PVE GEAR????

It doesn't take anyone clever to notice that particular gear has better stats than what's dropped or bought with marks, and stick with it. A long time ago I bought a PvP weapon (before Cash-gear) because 77dps was WAY better than 50dps regardless of it's intent.

I would've done the same thing with full-Cash gear if I started a new character. Even on my main, I tested out Cash-gear running a T3 solo. Easy. So it was obvious this would be the path most new players would take. A huge oversight that was corrected recently but in such a terrible manner.

What burns me is not just the banning. It was inevitable. It was the method. First, they called everyone who did it exploiters. And then they left all those exploiters high and dry (surprise! your gear is unusable now) after they've been used to that form of progression. It should've been a smoother transition, instead of abrupt. And don't give me the "They were warned two weeks ahead of time on a forum." A forum not everyone reads on a daily basis, or probably even looks at at all.

You tell people IN GAME. You give them suitable methods to prepare themselves as quickly as possible. Vendors with weapons at every tier. Discounted PvE-gear for players that trashed their previous PvE-gear, and probably spent their marks on other things (Home Turf).

And you certainly don't make a huge gear-rule change while making everything a lot more difficult for new players with the counter-mechanics (but that's for another complaint thread).

But like every other update, players will begrudgingly adapt. Some will leave discouraged. Some will come back after another update contradicts previous ones as per usual.