Nailed it. I especially loved the points about weapons and making the old raids relevant (I miss the Vault!!!). I feel like Destiny is slowly dying :(
Personally TTK has been a huge letdown. Running the Vault with Fatebringer, Found Verdict, and Gjallarhorn... simply amazing. Still sad they made those guns obsolete after so much effort was put into getting them. Destiny has felt like a shadow of the game since the release of TTK.
Why is TTK so much less satisfying than the original vanilla Destiny? I've heard many theories, but I too fear we will never reach the level of excitement or enjoyment found in the original Destiny. The least they could do is make the Vault and Crota's End worth playing with higher light levels and usable gear/weapon drops. When I get on Destiny now, I find myself longing for the old days of Destiny.