What I'd like is if special things came forward. Like everyone is all about the Ikelos SG. Bring it back in D3 as an exotic, with some kind of dilapidated look to it. Make it a power weapon and give it an extra perk. Make it something that is like "oh shit" when you get it and then make it good enough that saying "oh shit" is justified.

Imagine the thousand voices comes back, looking like the current ornament but leaking that black goo that comes out of Riven's eyes, and it fires a taken-effect beam with enemy punchthrough and void explosions. It's the same, but different.

Returning exotics don't bother me, but exotics returning the same kind of does. It should be like those exotics soaked in some crazy voodoo while they were 'lost' between games. I don't mind starting over in a new game, but I do mind only getting the same things back again.

tl;dr leave behind anything that just fires bullets, bring forward all the things that look and work like cursed garbage wired together that no guardian should be touching.