It seems kind of like the perfect compromise, honestly. (Destiny)

by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Friday, February 21, 2020, 06:07 (1741 days ago) @ Chappy

The one-up-one-down method means that players will want to grind to stay current, but there's no need until you're more than a season behind, in which case you can just earn new armors by playing the game. If a player's perfectly-crafted armor stays relevant all the time, there's no need to worry about any new gear, just swap in the mods you like. While I'm not really about obligating the audience to grind, I don't feel like I can fault Bungie for moving in this direction, given how much of Destiny is about learning/earning what's new in each season.