I've read the hintbar that pops when the game talks about "repairs" but honestly what's the point?

I know in Version 1.0, npcs could only repair a percentage of the gear's values, but in 2.0 I don't see the need of player repairs.

Maybe, someone can better explains the functions other than "player economy"?

I think it should be completely eliminated. Or, adjusted to make desireable. Maybe, rather than calling it "repair" the term should be "Enhanced" basically take a % above the 100% value up to 125%. Each 5% above 100% is the grade of Dark Matter required to improve gear "temporarily".

To be honest, whenever I complete a dungeon I just pop over to repair npc and pay whatever the price is no questions asked. It's never an outrageos price. And, I don't have to worry about giving another player my gear to fix.