Let me just throw my two cents in...

Not many people will have this stuff by the time the level cap rises, at which point it will become worthless, so why try?

Progression system could be great. But since you all wanted vertical progression and since you were so adamant about not having gear swap macros, every new piece of gear in this game will turn very useless, very quickly. A progression system on the good gear will just add another item to the throwaway list a few short months later, if anyone even continues to do this raid after level cap increase.

Congratulations, players, on the excellent direction you've sent this game in.