Sorry guys, it seems there was some miscommunication earlier on this, and it took awhile to clarify the situation. I've updated my original post in the thread and will copy it here for viability. This was speaking specifically to NM and other content-related gear, and not a blanket removal of the Optimal Rank system. I really apologize for the confusion my post caused!

Quote Originally Posted by Bayohne View Post
Moving forward, gear that is introduced from notorious monsters and other such content will have requirements placed on them as we will be phasing out the "Optimal Rank" system for that loot. With new recipes being introduced in 1.19, the old recipes will be lost and it will not be possible to make that specific piece of gear anymore going forward. (For example, please see [dev1016] where it shows the change from a Hempen Doublet to a Hempen Doublet Vest)
I also added in details about the recipe changes, too (which can be seen in the dev1016 thread).