It's not the loot, or the modes, it's everything else. Connections are abhorrent, matchmaking & especially lobby balancing is so bad it has to be intentional, the playerbase for PvP is either really really good or really really bad - the result of a decade old franchise, cheating & carry/recovery services, soft cheating if you can call it that with 3rd party devices, mostly horrible maps, crossplay desync, the list is endless. It's a decade old game with a dwindling playerbase, it's dropped for the last 5 years consistently so it's never growing again.

It’s just not fun compared to the past anymore. The same thing happened in D1. Nerf after nerf after nerf until it’s exclusively primary weapons and cheese.

When I said "the biggest issue plaguing crucible is the population," i certainly didn't mean that it's the only issue, and i probably exaggerated in saying it the biggest issue, but it is an issue, and I'm simply making suggestions based on that specific issue. Connections, SBMM, cheaters, and lobby balancing are big issues also, I'll admit, and you all are right to point it out, but what is your solution to fixing those things. I'm hoping this will be more of a problem solving post and less a "crucible is bad" post. I think the idea about rotating loot could be beneficial. The again, it may be a terrible idea, but at least i'm trying to see if anything sticks. Some mentioned that we already have artifice armor or specific weaponry to chase. That's true, I was just suggesting that Bungie move it to the rotating mode, but I was also seeking other ideas about what better loot to chase in accordance with this idea.

No matter the loot I won't touch pvp I'm just not interested enough in it.

Its not the loot, its the modes. I personally am hot/cold with how I play PvP. Some weeks, I will play 20+ comp games, others 3. If Mayhem is available, I will basically play that all week. If not, I probably wont touch it much at all. I dont want to see Supremacy again for a long time due to this event, it was pitiful with some of the worst matchmaking I have seen (15m queue time almost every game). Momentum was only good for weapon bounties, but those are mostly gone for PvP specifically (shaxx), so I dont go in there. Its a GG 7th column simulator most of the time. Control hasnt been good since they added SBMM to it, and even if its less strict now, its still not a fun mode to play anymore. Connection quality in most 6v6 modes is so poor that it is almost unplayable. If they want to save PvP, match quality is where they need to look, with ping limits which limit outliers from being in games together (since they dont have dedicated servers, at least limit the maximum ping for players in the lobbies). Loot is a VERY temporary solution for a population problem. Once people who are only in the mode for the loot have satisfied their requirements, the numbers will drop the same if not more due to the fact that people who were content, are now burnt out by playing the modes more than they want to.

Well, first, pvp has never been bungies main focus in destiny and never will be. Also, there are specific things tied to pvp modes like trials, comp, and iron banner. Not sure where you got that it was only trials, especially when there is a comp specific weapon every season. Comp also has a chance to drop artifice armor. Then there is all the trials and iron banner specific loot, too.