Hybrid Theory

I came to an epiphany the other night and realized why I prefer dedicated classes over hybrids. It's as simple as specialization, in that, a hybrid is locked down in his/her specialized talent tree once gear is achieved.

I have a Druid friend that now wants to dip into the cat-tastic world of the feral tree, but all his gear, including epics, are catered towards healing. It's not a matter of a simple 50g respec fee, it boils down to the fee + days upon days of achieving new gear.

As a dedicated DPS class, I can use my current gear regardless of spec. There would be some minor changes needed, but nothing that goes beyond re-geming certain pieces.

So why bring this up, you ask? It's simple, why should hybrids be corn-holed into a specialization? I would like to see, on PvP gear for example, an exchange system that would allow you to exchange a piece for an equivalent piece. There could be a fee associated with the exchange, or maybe just the cost of losing enchants + gems would be enough. In any case, this would greatly increase my appeal towards playing a hybrid.

I understand that hybrids are suppose to specialize to avoid being awesome in any tree at any time, but the cost of re-geming / enchanting pieces, added to the cost of the respec should be enough to keep a person in check, but not corn-hole them out of months of gear achievements.

I would like to get some hybrids opinions on this, do you think something like this could work, or does it not bother you either way?