Square Enix, please think about both Casual AND Hardcore crafters..

[Nixxe]

I would. I doubt the savage or ultimate scene would die down that much if they removed the better gear from it.

The trap parties on the other hand. I'mma miss those.

Because Savage and Ultimate are in many respects their own reward, so removing the gear from them doesn't actually do much. That gear is primarily there to help out lower end raids that will need the gear advantage to clear what world class statics did the first week, so removing it is anti-casual more than anything else, and would actually increase stratification.