There will always be haves and have nots. I enjoy being a have so I dump time into a game I play but I won't be able to continue to play that game if the player base dries up. The goal must be at the very least make the have nots think they have a chance against the haves. To make them feel they have the ability to catch up. When a game's weapon system is so broken that there is basically 2-4 usable guns and only 1 of those is a marksman rifle and you only allow the have to get it without permitting time for the have nots to at the very least reach for it you have screwed up. I just do not understand. Having a massive array of gun patterns. Having a small number of usable guns. Having a week long restock timer. Having another gear reset in 1-1.5 months. It makes people not want to try until the next gear reset.
Just to be clear - I sincerely hope that you do not think you are a "have" and I am a "have not" because you spend more time playing a video game than I do. And the "catch up" thing you mention is a non-starter, because in games like these, people who dump more time + exploit + bot + whatever simply have more of a chance to get gear.
I saw a video yesterday of someone with about 310k dps, 110k health, 15k electronics, he melts pretty much everything. He opened his inventory to show and he has so many set items that it's clear to everyone that he exploited his way there. If exploiting makes him a "have" and me playing the game without exploiting makes me a "have not" then fine, but I'm not competing against guys like him. He can do 2 man manhunt parties against 7 or 8 people at a time - good for him.
You mentioned Diablo 3 and I quit playing because of the years of botting, and other maphack type things or assists, and all of that on top of the massive advantage it has to simply have a good group of 3 other people in addition to you.
Gone seem to be the days of solo play showing skill - in Everquest in pvp I solo'd, one of the original creators of so-called 'quad kiting', and pvp while doing that was awesome. Here? As soon as I see rogues around me I destroy everything in my inventory in the dark zone and they get a pittance - I'm sometimes killed by level 90 dark zone people in a few shots, and they start screaming with laughter as if either: a) it bothers me (why would it - expected outcome, dz level 28 lol) or b) I've never ganked/been ganked. I mean, glad they have a fun time. Glad exploiters have a fun time. But to equate people obtaining an unfair advantage in a game with "haves" and others as "have nots" is simply farcical.