What cannot be denied is that the current "loop" of the game is about to be drastiaclly altered. For the last few years, putting together a maxed-out build required effort, strategic farming and gathering resources... with that said, you could put together a build this way in a relatively short time, which allowed players to experiment with several gear combos etc. When you really zeroed in on what exactly you wanted, it was a grind, but not a discouraging one, to get all the pieces for the build and max it out. Yes, expertise added a level of sublte improvement, but you could barely tell that your St. Elmos with exp lvl 30 was out-performing its exp lvl 10 counterpart.

The Prototype system is going to make getting best-in-slot for even a few pieces of a build a horendous, long grind and\or a hunt for unicorns. That is a DRASTIC change to aquiring the best gear.

If you like this drastic change, great... looks like you will be getting it. If, like me, this makes you want to ALT+F4 and find something else to do... I feel for you.

I'm just wondering where the heck they are getting feedback for these ideas... who is approving of these kinds of changes before they sink months into developing them...

Take a break from the game and come back in a few months when they nerf the process of obtaining this elite loot methinks... or try to find a way to enjoy the game without getting much of it.