Not all gear is earned outside of pvp. Most, sure. Not all. Either way, the perks are randomly generated no matter how you get something. This does not in any way excuse imbalance in pvp. If by "game modes" you mean pve and pvp, yeah, obviously those are different. I see people saying "oh there's always a counter" as if this game is some balanced array of abilities and weapons. Far from it. All you do is equip an exotic handcannon, a shotgun, and you win. There is no strategy. Does that mean you can't do well with other weapons? No. It means you put yourself at a disadvantage if you do thanks to maps and movement abilities. Counter shotguns with an exotic handcannon? Well there goes player preference and diversity. It is blatantly obvious where changes need to be made. There is no balance.

Shotguns and hand cannons are widely used because the maps adhere to there strengths. Close range combat. Few maps adhere to longer range weapons. Could hand cannons use another range debuff in PVP, probably, but I think that is an issue of the diversity of maps rather than the strength of the weapon. (This is also why scout rifles really aren't used that often, there strength is range, however, I have seen people who manage to use them effectively.) Shotguns really aren't that overpowered, however, it is the perks that they can roll with that makes them potent. Shot package is just ridiculous (and I am speaking with experience, there have been times where I have said there is no way that should have been one shot.) But really again, close range maps, close range weapon. This wouldn't be as much of an issue if they gave fusion rifles a little more range. In this case I just fight fire with fire. I really don't feel at much of a disadvantage against hand cannons (again unless its close range TLW) when I am using a pulse rifle. Three little words is great and can easily take out the Thorn and TLW and mid distances in most cases. Auto rifles need to be rebuffed. There are non-existent now.

The maps are the main issue, yeah. Since it's unlikely that they are going to fix this (the correct way), we can expect a simple nerf or something. I didn't mean a disadvantage against handcannons. At mid to long range, things are relatively balanced. However at close range, aka 70% of engagements on most maps, shotguns win consistently. Any "counters" are just cheap tactics used to beat other cheap tactics. They really should have three times the gametypes they have now. Snipers. No supers. No heavy. Primaries only. Those should be real gametypes. There's basically no variety right now.

I would like to see the game types you have listed. Would probably bring more people over to the crucible. I would also like to see more map diversity. Even if there was map diversity, people would still use shotguns and hand cannons on the smaller maps. That is just playing smart, not playing cheap.