I wasn't going to comment on the Cataclysm class announcements until the Hunter changes, but the Priest news was too interesting to leave alone.

First of all, YES GET RID OF STUPID OBSOLETE HEAL. As someone who played Shadow to around ~55 before a) taking a 3 month priest break, and then b) switching to Discipline, I was so utterly and completely confused looking at my abilities and seeing Heal, Lesser Heal, Flash Heal, and Greater Heal. I realize they are not that confusing when you actually compare them, but initially I was like WTF THIS IS ALREADY SO MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN RESTO DRUID. Phasing out the useless, obsolete spells is a great change.

But the big one is Leap of Faith, of course (aka Life Grip), allowing Priests to magically grab people out of fire, if they pull aggro, etc. and drag them to their location. This is a bizarre ability. I understand the concept behind it (save the guy in the fire!) but I don't see how it ever works in execution. Tamarind has already lamented the news, because IT'S NOT OUR JOB TO HEAL STUPID - if people can't get out of fire, they don't deserve to live.

But let's assume a different, perfect-case scenario. Let's say you're stunned or something, and Marrowgar's coldflame is about to wash over you as a swarm of death and destruction. A timely Life Grip could pluck you out of harm's way, sure. But do you know how disorienting that would be? How much it would disrupt your rhythm and concentration? Anyone who's gone up against a DK in PVP should know exactly what I mean. It throws you off, and costs you precious seconds re-orienting yourself and figuring out exactly where you are and what direction you're facing. I think this ability may cause more harm than help.