Why no dueling?

[Nalien]

Silly real life scenario? That's how duels actually worked. Two people on equal ground, not two people facing off in a hilariously onesided match. That's how practically all sportsmanship works, in fact. The only difference that matters is personal skill.

Your example certainly is silly though. Vendor handing stuff out for free? I was unaware i130 was free from a vendor. No, the whole point of the iLevel sync is to set the iLevel at a point where it is reasonably easy to obtain such gear for the sake of fairness. i80 is fairly easy to achieve, that's why it is set as the cap.

To continue your ridiculous example though, no cap would be closer to steroid use than tennis shoes. In sports everyone has their uniform, that's their i80. People who use steroids to go beyond i80 are generally not welcomed. I suppose it's unfair that athletes who paid for steroids don't get to compete though, they put extra effort in buying and taking those steroids after all, they should count for something!