Perception and rarity/collectability

[TechnoTechie]

All I can guess is that the devs wanted 2-4 collectibles to be the absolute maximum, similar to the 15% HQ cap. I don't really see the point since collectibles are are not tradable, don't stack, etc. It would only allow gatherers who've invested a lot into gear to shave off a couple of trips per week and nothing more.

Currently better gear is only useful to get you to the highest cap (not quite 700). If you're already there and there's still more to buy (I'm not there so I forget what you need) you're just gearing up for level 60 2-star nodes when they happen.

that seems to be the main reason, and particularly for leveling, as if you had to choose between the level 60 item and the level 56 item but you could get 5 of the level 56 item at T3 collectability versus only 2-4 of the level 60, it kind of removes the point of getting the level 60 items at all for blue scrip/leveling purposes.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

You don't need the 2 star (or bought) stuff for the current nodes.

You will likely need them for the 3.1 nodes, or 3.15, or 3.2, whenever they add new crafting recipes and new nodes to go with them.

[MeridaQ]

This times 10000!! My only worry is that because I am using my red scrip on favors my gatherers would be under geared for the airship missions! ;-; (653/650 gather/perc)