Yeah, the fact that it wasn’t a rating stood out too. 
I also agree with you that part of the charm is these low-level items that actually retain value, especially if their value is situational.
I’m sorry you’re getting flak for it. Any proposed nerf is always gonna have people arguing against it, of course. No matter how reasonable the change is, there’s always people who have dumped resources into chasing it that are sad if its taken away. But if it helps you defend yourself from the flak: this isn’t the first place I heard about it (I think somebody @'d me on Twitter first… and as Aggrend said, it was already being discussed) but this is a more appropriate place to discuss it than Twitter. 
Thanks for the thoughtful discussion so far!