I guess being new to Marriott, I don't have any particular expectation that a MegaBonus should obviously be able to be redeemed for a full-service property costing $150-$200/night. To me Cat4 means "below average" and thus I assume that it's either weaker full service properties or Residence/SpringHill/Courtyard in smaller and thus less expensive cities.

The overall class creep is annoying, but I've been doing miles and points for 20+ years and I expect that my entire portfolio across chains will depreciate each year. I can't get upset about it, it just is an attribute of overall inflation and currency fluctuation. I usually redeem 16-20 free nights a year for leisure stays across chains, in fact I already have 9 2013 free nights reserved.

What I get upset about are structural changes, such as Hilton getting rid of their Diamond Force, or Priority Club changing which points qualify for status-earning. In that regard, the new Cat 9 is extremely annoying, but I don't earn enough with Marriott for it to register outrage the way a new Hilton 60k category would.