"I was somewhat looking forward to the new woods, but not if it meant making the ships I currently have sub par all over again. Not if it meant months upon months of crafting labor hour contracts, coal, iron, provisions, seasoned wood, spending hundred of millions is suddenly completely wasted. "
I don't think anyone wants to have to replace their RvR fleets from scratch. A move like that seems very detrimental to the health and well being of the game. Surely their is a plan in place to be able to reclaim those resources and mods.
Seems like a good idea, but not very good execution. Hopefully they re-consider or at least have a way to mitigate the impact of the changes to the players.