The grind is real! At least they largely killed the need to grind for mats on the planets and you don't needed ascended items for exotics anymore either so it's easier to save up for all your legendary equipment. It'd be stupid if it didn't work as the proverbial carrot on a stick. People run the Raid like crazy so it's working. I mean, it's lame for us gamers but as a developer, it worked for getting people to constantly replay their content. Do you not have any Raid gear?
I'll be interested to see if it really is working. No one talks about the game anymore. Hopefully the DLC sells well and people get back into it. I liked it for awhile.