"Rolling a 6 sided dice 12 times does not increase your chances of getting a 6 more than it does the person rolling it twice." In your own words you validate my point. The game does not reward patience and commitment but hands out rewards solely on luck. Also Atheon doesn't have a higher rate of giving weapons and armor than any of the other stage bosses or the chests found through out the raid. So by not defeating Atheon doesn't invalidate my point. Also I have several clan mates who have beaten the raid numerous times who can attest to that fact. Now, that i continue to play this game daily, enjoy it for what it is, and I don't come on these forums everyday looking to cry about things not going my way shows I have patience and 128 hours on my warlock and 30+ on my titan shows a fairly solid commitment. And to your point about the disparity between the hardcore and casual, well that's little more than a cheap cop out. Why you ask? Well for one the game is pretty pve centric, so there is going to be a level disparity there no matter what(if you can play more you will be higher level, thats how mmo's work. and yes even this mmo-lite). And if you're referring to pvp will IB has already shown us that level advantages mean nada there anyway. And just a final note, I have no "need for gear" I'm happy at 29 since 30 gives me no real advantage anywhere in the game. That said your blind faith in the RNG system makes furthering this discussion mute since clearly we have very different stances on the subject.