I completely agree with the gear only from chests. It should appeal to all players - as players who wanted the frags for crafting can always break down the item, and players who wanted the gear now have a better chance of getting that piece they're looking for.
Frag players have their rolls in the forge (break returns/stats after craft), and item players have their rolls out of the chest (type of item/stats after creation)
Works out to be a tad more balanced for potential player interests (and TBH, I believe most players are buying the chests looking for gear, regardless)
Since the number of drops from chests went down in the new world - it shouldn't be too bad for the database?