When people were given everything on a silver platter at the beginning of D2, there were lots of complaints and people just stopped playing because they got everything and nothing left to work towards. Bungie went back to the MMO playbook and added the grind back in to keep people playing.
That's not what I said tho. I don't want everything handed to me "on a silver platter" and neither am I against grind in loot orientated games. I've played my fair share of grindy games and I also understand that you need to give players something to work towards. My point was that the grind in D2 is not enjoyable due to the artificially stifled gear progression.
Other games (FFXIV, Diablo, PoE, etc..) manage the grind a lot better and make it a lot more enjoyable because you're allowed to progress at your own pace. Outside of daily/weekly activities you almost get no worthwhile loot at all. Doing regular activities should feel rewarding too, but as it stands there's really not point in doing that. Progression is way too restrictive and should be more linear, not arbitrarily crippled at certain level caps. It's not the grind itself that's bad, but the fact that the grind is not enjoyable in and of itself.
Destiny is still huge. Was one of the top 5 most played games on xbl up until last week for 3 months and in the top 10 since May.
Maybe on consoles, but on PC it feels like the player base is dwindling. Public events are often abandoned. PvP matchmaking takes far too long, often throws you into matches versus 4 stacks and most of the time you're pitted against the same people over and over again. Doesn't really give the impression that the PvP community on PC is that healthy.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with Destiny, but the game has got some serious issues. I don't think their monetization scheme is doing them any favors in that regard.