They did release over 2 gigs of files in the weeks before the expansion, them packaging the basic terrain which is usually one of the first completed assets on the disc is about efficiency, not ripping off the consumer. Neither you nor I was involved in any of the design meetings nor do we have any 1st hand insight into how many iterations and variations the story took before it was decided on. If you want to believe that Destiny was gutted prior to release and that we didn't get what we should have I doubt there is much I can do to change your mind. That being said there is nothing in the way of actual evidence that makes this theory more likely than the simple explanation we've already gotten from Bungie with regards to on-disc content.

Right and 30 new ships sounds like amazing talent allocation

The ships are fairly obviously kit-bashed from a set of central sections, engine mounts and peripheral equipment/weapons. I highly doubt much or any of the 2gigs of data was devoted to them tbqh. It is more likely that the vast majority of ship components are already in game.. they may have added a new variation or 2 on certain parts to the pool but we're talking small potatoes in terms of file size.

Malovi, you are talking graphical assets. It doesn't cost them extra space to store that. But when they put the assets together they create a FILE. Each ship is an individual FILE that takes space, 3d models take a decent amount of space. As far as the 2gigs you're talking about dark below. The 30 ships are in house of wolves. Get your expansion talk straight before you bring on an argument

There were new ships in TDB and you did not specify what you were referencing. Again, the amount of file size (and art team time) devoted to ships is likely minimal based on the kit-bash workflow they appear to use to create them.