I think it'd still work even if you didn't recieve stats from armour that's synced down (this is... basically how it works in XI, although I'm simplifying severely.)

Definitely agree that it'd be nice if this feature would be announced, I think it'd help make the game more fun and put it in line with its design goals.

I'd also like to see optional, perhaps reward-enhancing party-wide level caps on quests and instanced dungeons.