For the people who want it super hard, its as simple as doing things like Nightfalls are done, or adding extra hard hurdles. Generally the rewards for these harder activities in games should just be cosmetic, or an exclusive title, and nothing more, because its about the experience, not about creating an elite gamer group. In my experiences, people who truly understand skill, understand the need for balance, that most people don't perform at that level, and understand they will find things much easier without complaint, and they seem to be ok with getting just a title, or cosmetic or something, because its solely about the challenge; its not about a physical reward to enforce the will of the scrub gods and make it known how superior they are forever. I think the big issue with most of this game in identity and activities is Bungie wants niche, but they want to build a live service for the masses. Niche doesn't allow that. Destiny is unique, but not niche. I feel that's why the struggle is so real though. A game built for masses as a live service needs to keep everything relatively broad with optional extra difficulty on as close to every activity as possible.