It's true that gear-"destroying" abilities are no longer a viable method of removing a piece of limited equipment from another character and going out and getting it yourself. I suppose that's the downside of the change, though I personally don't remember those abilities being used for that purpose a whole lot anyway.

The upside of the change is that now we have an entire category of abilities that: A) are mechanically useful; and B) people are no longer averse to using for fear of being labeled a "griefer" (and the various consequence thereof). Likewise, we don't have all the complaining we had before about liberal use of said abilities.

While I suppose one could argue that this change makes CF a little less cutthroat as it once might have been and thus alters the essence of the game, I'd maintain that the change was a positive one and such a sentiment is a little too melodramatic.