Allowing Gear Change in Active Mode

[Wolfie]

If it really was an abuse of game mechanics, then why did the dev team exacerbate the issue even more by releasing gear sets no one would ever wear otherwise due to their counterintuitive stats (Hecatomb being a prime example)?

Because they gave up on changing it. They couldn't take it out because the backlash from the community would ruin everything.

[Wynn]

Because they gave up on changing it. They couldn't take it out because the backlash from the community would ruin everything.

^This.

The effort it would have taken to remove gear swapping once they realized people were doing it would have been far too much to do. Instead they just went with it. Obviously, they kicked themselves for making that decision because they intentionally built this game to prevent gear swapping and there was an official communication at some point that flat out stated gear swap will not be a "feature" in XIV.

Gear swap is a nightmare on player inventories.

It is a cheesy way to min/max on the fly and adds absolutely nothing to the enjoyment of the game for regular, non-hardcore gamers. (read: the vast majority of players)

It is also would be a nightmare for the developers to have to take into account when creating future content.