Absolutely agree. @ Hollow 19 (because he's the most recent and I didn't read all the other responses), and all the other strict PVE'ers, I can't think of too many popular MMO's that force you to clear content just to REACH THE MAX LEVEL! I think people who raid should still get the best gear, but there's no point in preventing other people from getting to 30. It's the stupidest design I've ever seen in a game (and I do like this game a lot). There's no other MMO where the coveted "prize" is simply being at the level cap, that's ridiculous. Not everyone has time or the friends online at once (or period) to do the raid. That doesn't mean some of us don't play a lot doing heroics, dailies, crucible, etc...but maybe we don't have the resources at outré disposal to get the raid done. Some people just don't want to do it, that shouldn't stop them from at least reaching the level cap. Honestly, I don't care how hard Bungie worked on the raid, not everyone is going to play it, and that shouldn't be the ONLY determining factor in hitting 30. Combine this with the epic fail RNG, and the fact that most raid groups won't accept inexperienced players because then their group wouldn't be uber 1337, and you've got yourself a situation that sees only a small percentage of the player base reaching 30. Doesn't make much sense any way you look at it, it's not like the act of hitting 30 just gives you raid gear instantly, no one is asking for free raid gear, we just want to hit the level cap. So what happens in an expansion? The level cap goes up a couple levels and we can't get max level again? Maybe we can't level up at all because the only new content available is another raid that allows you to level up more? So, anyone who isn't a "superhardcoreraideromgsocoolelitistdouche" is stuck at 29 forever...or maybe 39 this time!? Sounds like an awesome play Bungie, way to do your MMO research. ;D