My questions are related to item quality. Why are we still seeing NQ, +1, +2 and +3 items in the game? Items obtained through gathering see the brunt of this. Why aren't they simply NQ and +1 items?

There are still many quality versions of the same item that can be gathered (NQ, +1, +2, +3). This was addressed with monster drops (NQ and +3). Will this be addressed with gathering?
Item quality has been somewhat addressed with monster drops. +1 was converted to NQ and +2 was converted to +3. However, this is still confusing since NQ and +3 items lead to the logical conclusion that +1 and +2 items must still exist. Why aren't all HQ items simply converted to +1, which will not only be more concise but also alleviate inventory space issues?