I also believe this is the direction they will take it. But, I find it hard to believe that the ability to ascend old gear will be removed. This will effectively make the old raids unplayable as players won't want to play for gear that is light years behind gear that can be bought at even the vendors. This will remove a fairly significant chunk of the playable content from rotation. They either have a plan for the old raids that we aren't privy to or they are ditching the old raids all together.