AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I didn't get my brooms for free - one I paid 120 ped for, the other (I wanted a spare) I paid 160 peds for. It was overprice at that time and I had to think twice about buying it, but the decision was made knowing it would be fun items and that they would last a long time (as long as I wound't do something with them like use them at oilrig).
This is the second VU a nerf hits me - last VU it was the electro nanochip IX(L).
Since the items are, at least technically, (L) why not keep them as-is, add a "First Gen" or "Prototype" to the name and let items issued after the change have the limitations.
I wonder if MA would dare changing eco on imk2 from 4.6 to 4.0, remove the range advantage on "ancient" items and change decay on mod/imp faps from 2 pec click to 2 ped/click (like the decay on brooms)...
I know that a simular change has been done before, when the hoverpod on arkadia suddently was given "protection" stats. That kind of sucked, but at least it hit pretty evenly as I guess most of the people who really wanted one went to arkadia and got one by themselves.
As for the brooms, the only way to get one was either having an avatar created on Rocktropia and being logged in a certain day, or buying from such an avatar.
Now with this change the people (and alts) who sold their brooms keeps their PEDs but we, the buyers, will be the ones who pay for the change.
For sure I wouldn't mind a truly unlimited broom - without the (L). So MA is free to replace mine with one without the (L) and it would solve the dilemma with (L) items "lasting forever". (as the people who had pre-gold items, that would be wrecked if repaired, at a point got their replaced with practically repairable "ancient" items).
(A hunting team I was in once got a repairable vtol mk1 in loot. It was just that a few people in team wanted peds rather than to keep the vehicle so it had to be sold.)