The thing is, it's very easy to get people to switch to other guns. By simply making them look cooler they've switched a huge portion of their player base. Add on new perks and maybe better stats and its GG for old weaponry (not everyone is like this but I sure am) and by the looks of it that's exactly what they're doing. The thing is, people want to keep their old weapons and armor for bragging rights. That's what this game was supposed to be about. Not just because they're effective but because they have a story behind them. Let's say they don't let gear from year 1 ascend, they just wiped out all reason to do trials, VOG, Crotas end, and PoE. The bullshit logic that "these weapons will still be useful in the crucible/patrol" is a lazy excuse. That's not end-game content and most importantly, it's not new! Not letting people ascend has already been decided and Bungie couldn't give a shit about any good times we have. They just want more play time and the only way to do that is to involve grind.