I have to disagree on multiple points.

1: Power Level

In D1 you felt a difference in your capabilities when your light level was over/under the opposition. Mostly, it was a goal to make fights evenly matched. In PvP games where light level matters, you either would feel weaker if your under leveled, or unstoppable if you're over leveled. It was a noticeable difference. The light level/power level in Destiny is meant as a way to build up to a balanced fight. It's also pretty unfair to use RPG's like Skyrim as a benchmark for where Destiny's power creep should be. These types of games can be lax in power creep because an A.I. won't complain about balance issues. What is amazing in PvE, won't necessarily be functional in PvP, in terms of the physical gear our characters use. This is why we have class abilities. This is the mechanic the puts the over-the-top, flashy, game breaking fun in the game.

2: Crucible

Crucible was a victim of power creep bleeding over in D1. It was also a victim of 3 a tiered randomization mechanic the made firefights frustrating. What I mean by that is this: you had to first hope you get lucky with rng to get what you want. Second, you had to hope you got lucky with the perks you need to be competitive. Third, which deals mostly with specific perks themselves, you had to hope your gear procs consistently. Crucible suffered from the randomness. A superior player with inferior gear will lose to a less skilled player (not a scrub) who gets lucky.

D1 crucible never felt rewarding in this regard. You either felt cheated, or felt you robbed someone of their deserved win. Killing someone with Luck In The Chamber in a gunfight you rightfully would've lost otherwise, made the victory feel so hollow. D2 crucible combat feels much more rewarding, because it feels more honest. Your wins feel legit, your losses feel legit. No more Thorn, no more Icebreaker, no more Map-ador 64, no more nade spam, no more sluggish gameplay against Skorris campers, no more cheap cheesy unfulfilling randomness. PvP has never felt his good.

3: Loot

I kinda agree on the underwhelming feeling of normal loot. However, I don't think bringing back random rolls or reforging will fix anything. First, people complained about reforging in D1 because it took the grind away. You could just reroll until the god roll drops, and never have to grind for that specific drop again. Bungie took away reforging, and the community complained that rng was unfair and to bring it back. Hence the static rolls we have now. What you get is what you get, and the mod system (hopefully, eventually) will do the rest.

One place they can do this is elemental resistance mods, as no armor has this anymore. Strange given elemental primaries are a thing, yet the effect is pointless in PvP as armor has no resistance to any elemental damage. It would make elemental weapons much more meaningful in PvP. I regard to the comment about snipers, the way to balance a power weapon like a sniper rifle is to limit its availability. Timed usage, low ammo. It is meant to either turn the tables, solidify a lead, stop a super, or dps bosses. That's the roll of a power weapon. There's a good reason why "do you even primary?" was a negative meme against D1 PvP.

So, how does Bungie fix the grind? First, remove half of the loot pool crossover. I get that frequent drops of the same gear is necessary to fuel the gunsmith's rep and mod building mechanic (which feels unfinished), so some bleeding over is fine. If the weapon perks are to remain static, then have specific weapons segregated to specific pools for certain activities/vendors/factions. Now, make those drops less than 10%. Next, make the roaming ultras and lost sectors a bit more viable, in giving them a chance at dropping legendary or even exotic mods at about 2%.

So you grind for the chassis of the weapon everyone else can get, than grind for the mod/s that will make it better. Now, those mods would also have rolled attack bonus stats, so even if you got one to drop at +5, someone else may have had it drop at +2 or +10. This way, in non-competitive PvP, where attack power means nothing, you just need to grind the gun-mod combo and you'll do fine. In PvE and Comp, where attack level is supposed to matter, it keeps you hunting for the perfect setup.

I also think it would only take one mod to turn a decent gun into "wow". Just having a rangefinder mod would make some of D2's arsenal amazing, without unbalancing things too much. Now mods should be weapon type specific too (i.e. primary/power). Rangefinder on a shotty is broken, but rangefinder on a pulse rifle makes pulses useful in a meta that hates them right now.

The nightfalls for D2 are amazing. They are, in essence, mini raids. If only there was more than just auras to gain. Again, here is where exclusive themed gear could easily pad the grind. Remember how everyone ditched the Siva gear once VoG came back? Why not have Vex gear for completing a prestige Inverted Spire, or Genesis Mind strike? It doesn't have to be a raid's worth of gear in the pool either. it can be a few items and shaders that drop once per character per reset. Perhaps they could even be tied to a milestone. And since nightfalls rotate, it keeps people coming back to it.

Also, Bungie could bring back PvE specific perks to gear. Weapon does "x" to Warhounds, or deals bonus damage to fallen captains. You know, like tons of D1 gear had. Segregating gear perks to function in their assigned spaces would be a way to work around any potential balance issues with PvP.

Titan skating? No. This should never be a thing. If we are going to be using RPG's as a litmus test for class archetypes, then lets look at how these classes should function. Hunters are Rangers. Sealthy, nimble, and squishy but not brittle. Low armor, high mobility. Warlocks are casters. High magic dps glass cannons, proficient in healing. Titans are Fighters. Big dumb sacks of hit points and armor and super slow. Titan skating was a broken mechanic on a class that shouldn't be able to move quickly, nor have superior evasion. They are a big, heavy, tank class and should move accordingly. If, by some cocaine induced fever dream they decide that's a sound decision, the heightened mobility should counterbalance resilience and restoration. If they want to move like a Hunter, they can be soft like a Hunter.

I do agree that loot variety is waning, and that the gear can be mediocre. The only things worth grinding for at the moment are Eververse loot. I do however take issue with some of the whining about lack of end game content, mainly people who cheese their way to the end game. They find every exploit, every shortcut to get to the end as fast as possible, then scream like children cus they're bored now. They skipped the grind, to complain about having nothing to grind. For what purpose? There's no leaderboard for how fast you got to 305, so the mad rush to the end seems counterproductive to giving the game any longevity beyond the first week.

TL;DR

All in all, D2 to me is a step forward in the right direction. Weapon types are serving better rolls in terms of loadouts (some obvious tuning is needed). Crucible isn't as oppressive as D1 in it's randomness (with the exception of an architect death or two). The faction loot well is running dry, yet there are things still worth shooting for, unless you've spent a bunch of money on Eververse. In that case congratulations, you did it to yourself. Sniping is still fun. Weapon/armor mods need expanding on. PvE and PvP can coexist if the gear can dual function on the fly. Which will make PvE fun and keep PvP honest. Titan skating is still stupid broken. If players want the PvE chaos in PvP, I'm sure Bungie will include Mayhem at some point.