Level 40 is part of... [i][u][b]The Taken King.[/b][/u][/i] Very simply, to continue to stay a max level, you have to have the latest content. It may or may not be [i]fair[/i], but it is [i]common[/i] practice in video games that continually raise their level cap.

You don't own any of the content. You pay for access to it through a licensed agreement. Agreement that they have the right to alter whenever and however they see fit. To which you agreed to when you clicked "I agree." Fine print is a mother -blam!-er.

Because they don't want you to play things like nightfall or trials because you've already paid for it. Didn't you read about how they stole their musical maestro's entire salary, pension and stalk because they wanted to cut corners?

Because luke smith wants a Lamborgini.

"Why did I only get 34 candy bars?" "Because you only bought 34." "But then how come those guys get 40?" "Because they bought 40." "That's bogus, man! I should get 40, same as them!" "..."

[quote]I went to McDonald's and bought a large fry. When I was halfway finished a worker came up to me and said we have this great new dipping sauce for your fries for only $3. I was like that's awesome but I'm fine. It wasn't that I couldn't afford the $3, and sure the sauce sounded interesting but I just didn't think it was worth $3 more when I was already enjoying my fries. The worker said ok no problem sir and proceeded to take nearly all of the fries I had left, leaving me with only a few bites left. I said what the hell I wasn't finished with those and he said sir we don't really want customers here that aren't willing to buy the new sauce, and look you still have a few fries left so enjoy those. Then I continued to complain because I didn't think it was fair that my some of my fries I had paid for already were taken from me and then everyone in the restaurant for some reason was defending McDonald's saying if I didn't want to pay the extra money I should leave. The sad thing is I used to really like McDonald's and their fries but this showed me that McDonald's didn't think of me as a customer but simply as a bucket of cash[/quote] All these stupid analogies about paying for x and demanding y are idiotic and stupid. I don't think the OP excepts to run the fallen king raid or play the new multiplayer maps, story missions or even obtain the new exotics (you could if you didn't buy previous expansions). The fact of the matter is with this expansion Bungie stripped non buyers of nearly all endgame material: trials - which people already paid additionally for, night falls, vendor gear, heroic missions, iron banner. They are left with a worthless shell of a game and can still play basic crucible but when they get a legendary drop, guess what... It's level 40+ only. The thing that makes this even more frustrating is that previous DLCs TDB, you could reach level 31/32 and still compete in all endgame activities granted the nightfall or story mission wasn't a new strike which is fair. The HoW dlc actually allowed everyone to reach level 34 regardless of whether you bought the doc or not. In both DLCs you could easily compete in all endgame activities, get the new exotics, but vendor weapons, etc. The taken king came and took everything. I don't see how it benefits you at all to defend a practice like this just because you bought into it.

Because level 34 is the cap for year 1. Year 2 the cap has been raised to 40. That is all.