I don't think many people want to get rid of the Armory System, and I haven't heard any talk from SE on the subject. It is basically the same as in FFXI and it works.

As for the desire to wear whatever gear you want... I must say that if you want to wear whatever you want, then you should get a dress up game, and not a MMO. The "coolness" of an item is inversely proportional to how many people are wearing it... so if everyone has the "cool" gear... then that gear isn't so cool anymore, now is it? The more experienced players of the community, and the developers at SE, are taking a more long-lived view of the level and restrictions placed on equipment and are planning changes on the current gear system. But don't get them wrong, from what I've heard there will be a limited number of items that have level, rank, and/or class requirements. And I think that is a good way to go.

As for the point allotment system, I think you may have misread, or not even seen, some of the things SE has said. For the second player's poll, players voted in favor of option 2 I believe... option 2 changed how point allotment worked. Currently, you place your points and those points are used for every single class you may play. the change proposed in the player's poll was to make it so that your points were class specific... so you are able to customize your gladiator, and your conjurer, and your pugilist... all with a different combination of stats (while each class still had the same max number of points available to allot)... So really, we are not in danger of losing any of the customization that we currently possess.