At this point, I simply enjoy Iron Banner. I do it to at least rank three on a few characters each time for Etheric and maybe one or two guns. The guns are unique, you can't find their like anywhere else in the game. I believe that the gear should be the same. Create the same urgency that we have for the guns and I think players would commit more to it.
Perfect gear sets is a huge driving force that keeps players coming back daily. The only thing that really makes Iron Banner gear different is the skin. Because it is so purely focused on power in PvP, I think IB gear should be like Trials of Osiris gear, but with it's own tweaks. For example, third perk on a chestplate could be that you capture Control points faster. Boots could have a 2nd or 3rd perk that lets players reload while running. Gloves could have Ammo boxes drop ammo for players that are farther away or drop more ammo for the player.
The bottom line is that players are grinding the hell out of their favorite game type (Trials, PoE, etc.) to perfect their armor sets. Why not offer the same for Iron Banner players?
Thanks for reading.