Achillius

That's not what a straw-man is. A straw-man refers to either: (as a logical fallacy) attacking an opponent's position in a way which misrepresents their argument, or attacks another argument altogether. Or (as a logical/rhetorical exercise) the rhetorical practice of building up what is believed to be an incorrect argument in order to attack it and thereby better illustrate one's point. Also, item degradation in RPGs is pointless and irritating in a single player game *unless* it is critically tied into some other system (as Blaine mentioned). Otherwise all it does is break up the flow of the game to little or no purpose. Really hope Obsidian reconsiders including this.