So is there anyone who thinks giving knives/daggers to the Gladiator class was a good idea? I mean plate mail + tower shield + little knife = something's seriously wrong here.

It might have been different if the daggers were just an early level thing, a "pay your dues" type fare. But you keep receiving them all the way into the late 40s.

Personally I think they should model swap all the GLA/PLD daggers with short swords and save the dagger/knife models for when its time to bring in a class that look appropriate using them (thief, ninja, etc). Having a heavily armored up tank running around with a tiny shiv just looks ridiculous.