One of the issues with NOT being able to upgrade old weapons and armor, is that everyone is going to be using the newest raid gear ONLY and the newest Raid weapons as well. In other words, everyone is going to be the same. I wouldn't mind using various things from the VoG, Iron Banner, Queen's Wrath, and Crota's End. If the old stuff is just left in the dust, then you can't mix and match for a little variety.