Originally Posted by hpavc
The big change from V1 to TBC was itemization, not the level cap.
At the moment of TBC prime characters were at ~80 itemization at level 60. Meaning if you had your bloodfang set and equivalent gear. When TBC hit we quickly saw mundane level 70 characters with ~100 itemization (quest gear). And now level 70 characters with ~150 itemization (deathmantle).
The impact of WLK is a problem only if there is a level 80 with ~240 itemization around the corner. Which I highly highly doubt, I would assume that it would hang just below 200 or so at the very top end. The TBC was a structural change on many levels in addition to itemization. Especially the tuned looting.
Oh how the itemization was so broken for many classes, we hardly ever got the full value of our gear. Hand picking Oracle and Trance pieces for to get the uber-regen and the '% of my heals heal me, as a queer +resist mitigation method' and what not were aweful. While now we have gear that we can actually use to its fullest extent.
Yes I know that enchants and gems also bump the itemization levels, but I wasn't about to bust out a calculator just now. Needless to say that a character in prime gear in v1.0 and a prime one in TBC is wearing twice the gear though only ten levels different. I fully believe that its a function of the TBC ideology changes, not the ramping of the game.
If the game ramps that way its soon to be destroyed.