I can certainly empathize with the bait-and-switch feeling for those who paid full price for something that turned out to be half the value. Perhaps it would have been nice to have a "trade in" event where players could exchange their old gear for some xp refund.
Nevertheless, I'm not sure if this warrants much rending of hair, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, just because the server perpetually generates an infinite amount of replacement xp and gold, so everything that is spent can be recouped -- it really is all about the investment of time, rather than resources.