Change of that kind (industry 2.0) that detrimentally affect older account to reduce the gap between them and new accounts, have 2 bad effects:
-the vets feel scammed. They bought an extension level with a described effect, often very expensive, but now the described effect doesnt apply anymore. Saying "but your an industrial anyway, so no need for refund" totally exclude the fact that this game permit you to cross train whatever you want. The 30k EP spent in expert mass prod efficiency, that will give you at best 0,5% less material need for prod, would be very more useful to make a basinc prototyper or RE toon. Dont forget we are coming to the 800k EP mark for the oldest accounts, and this amount is the limit were cross training is better cause speccing is almost at max....
-player wont trust anymore the "invariability" of said extension described effects. Why would i trust that my adv ballistic will forever add me 3% more dmg? This imo weakens the confidence players have in their build and therefor in the game continuity, reducing dedication of said players. And dedication is the beating heart of a sandbox.
All in all the signals i receive from those changes are:
-you paid from the beginning one or multiple accounts (seniority aspect), knowing very well that this would give you an advantage over newer players, more than actual online time (more than in fixed skillcap games or lvl character style games), but now we will reduce this advantage to something marginal because we feel like its frightening the new players. New players retention come with fun, not with less gap between them and vets. WoW didnt improved players retention by letting lvl 30 characters beat lv 50 (its a complete different gameplay i know, its just for the rethoric)
-game rules are subject to changes, like the game would be in beta. You take decisions about your character(s) that could be very well discarded by gamedesign changes. Without a way to change your decisions afterward.
Now for the ridiculous metaphor:
"Dont be sad you bought a ferrari FF 360k dollars man, because of the new engine limitation laws. You still go 5 kmph faster than a fiat wagon, and i know how you like speed!"