Quote Originally Posted by darkstarpoet1 View Post
i agree with the op to an extent. i hate being in a big party and someone ask for quick repairs and me say ok i'll get it real fast for you and equip a hammer to repair them quickly and then all my gear drops. i make the repair and then have to completely gear back up. i'm to the point i don't do it in a party anymore because of that reason. i just tell them before we go anywhere that anyone that's close to needing repairs put them up before we go in and i take care of them all at once.

we did need some restrictions though. i agree with the devs there though.
Some short while ago, a player advertised in shout for a materia attachment. They offered 50k for it and I had just swapped class and geared up. I thought about swapping back and doing the materia for them, but I literally couldn't be bothered to have to gear up all over again for a measley 50k, so I let them keep shouting.

It is actually really annoying for this reason alone.

If you also consider the fact that it limits people's ability to roleplay and dressup (which is the primary gameplay mechanic in this game at the moment!), then it's even worse.

If you consider the fact that the Optimal rank system (along with the favoured Class system) was a mechanic which was progressive for an MMO and setting a trend for future mmos (such as SW:TOR and Blade and Soul which also dont have heavily restrictive gearsets), then again, removal of this system is even worse.