[b]To be clear: I do not want the best gear in the game for no effort.[/b] But for those who tell those of us who are stuck to "go find another game", you should consider the following: Only problem with that mindset is that it's ultimately going to cause the game to self-terminate. Point is, the game's particular grind (and the relatively short window to get that done) alienates all but the 6-10% of the players who can commit the time in such a short burst. The other 90%+ of its players will find that they're left in the dust within 2-3 months. People on here seem to have a difficult time separating those who want everything- for-nothing from the main player base who are simply expecting the game to provide fair opportunity to progress. The loot system and the quest systems have very precise requirements that pretty much require an organized fireteam that can function on the same play schedule AND have a substantial amount of free time to get the work done in that short period. All I'm saying is, like it or not, only about 6-10% of the people playing (and financing the development of) this game can achieve the end-goals that justify continuing on. Iron Banner and it's disingenuous loot system this time around are prime examples. Failing to provide the drops they promised coupled with providing items at a paltry 280 light meant that grinding all the way to level 5 left a less than 1% chance of acquiring a single thing to move one's level upward. All that time over several days playing crucible-to receive nothing more than permission to spend Marks (mostly earned elsewhere through other grinding) on gear that may have good stats, but poor light. Yes, infusion should rectify that, but then we're back to the fact that the loot drops through the game fail to provide enough light to infuse much beyond 290. I'm not crying entitlement here. It's not entitlement to have done the work of Iron Banner only to have failed to advance my character by a single point in terms of light. Court of Oryx hit & miss, as well. I put almost 5 hours in there yesterday using my own runes as well as sticking around helping others. Highest light level of anything obtained was around 285. I'm at 296-297 and that's from grinding a couple hundred hours of heroic strikes, and a few smaller quests solo. Not being a raider, I "could" be able to live with that and I don't really need raid gear since I don't do raids. Except, because payouts on other events such as iron banner are so terrible and the heroics have mainly become overly-long ways to get weapons parts, even getting my light to 300-305 is like chasing a unicorn. But a month from now, that WILL alienate me from the few parts of the game that apply to me. Iron banner will be riddled with players who have the time in their day to perform all the tasks/raids/etc. when those people are at L310+, I would be fighting 13+ light levels above my own. And at that point, my ability to actually play this game won't be a whole lot more involved than normal crucible and heroic strikes. And that represents a very large part of the player base. Call me casual/dirty random (I am). But those players are a BIG part of this game (and the designer's budgets). If fireteam-organized quests and full-blown raid runs are the [b]only[/b] means for people like me to remain competitive, then we simply can't play more than a few more weeks from now. These forums are hostile as hell between die-hards and casuals, but the without both, this game won't have the players to keep it going. I'm not saying it should be easier to get the cool swords or the exotic stranger's rifle. They're top-level items that require top commitment to get. No problem. What I am saying is, I should have a clear path (including an appropriate grind) to advance my light level enough to remain relevant to the game. I don't need strikes to rain down 320 light rare gear to infuse. But dirty casuals like me should have a clear path that we "can" perform on our own to at least stay within 10 light levels of or competition in things like IB and ToO. It's really too bad that this community will likely take a flamethrower to this post and remain devisive when supporting each other is the better way to have more of us engaged and more of us to finance better DLC's going forward. I'm beginning to wonder if Bungie isn't actually trying to re-define it's game into a smaller, niche game for only those with the highest level of dedication and time to invest.