No, you misunderstand. I don't mind that leveling an alt takes less long than the first time. I just think that how it is implemented, by forced gear, is a terrible choice. While leveling, I like getting new pieces of gear. Progressing a character through geardrops is a core part of the game. With heirlooms, that is not possible. So just decouple the XP gains from the gear. Have the looms as transmog pieces, that unlock an XP boost. You have the 'Burnished Helm of Might' lvl90 in your collection, fine, here's a 10% XP boost for your Warrior until level 90. So now everyone can enjoy fast alt leveling, enjoy getting a bit of gear, and not have 'wasted' gold on a heirloom collection.