The way I see it, the biggest problem is that you don't have any sense of control over your progression. In most games, whether it's an FPS or MMO or whatever, your progress is determined by a ranking system. In order to progress rapidly and unlock gear and/or other rewards, you have to do an activity in order to get experience points, gear, etc, the quantity and quality of which is determined by your performance.
The amount of progress you make is determined by what you do and how well you do it, so if you excel you know you're going to rise through the ranks rapidly and get the best stuff the game has to offer. If you do poorly, you can still reach your goal but it will take longer to get there, which is both a way of making sure winning is rewarded more than losing (common sense, right?), and as an incentive for those who aren't doing as well to improve their skills and create a competitive atmosphere. So, in short, you get what you earn, no more, no less.
But what happens if just anyone can get the best rewards? Well, then, the only point in winning games or even just succeeding in general is limited to the satisfaction the player gets, but since the rewards are distributed randomly, it doesn't matter if you don't even do anything because you can get just as much or even more than the people who did better. That just isn't logical.
One of the most annoying things about Destiny in my opinion is the Light Level system. Past level 20, the only way to increase your level is to acquire and upgrade better armor. It sounds simple, but there's no way to predict what armor you will get from drops. To compensate for this, there is a faction reputation and mark system that lets you buy better armor after saving up marks and increasing reputation by participating in Strikes, claiming bounties, and playing in the Crucible.
That's good, but then the upgrading part comes in. There is absolutely no way to predict when and where you will get shards, as that is completely left to RNG. Therefore:
Player A: Level 32. Does not perform well in Crucible, rarely participates in challenging Strikes, never played a Raid, etc.
Player B: Level 26: Has played the game more than Player A, does well in Crucible, does challenging Strikes and Raids, etc.
Therefore, how fast you level up has absolutely nothing to do with how much you play, what you do, and how well you do it. It is not necessarily a display of skill to be level 30, it just means your dice landed on the 6 more often than someone else, and you picked the right straw out of the bunch a bit more often.
Unlocking an Exotic can be as easy as starting a match and then eating a cheeseburger, and getting a Legendary can take days of hard work.
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All good points and I totally agree.