I like the focus on daily quests at the very least as a means for earning reputation. As I've said before in similar discussions I feel that the quests are a more immersive avenue than the tabard mechanic. Instead of simply representing a faction I feel like we actually work for the group we're trying to increase our standing with.
As means to acquire gear... I'm on the fence. I think it's a good gate to keep people from becoming geared too quickly. Not to sort out casuals and hardcore players but rather if gear was easily purchased through a traditional valor point vendor then I feel people would complain how gear was too easy to acquire and how quickly the raid tier was over because of it.
Like if you could just buy epics right off the bat, there would be no challenge but at the same time having to grind weeks worth of dailies seems daunting but we can't just put in tabards which again take away the challenge.