I only ever got boots pre dlc, I was doomed level 29 despite playing since day one -.-. I just did 3 roc strikes and one guy got 2 leg engrams and the other got 3... Drumroll I got nothing.

I have played VOG multiple times, at least in that you got 2 drops rather than one. And at the time the strategy for crota wasn't well known yet. RNG sucks, I know, it rewards luck rather than who carried the team. I also know about the struggle to reach 30 in VOG, took me at least 8 weeks before I got my last armor peice, had to do iron banner for my warlock to be a 30 though. But still, it was crota and you should get more than 2 radiants, maybe 4 will be fine, but 2 is a very low reward. Also VOG was easier once people found the cheese to push the Templar and Atheon off on Hard. Bungie patch the crota glitch before hard so people have to be legit. Unless you decide to be a pussy and buy a lag-switch just to beat him.

the grind was real back then

True dat!