What is a 'bad player'?

[Betelgeuzah]

I don't know? Means I can play from 1-50 and do NM runs naked if I want? Means that if the entire community really caught on that there would be no economy? What adjective were you thinking of and why?

If you are skilled, yes. Gear shouldn't be a hindrance.

That's not a reason to stop striving to be better. You could defeat any encounter in XI half-naked with enough skill, good gear simply wasn't a necessity. That didn't stop people from trying to achieve better results. In that game improvements weren't so obvious at all, usually one upgrade could be seen in parsers at best. But it was still an upgrade which gave it value in itself. This game is the same way. Plus the fact is that someone who is skilled but naked will still lose to someone who is skilled and has gear to boost his stats.

In a nutshell, just because upgrades aren't 'needed' won't stop the community from aiming towards them. I think this is a fantastic thing. Skill>gear isn't a negative. Good gear is a supplement, not a necessity. Just because you can't eyeball a single upgrade's difference doesn't make it worthless or broken.