As a player who only very rarely dabbles in PvP, and I've been playing for about 2 years now, I am actually only now hearing that people actually memorize the size/shape/color/whatever of various armor pieces in order to identify them on the field. Maybe I'm just PvP stupid, that's possible. But the times that I have been on the Battlefield, the way I identify an enemy combatant is by the fact that he is highlighted in red. And my tab key targets him. And in most cases, he is shooting at me. :)

Now, for the PvP elite to want to be able to judge "what's coming at them" by the shape of their armor, I can see that being a somewhat reasonable request. On the other hand, it can unfairly balance the game, especially against the "un-elite".

If an enemy player sees that I'm not wearing anything more than the blues and greens I've picked up from PvE'ing, chances are good that he and his buddies are going to come straight for me and one-shot me to death, probably over and over again. (Guess how I know this...?) He may on the other hand avoid the well armored folks that could do the same to him.

By getting rid of that system, the playing field evens for everyone. A newbie isn't pounded on sight at least. If you want to know if the other guy is strong or weak, you're gonna have to fight him. And maybe get your a** handed to you in the process.

Now, from a PvE perspective, I applaud this. I can't tell you how many times I've found a great looking piece of armor, only to find that the new, uber-specced armor I just got looks like it came from a clown car. Especially as a female hunter, half the time I have a tube top on, furry boots, and a massive helm. It looks ridiculous. The AI doesn't care what I'm wearing of course, but I like to look nice in town, and in screen shots, right?

Anyway... isn't all of this solvable simply by eliminating the option from Tier'd gear?

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