Destiny 2 Dev Tracker
This thread was added on December 10, 2019, with posts from dmg04.
3 seasons of it in a row now, would be nice to get a solid answer on this.
Edit: This is in response to the patch notes revealing that the replacement for the Nostalgic Engram is the “Fond Memories” Engram. I may be jumping the gun a bit here but I think that it’s a safe bet that, given the name, this engram will include items from past season(s).
To answer the first question: Yes. The Fond Memories engram features previous Eververse items, so new/returning players can earn items that they didn't previously acquire. As for our more active players, the items can be dismantled for shards/glimmer.
At this time, players can earn Bright Dust to directly purchase most new items as they become available. There will still be a selection of new items that are Silver only, but we'll be communicating this via @Bungie as they appear.
We are continuing to collect feedback on these systems, so thank you for the thread and all responses within.