If they remove Artifact Weapon in 8.0...

[Exhuman]

What we gonna use to fight?

As a rogue I can't imagine playing 8.0 without daggers

[Eleccybubb]

I imagine we might go back to traditional weapons. If we go straight back to traditional they will probably mail us one to use and plus we have Heirlooms that scale to 110 now.

Or that Artifacts will work to 119-120 like the Cape did from MoP until 100 in WoD.

Fun fact. Cape still actually worked for a while at 110. So you had a 616 cloak with that effect until it was hotfixed.

[Wishblade]

I highly doubt they'll suddenly remove our weapons entirely.

It'll be just like any other expansion: We have our Artifacts, eventually we find a random weapon that's better from a quest/dungeon/drop/etc and bam, new weapon, Artifact can go gather dust in the bank.

[Hengwulf]

After Argus we will be half-godlike beings of Light, not requiring any weapons to fight.

[Eleccybubb]

I highly doubt they'll suddenly remove our weapons entirely.

It'll be just like any other expansion: We have our Artifacts, eventually we find a random weapon that's better from a quest/dungeon/drop/etc and bam, new weapon, Artifact can go gather dust in the bank.

I'm sure in an interview they said Artifacts will not be carried over. So that means either they stop working at launch or we get the effects until 110.

[klaps_05]

Most likely - whatever happens, all the AP from the artifacts is drained and they turn into basic epic weapons, so we only keep the ilevel. Eventually as the new weapons in the next xpac come you replace them.

[Deleted]

What we gonna use to fight?

Our weapons cannot, for gameplay reasons, be removed from the game. They can be made useless, like deactivated similar to old tier set bonus, but so much of the Legion content is tied in with artifacts that they cannot realistically remove them.

So to answer your question, you will most likely still be fighting with artifacts when 8.0 hits.

[Wayne25uk]

I've already said if they remove the Artifacts in next expansion i am quitting the game, im getting sick of blizz taking stuff out from previous expansions,its not hurting anyone keeping them in. Like the mists of Pandaria cloak quest,if people want to feel like a snowflake then just make the reward only go to epic and keep the legendary cape special.

Im pretty sure there is a law suit as well as you paid for a product at one time and then that product has all its items removed, you have essentially been robbed of said product.

[Eleccybubb]

I've already said if they remove the Artifacts in next expansion i am quitting the game, im getting sick of blizz taking stuff out from previous expansions,its not hurting anyone keeping them in. Like the mists of Pandaria cloak quest,if people want to feel like a snowflake then just make the reward only go to epic and keep the legendary cape special.

Im pretty sure there is a law suit as well as you paid for a product at one time and then that product has all its items removed, you have essentially been robbed of said product.

Well guess you are quitting then since I'm sure they said they won't be carrying over. Think it was a dev interview with Ion but I could be wrong.

[Nyel]

Our weapons cannot, for gameplay reasons, be removed from the game. They can be made useless, like deactivated similar to old tier set bonus, but so much of the Legion content is tied in with artifacts that they cannot realistically remove them.

So to answer your question, you will most likely still be fighting with artifacts when 8.0 hits.

They can when they're involved in some kind of questline that you have to do before you can enter the new zones or get the new character progress system.

[Eleccybubb]

Our weapons cannot, for gameplay reasons, be removed from the game. They can be made useless, like deactivated similar to old tier set bonus, but so much of the Legion content is tied in with artifacts that they cannot realistically remove them.

So to answer your question, you will most likely still be fighting with artifacts when 8.0 hits.

Well since Heirlooms scale to 110 you can in theory use those after 8.0 for getting to 110.

[Exhuman]

Maybe we keep the weapon but lose his effect?

[Airlick]

Im pretty sure there is a law suit as well as you paid for a product at one time and then that product has all its items removed, you have essentially been robbed of said product.

I'm pretty sure ToS clearly states that Blizzard can do whatever they will with their game and users are by no means entitled to any refunds whatsoever just because an item is changed or removed from the game. There might be an issue if they removed cash shop items from the game, but I can bet they have that covered in ToS as well.

I don't know about any lawsuits against Blizzard, but I'm pretty sure they will win any case a user might throw at them based on ToS alone.

[Eleccybubb]

Maybe we keep the weapon but lose his effect?

Who knows? Loads of scenarios.

Lose the effect and keep it until we get a new one from questing.

Works until 120 then deactivated but item level scales like Heirlooms to make it a decent stat stick.

They don't carry over at all and we lose it in a questline and we get a new weapon from an initial quest.

And god knows how many other scenarios.

[Deleted]

They can when they're involved in some kind of questline that you have to do before you can enter the new zones or get the new character progress system.

Post-Legion content, yeah. But most of the talks about removing artifacts when next expansion hits, has been around removing them entirely. Not just from level 110+, but all Legion content. They can't do that.

[Eleccybubb]

I'm pretty sure there is a law suit as well as you paid for a product at one time and then that product has all its items removed, you have essentially been robbed of said product.

Then go sue them over all the things that have been removed since Vanilla. Though I doubt you will get far in court.

[Pendragon]

There will probably be a quest that involves us handing over our artifacts for a greater cause, and as a reward we'll receive a weapon with equal stats and gain all the bonuses the artifact talent tree gives us.

[Eleccybubb]

I'm pretty sure ToS clearly states that Blizzard can do whatever they will with their game and users are by no means entitled to any refunds whatsoever just because an item is changed or removed from the game. There might be an issue if they removed cash shop items from the game, but I can bet they have that covered in ToS as well.

I don't know about any lawsuits against Blizzard, but I'm pretty sure they will win any case a user might throw at them based on ToS alone.

Yep.

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/wow_tou.html

Blizzard reserves the right, at its sole and absolute discretion, to change, modify, add to, supplement or delete, at any time, any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, any feature of the Game or the Service, hours of availability, content, data, software or equipment needed to access the Game or the Service, effective with or without prior notice; provided, however, that material changes to this Terms of Use Agreement will not be applied retroactively. If any future changes to this Agreement are unacceptable to you or cause you to no longer be in compliance with this Agreement, you must terminate, and immediately stop using, the Game. Your continued use of the Game following any revision to this Agreement constitutes your complete and irrevocable acceptance of any and all such changes. Blizzard may change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Game at any time. Blizzard may also impose limits on certain features or restrict your access to parts or all of the Game without notice or liability. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of the Game (including without limitation the Game Client and manual(s)) remains with you, the user. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties, so the above limitations may not apply to you.

Bolded part states right there they can remove content if they choose to.

[Deleted]

Im pretty sure there is a law suit as well as you paid for a product at one time and then that product has all its items removed, you have essentially been robbed of said product.

Problem with statements like that, is that you do not pay for the product, you pay for access to the product. When you buy the game and/or any expansion, you technically buy access to whatever content is available, not the content itself. You do not own the items in your characterbank, you own access to your character. You do not own the character, you own access to the gameclient. You don't own the gameclient.

Edit: Here's the relevant parts of the EULA/TOS

Spoiler: 

4. Ownership.

All rights and title in and to the Service (including without limitation any user accounts, titles, computer code, themes, objects, characters, character names, stories, dialogue, catch phrases, locations, concepts, artwork, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects, methods of operation, moral rights, any related documentation, “applets,” transcripts of the chat rooms, character profile information, recordings of games) are owned by Blizzard or its licensors. The Game and the Service are protected by United States and international laws, and may contain certain licensed materials in which Blizzard’s licensors may enforce their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.

5. No Ownership Rights in Account.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY HEREIN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU SHALL HAVE NO OWNERSHIP OR OTHER PROPERTY INTEREST IN ANY ACCOUNT STORED OR HOSTED ON A BLIZZARD SYSTEM, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY BNET ACCOUNT OR WORLD OF WARCRAFT ACCOUNT, AND YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ALL RIGHTS IN AND TO SUCH ACCOUNTS ARE AND SHALL FOREVER BE OWNED BY AND INURE TO THE BENEFIT OF BLIZZARD.

and also

2. BLIZZARD’S OWNERSHIP.
A. Blizzard is the owner or licensee of all right, title, and interest in and to the Battle.net Client, Battle.net, the Games, Accounts, and all of the features and components thereof. Battle.net and the Games may contain materials licensed by third-parties to Blizzard, and these third-parties may enforce their ownership rights against you in the event that you violate this Agreement. The following components of Battle.net and/or the Games, are owned or licensed by Blizzard:
i. All virtual content appearing within Battle.net or the Games, such as:
Visual Components: Locations, artwork, structural or landscape designs, animations, and audio-visual effects;
Narrations: Themes, concepts, stories, and storylines;
Characters: The names, likenesses, inventories, and catch phrases of Game characters;
Items: Virtual goods, currency, potions, wearable items, pets, mounts, etc.;

[Nyel]

Post-Legion content, yeah. But most of the talks about removing artifacts when next expansion hits, has been around removing them entirely. Not just from level 110+, but all Legion content. They can't do that.

I know, they can't and won't do that. That's why I think - if they're really removing them with 8.0 content for 8.0, 9.0 etc. content, they need to create a questline around them where we sacrifice our weapons to get something like access to new zones or new character progress systems. They need to make that questline mandatory to experience the new expansion content so that everybody needs to do it.