I rather think that our faction rankings should be worth something. After x amount of levels the cryptarch and the smith should be offering gear that's relevant to the faction level. Sure the smith would need to be given a faction level and we'd have to joyously grind that out until our brains are mush once again, but given that we did we should be getting offered some decent enough guns that are actually usable rather than the bs that he offers. The cryptarch has the same problem if not worse. Faction level should ether dictate loot quality for his stuff or higher chance to upgrade.