Hurrah! Thank you Bayohne, really. That clarifies a lot even with Reinhart's earlier version.
In a way, while my old preferences (IE: bring back the Optimal Rank and Favour system) still stand, this does not look like nearly so bad a system - and the sooner it's implemented the better.
However, if I had my say, I'd ask that Option Number 2 were the one taken as an intermediate fix. I'd far prefer to take a stat hit than to be locked out of gear types just because of their colour of all things, even 'only for a few months.'
And, thanks to Yoshida-san for explaining the mistakes and apologising for them, too. I think this new way of dealing with colours that we'll eventually get might actually be the first change he and his team have made to the original game design that I favour over Hiromichi Tanaka and co's original plan for the game.