PVP Gear & Materia... Should it be removed?

[DBthaONE]

Ok, so I got on the forums because I was wondering how pvp materia is weighed (does +2 Sleep Resistance = -2 sec Sleep duration?) and came to find out what I dreaded. I must say that I don't live on the forums. I read a little bit if it piques my interest, ask a question that may/may not be answered, or just want to see any notices (savage clears, recruiting, etc). So I missed this announcement from a community rep:

As The Feast will be played with an item level sync it will be treated the same as Seal Rock, where morale and the effects of materia will not be taken into account. Additionally, in order to open it up to a wider range of players, consumable items such as food and potions cannot be used.

TBH, I was originally gonna rant about how this is BS and mean-spirited to players who grinded and so on. After drinking some tea for my sore throat, I calmed down. This still does leave me with this question:

Why is this gear and materia here in the first place? At this point, can't they just not add anymore pvp gear? Wouldn't it make more sense just have it as a crafted glamour piece if that's the worth of it?

Sure, I get it, make people grind for that piece of gear so they keep playing the content. Make things "normalized" so even the newest of players can have a fair shot and are not ostracized. I admit, I did not like WD because I felt that if you didn't have the pvp skills and gear it was unbearably painful, thus I didn't do it (I stopped after about 10 or so matches).

I admit, when others complained about how players were able to buy old pvp gear and equip it with having the earlier required pvp rank(s), I said "why does it matter when this gear isn't relevant anymore?" Now I kinda feel the same way. Why have rank requirements if it's not actually relevant? I put in the work, I grinded the gear, and surprisingly, I could care less if someone had it handed to them; I already have what I wanted. Please SE don't make it so I grinded for gear that was ultimately glamour which I wouldn't have done, excluding the rank 50 monk weapons - them dragons are BAF!


TL;DR: Why have pvp gear and materia if there's no benefit to having it?