Maybe I missed it: what new devaluation was announced last month?

I know that's when Category 8 took effect, but did I miss something else?

Elite benefits are still inconsistent, the website is still broken, customer service still sucks, and at some point they'll turn on peak and off-peak pricing, which could be a stealth devaluation if properties are allowed to call half the year "peak". But structurally speaking, none of these things is going to make me flush 2 million points for lesser value in airline miles unless I really have a strong near-term need for the miles.

As an example, I'd expect the Travel Package levels to stay where they are for 2 years or more. If you want the full St. Regis Maldives experience, 750k gets you a week + 100k airline miles. Do one of those plus another Cat 8 somewhere and you still have 500k points left.