Bah! I say do it. You and your team put a massive amount of time into this FREE game for people to enjoy and what do you get for it? WHINE! None the less, people will whine... The bigger it is the bigger the whine.
I am some what disappointed in the first release of this patch because it has some bugs. Like invisible Samurai! Totally not realistic, I mean we still havent figured out how to use the whole "star wars" cloak thingy-a-bob. So I tend to believe samurai did not either back in the day. Just my opinion though... You never know.
Seriously though, I dont think people should be whining about their heirlooms. Arent you going to allow trade/selling heirlooms in strat. ? If so these lil babies can just go through it again, save the weapon theyve heirloomed and give it to a clan mate to help em out, trade for a different weapon someone else might have, use it as a negotiation piece for bartering, or any of the multiple possibilities that may be out there.
Youre doing a great job. People just hate change. Its like masturbating with the wrong hand, it frustrates people.