I hate to be the naysayer of Bungie's terrible design choices, but SBMM only becomes an issue to players who are on the higher end of the skill bracket. If you know anything about Destiny's playerbase, most people are on the lower end, with slightly above average stats like 1.1 to 1.3KD actually being considered "Good." If 90% of the players are actively enjoying SBMM, yet 90% of the players are 1.0 or below, it would make sense from a numbers standpoint. I would argue that the players who are actually good at the game, sitting around 2.0 and higher are the ones who have the most complaints. They're the ones who will do anything and everything to win. The people who go "meta or nothing" because the game means too much to them are the ones with the most complaints because they're forced to see PvP at its worst. It's typically the same in any kind of competitive experience. If you take a tier list in a fighter, you'll find that it's only on the higher brackets that the high or top tiers are significantly more threatening. Lower skilled players might use them for fun, but they don't abuse them to the best of their ability, which is why the average and below people are still able to enjoy playing against people at or around their skill levels.

I agree with everything you've stated here. As a mid-tier player I've been an SBMM supporter for years. It's only recently that Bungie is acknowledging who it actually benefits and not catering to streamers and the small % of top tier players. Should there be a place for high level play? Yes of course. But it should be at the expanse of the broader player base.

If you ask me, Destiny needs to go back to separating the hardcore from the casual. Elite Modes Trials/GM Nightfalls Hardcore Modes Competitive Crucible/Raids Middle ground Iron Banner/Dungeons Casual Everything else You could make a case for putting Legendary sectors or whatever into hardcore, but I would change them if I could. The devs just needs to understand that different tiers of players gravitate toward different aspects of the game instead of trying to get everyone to play everything. The point of a casual match is to not worry about having to go all out. You hop in, you play. If you get stomped, you get stomped. A problem with Destiny is that they have the "Damage control" system or whatever in play where they try to make sure all players maintain around a 50/50 win loss. This essentially sets you up to get stomped if you have too many good games, and to do the opposite if you have a bad streak. Choosing between this or SBMM is essentially choosing between having forced wins and losses or pouring everything into every match you play. (That is assuming you actually play to win)