Having the lockout in place allows raiders to have exclusive, rare equipment. It's just like in the old days; when someone walked into your party decked out in Allagan gear you knew this was someone to respect and pay attention to. High Allagan gear fills that same niche now; I just got my first piece earlier this week and I couldn't be happier. Removing lockouts early would make it far easier to get pieces and cheapen that wonderful feeling.