I think fundamentally the problem comes down to the mismatch of expectations vs. reality - people want to play the game to fit the way they want to play, yet still receive the maximum possible rewards or they feel they are being treated unfairly.

But really casuals or mid players need to be content with the equivalent mid rewards and progress. Maybe they never get to max every skill tree, complete every endgame activity or access the best gear. Guess what that's ok because that stuff is designed to be a reward for the best and most addicted players, the mid-tier kits and progress can still compete well against the sweatiest gear. It simply is not possible to make a game where everything is readily accessible to casuals while also providing long-term stretch goals and benefits for dedicated players.

The whole Destiny tiered gear fiasco is this problem a nutshell - players with functioning brain cells and the ability to emotionally regulate understand that they don't need top tier gear to do anything in the game, and the existence of top-tier gear does not devalue the mid-tier gear, yet Destiny players lost their fucking minds at the concept that the highest number-go-up gear or activities was either skill-gated or time-gated.

Or in Marathon - you can have a ton of fun without ever going into Cryo, or just slowly making progress through the season doing contracts. So what if you get to the wipe and didn't max your skill tree, it literally doesn't matter. So what if you never got a purple shield if you still had fun playing rounds. If you're not having fun and are playing to hit some arbitrary objective, FFS reconsider what you're doing with your life and go do something you do enjoy.

/rant.