1) Gear really makes very little difference. There was a level 14 guy in our group who, while not great, was still doing okay and he certainly didn't hurt our team. TBH I expected to notice a bigger difference in character level and gear bonuses.

2) The way to win is to play as a team. 5 of us were all friends in a group, and so we split into two teams (one of 3 and one of 2), and just hoped the level 14 guy would see what we were doing. Then we ran those squads in groups and basically dominated. The key is teamwork.

Because time to kill is so much longer in Destiny than in a game like CoD or Battlefield, having numbers on your side is critical. For the xbox folks, it's a lot like Titan combat in titanfall. For those without Titanfall experience, you just know that you need to stay with a group to be successful.

The wrench in the works is supers (and, to a lesser extent, rockets), so you want to maximize heavy weapon ammo control, and try to identify enemies with supers active and do your best to evade those attacks.

If you have at least one buddy who you can play with, just try to stick together and you should both do fine.

A Shadow Price with Perfect Balance is the highest Stability I've seen on any Auto Rifle though. Grab one of those as soon as possible.

I'm discussing stat advantages.

And I'm discussing the way the game actually works. Someone who:

literally never play Crucible in their life

is not going to be much of a threat because they won't know their way around. Won't know the lines of sight. And won't have enough extra armor to make up for it.

Don't bother, because everyone else does and you cannot compete.

I went positive using a blue-rarity Dämmerung, and my biggest problem was Invective, which is getting a range nerf soon, and the Monte Carlo, which is also getting a nerf.

The issue is that the game essentially becomes Hardcore mode for everyone, and casual players can't even. There are people who simply will never enjoy Hardcore gametypes, people who can deal with them, and people who thrive in them. Iron Banner is a good thing because there's no equal footing. It is essentially an MLG playlist that doesn't gimp the sandbox, so people who normally enjoy MLG gametypes might get their junk pushed in, while others who avoid that gametype might finally find something to like in a Hardcore mode. And like most pro gametypes, it's not for everyone, especially not for people who complain that someone else has a shinier toy than they do. But there's always the Crucible, and a round or two should give a better appreciation for what the Crucible does...

Sure, some weapons will fare far better than others, but the variety of encounters shows that it doesn't end up being a BR-fest like Halo 4, or a shotgun-fest like Gears. Every portion is equally unbalanced, but everyone knows that. I saw someone earlier this week whining that their low-level character could get steamrolled in the Iron Banner, completely missing the point of the whole dang thing...

tl;dr Yeah, Iron Banner is completely unbalanced, but that's the whole point. Does this mean you can't succeed unless you have specific weapons? No.

I seemed to do okay with my Dead Orbit Scout Rifle and a Rare sniper. Out of my first three matches, I went MVP all three, completed three Iron Banner bounties, reached rep rank 1.5 and got myself the IB emblem and shader.

those guns will be nerfed soon anyway.

It's not absurd to want a way to earn Raid equivalent gear for PvP if raid gear is going to be allowed and grant an advantage in PvP.

Not everyone has 5 friends to get into the Vault with.

It only creates an advantage in the Crucible, and why shouldn't the technically strongest players in the Crucible be those that have a well rounded Destiny experience? This makes both in-world sense to me and practical sense.

Not everyone has 5 friends to get into the Vault with.

Seems most of the people playing think they are super powerful and just run head first into battle because they've "got a legendary weapon"

Hang back, be patient and wreck it up.

That's my level 27 Titan with 1240 defense and maxed out 300 attack Fair and Square competing. :)

Interestingly, I was not killed by either gun mentioned... Some Grim Citizens but no Shadow Price or anything...

There are many games you could win by making yourself unavailable as a target and forcing the enemy to get their kills from someone harder to bring down.

Can you charge blindly forward into the Iron Banner? No, nor should you. Use strategy and the game mode will not feel locked off to you. Having a high number of Kills is not the same as having a high K/D ratio, and only one of those things actually helps your team to win.