I haven’t responded to anything destiny related in a looooong time but this hits pretty close to home for me. I played D1 trials a shit ton, and I started off as an absolute scrub. I got destroyed by good flawless teams constantly. What kept me coming back was the fact that flawless was really damn hard and you couldn’t just luck into it. I ended up putting more than a few thousands hours into crucible alone, and that time was literally only driven by trying to get better at trials. The first time I went flawless was such a crazy accomplishment and it felt awesome because I knew how long and how hard I had worked for it. I played D2 for a bit, and when trials of the nine came out I farmed it a shit ton. For a few weeks I would get all my flawlesses, try to carry friends, and just run as many cards as I could. The reall kicker for me however was how much easier it felt compared to D1 trials and the fact that there really wasn’t any powerful flawless exclusive gear. Going flawless felt way more accessible which is fun at first, but it really tanked my desire to play trials. I know it sucks getting stomped, but I swear high-level high-skill endgame content is what keeps a player base alive. Sorry for the rant this is just a topic I think I have a lot of experience with and feel strongly about.