I’d like to preface my complaint by mentioning that the changes to ascended equipment in no way affect me. I main almost exclusively only one character. All other characters are only used to funnel resources to the benefit of that main and to do things that are profession specific.
The account binding of ascended equipment is not quite the blessing players make it out to be. Because there is no means of also swapping out rune/sigil sets, players have to make a choice: would they prefer to receive the minor stat bonuses of ascended equipment, or would they like to run a rune/sigil set specific to their profession and build? This is a perfectly fair trade-off for ascended. Certainly there are some runes and sigils that are effective in most situations (Divinity, Force, etc.), but it is otherwise not cost-effective to constantly swap out upgrades, especially given some of their current prices. If in that situation, I would almost always choose exotic armor with a good rune set that synergizes well with my profession and build, instead of ascended stats.
Originally, when ANet announced the stat-swapping function of legendaries, I had hoped for something similar—the ability to tie sigils to specific stat combinations that would also be swapped out on stat change. This would create some complications regarding upgrade management and a need for either multiples of a given upgrade to fill out those stat combos or a whole new interface for easier management. Its usefulness, however, could not be understated. While most people easily make do without, the same problem resurfaces with the now account-bound ascended armor.
Obviously an upgrade-swapping function is not befitting ascended rarity items any more than stat swapping. Especially now that legendaries are arguably somewhat devalued by being both account bound (perfectly acceptable and long overdue) and easily accessible through the wardrobe, having this added benefit seems more appropriate for legendaries than ever. While it’s something of a long shot, I’ve still held onto the silly hope that this kind of upgrade swapping function will be added eventually.
tl;dr Account-bound ascended armor is not as useful as people think and, in light of recent changes, an additional upgrade-swapping function on legendaries is appropriate to help incentivize the acquisition of legendary items and not just their skins.
Thanks for your continued work, ANet!