Well I either like or will live with the changes coming for most things but have some comments on some.
The armor changes in my opinion are good, however if this is done then magic armor needs to be changed (which should have happened long ago) so that it has unique properties such as fire resistance, electric, and the sort. Perhaps unlimited RA to an extent teleportation with build in delays, stat and skill bonuses. Come on its MAGIC armor. Its supposed to be rare as hell, expensive and truely set the wearer apart depending on the power of the magics bestowed upon it. Lets see em move towards that. I also think things like Mithril and Adamantite should be found. Image armor with less dex loss because its super light? Or more durability because there is nothing that can shatter it? So much can be done in this field and I believe OSI has made a good first step, and one that must be made before going forth and making even greater changes creating true rarity for magic items and uniqueness.
Tank mages: Shoulda never been brought to their knees the way they have. It takes/took good coordination of all skills a tanker had developed in order to be great. With some of the changes coming a tank might actually reappear and be able to hold his own in PvP.
Ethereals: Don't mess with Vet rewards. THey are rewards for long playtime and should be given some leway. Rather than change this OSI should just keep such things in mind for future rewards and implementations.
EQ A worthless spell before or after changes. Personally I think the whole spell system needs to be totally revamped including damages, casting times and spell types. There should be a great many spells created and there should be categories. i.e. cold based, poison based, fire based, elecity, and magic. The only way to create diversity is to allow for such things. Allow disciplines in magery to develop strength in certain paths and weakness in others. This will create diversity even amongst GM mages. Hell I have several mage characters and if it meant getting and revamping spells I would sacrifice ALL my spells and set out on quests to obtain them all (and get the new ones) again. Spells should need to be researched as well......I could go on and on what needs to be done to magery but I'm sure you get the idea. (similar things could be be done to melee by developing fighting disciplines i.e. rach certain sword tactic level and one can set about a quest to learn a fighting style...again I could go on but you see where I'm headed)
Taming Barding: Bout damn time still much that could be done though...including strengthening of pets a bit since the number used by single tamer will be reduced (this could be done through tamer specialization)
Fel changes. Personally I will muddle through. Players of today dont know what PvP/PK hell is really like. Being a 5yr vet working around PK's under current day rules isnt nearly what it was in the past.
Lastly this has nothing to do with the publish but I need to say it: BRING BACK SEERS! THe current quest/Scenario generator is good to maintain things but nothing can compare with the diversity and the creativity that a PC foe/ally can add. They encourage roleplay and can be used to allow for even more diverse choices within a scenario. Currently the scenarios while well though and interesting become stagnant due to lack of interaction and the "unknown factor"
-BB
P.S. Forgive typos, seems Im learing how to type and play with a little one on my knee these days and she doesnt always allow me clear thought or a keyboard free of her hands.