Quote Originally Posted by Enkidoh View Post
As much as I do miss having 1.0's visible belts, it was a necessary change for the game that was ultimately for the better, as having a visible belt appearance restricted gear design greatly in 1.0, in that each body and leg piece needed to be designed with every belt design in mind to avoid clipping, and, well, given we're seeing complaints here in ARR now about clipping issues with weapons and miqo'te/au ra tails and ears/horns in the latest 'flashy' gear, this is clearly something SE are never going to go back to.

It's the price that had to be paid for more elaborate gear design.

This largely captures the case. It was done as an artistic decision to expand the variety of designs available. However, some of the belts are actually visible, just not in the way you think. The design of the sigmascape belt for instance shows up in one of the armor sets. It's either the tank set or the Dragoon set, but it is there. However, you just can't set the belts to show at will.