TLDR: Story mode needs simplified any hero uniques and artifacts that are given by side quests. The uniques should be upward scalable by the crafter. These pieces should be trickled into the new playthrough experience. One piece for completing a task in each chapter. This is an effort to simplify loot and widen the game's appeal.
Background:
Just saw a lot of chatter regarding the game switching gears to capture new players... and one of the fundamental issues I have playing MH is the confluence of variables populating uniques. I really just don't like trying to sort gear out when I just farmed CMM/CHT. I have whole stash pages dedicated to gear I stored waiting for unique "revisions". They were revised and I can't be bothered to research what I need to prioritize. Can you imagine a new player just seeing the wall of text for some of the newer uniques? I eventually made two sticky notes describing what to look for as qualifiers for slot 1-5 gear for my main cosmic patrol toon... War Machine. Slot 1 was pretty easy... they go straight into 500k credit chests.
Design:
Each chapter completion should give some kind of gear reward that interests the player. I started with the phrase Any Hero unique which is a turn off for most vets. For newbies, imagine finishing chapter 1 with a level 10 slot 4 unique that improved basic stats (+50-150 CHR, +250-750 CDR) +1-3 to all skills and +10-20% Movement speed. 4 RNG seeds that teach players a bit about desirable attributes. Chapter 2 would reward another piece, maybe a level 15 slot 1 with +1-3 ranged skills, +1-3 melee skills, +10% damage reduction proc by melee attacks, +150-450 DR. And so on...
Eventually, a new player could earn story rewards for slots 1-5, artifacts 1-2, a first insignia and ring. If story gear for slots 1-5 were upgraded to level 60 and well rolled, players could compete in red and cosmic terms.
Integration with other systems:
Ideally this is where the game could tie into other game systems. Crafting would allow players to upgrade the level of the gear. Crafting would also allow them to reroll gear. It's two to four rng seeds to reroll at most for all slots and artifacts.
Anyways, just floating an idea out there. If the game gets more players, more revenue would be generated and maybe Gaz could staff up a third or four group for further content creation.