It's always amusing when someone takes a balance change as a personal affront.
As [many vowels here]l[many more vowels here]n said, Jebasrn, if you dislike a change that's been made, a knee-jerk reaction isn't going to get you anywhere. "They're my uberest item" also isn't sufficient reason not to change them if they're out of balance for the mob that drops them, the class, or whatever else. If you think the sleeves shouldn't be nerfed, you need to explain why. That you don't want to lose some AC is far from sufficient reason.
Also, they're hardly worthless. Hell, I would use those sleeves on my paladin right now.