Because within the limits of what is possible, skill trumps the gear.
100% and is why we've pulled some of our folks from other games into Garuda the day they hit 50, as their skill from playing multiple mmos will more than cover for a gear deficiency up to that encounter.

Quote Originally Posted by Rivienne View Post
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I think we might be mostly in agreement, just that I use the term carried to include 'non equal contribution'. I also don't consider it to automatically have a negative connotation, I picked it up years ago when we would run back up raiders or alts through content so that they could join up with the main raid team eventually. I think it's now seen not only as negative, but as an insult however I haven't adapted my vocabulary to match unfortunately. It's just the way I picked up the term, and just stems from the full raid of you principal. If a full raid of people in your gear and skill couldn't clear the content, then you're not contributing to the average needed to succeed.

The important thing is realizing when your gear level isn't up to par that you're causing someone else to contribute more in order to succeed, which you said yourself you've been on both ends of. The problem is when people don't realize it, then form a party full of people that don't realize it, then pound against a brick wall for 8 hours straight when they could have spent those 8 hours gearing on easy content then tearing that wall down.

I apologize for the use of the word carry though, this actually isn't the first time I've accidentally given offense by using it in a discussion.

As to the OP, I'd love to see more variety in gear especially in the form of skill boosts but in practicality someone is always going to do the math and determine the best set for any particular situation. Which generally leads to homogenization of gear again. The alternative is carrying around a large amount of situational gear, which is cool in concept but could quickly lead to inventory management explosion if you play multiple classes.