Ultraken

Similar to cost of repairs mentioned earlier, higher-quality and more-advanced armor types would require more complex and/or expensive maintenance. Metal armor in particular most likely need the services of an armorer or for the character to have similar specialized skills. Enchantments add even more difficulty, with the character possibly needing at least some familiarity with magic to maintain and repair such armor without permanently damaging it. Padded cloth and hide armor require little maintenance and are easy to repair with readily-available materials. They're basically little more complicated than ordinary clothing and nearly as readily-available. At the other extreme, an exceptionally-well-made, highly-enchanted suit of plate armor custom-fit to its wearer would be staggeringly expensive to purchase in the first place, and then require the services of skilled artisans familiar with its construction, materials, and enchantments. Only nobility or legendary heroes could afford the extravagant upkeep for such a suit of armor, making it Awesome But Impractical. I based this on how the game Transcendence handles ship armor. More advanced armors are more expensive to buy, of course, but also more expensive to repair when they get damaged and require more advanced repair facilities. Particularly high-technology armors can only be repaired by the transhuman races, requiring special currency that is hard to get. Automatic repair devices start having trouble with higher-tech armor, too, and start working slower on them. The most advanced armor in the game (looted from the final boss) can't be repaired by anyone, and auto-repair can fix it only slowly. It does, however, have far and away the highest armor rating in the game and is highly resistant to all but the highest-technology weapons so it's debatably worthwhile.