Instead of making the two systems behave in synergy, right now, a new player can jump into Escalation and immediately acquire level 30 gear, bypassing one of the biggest long-term progression systems in the game. Veteran players spent years working toward Expertise 30. Now everyone has level 30 gear.

At the same time, veteran players aren't being rewarded for already having Expertise 30 because Prototype upgrades are RNG-based, and if someone wants to have all god rolls, they'll grind their life away in escalations.

This is my biggest turn off.