What is a 'bad player'?

[Xoo]

If you are skilled, yes. Gear shouldn't be a hindrance.

That's not a reason to stop striving to be better. You could defeat any encounter in XI half-naked with enough skill, good gear simply wasn't a necessity. That didn't stop people from trying to achieve better results. In that game improvements weren't so obvious at all, usually one upgrade could be seen in parsers at best. But it was still an upgrade which gave it value in itself. This game is the same way. Plus the fact is that someone who is skilled but naked will still lose to someone who is skilled and has gear to boost his stats.

In a nutshell, just because upgrades aren't 'needed' won't stop the community from aiming towards them. I think this is a fantastic thing. Skill>gear isn't a negative. Good gear is a supplement, not a necessity. Just because you can't eyeball a single upgrade's difference doesn't make it worthless or broken.

Wrong. In FFXI I distinctly remember if your gear wasn't up to par, your accuracy and magic accuracy would without a doubt reflect it. I don't know if you play XIV or not, but accuracy is so good that there is almost no need to supplement it at all. It's the same with all the stats. They need to matter more than what they currently do.