Electricall

I also think the armor realism discussion has no place when talking about a fantasy RPG. Realistic armor mechanics was never a priority in cRPGs, and should never be. There's no "simulator" in "computer role playing game." Overall, I think the various types of base armor in the game should all feel relevant, interesting, and satisfying to use, depending on class/race/build. No matter what choice you make in equipment, there should be advantages and disadvantages, and challenges to overcome. Choosing armor should be a meaningful decision that helps set the tone of the gameplay experience. There should never be a case of "I will always go full plate with this class because it's always the best option", same goes for every type of armor. That's boring and kills replayability. It's acceptable, though, that for a certain build, you'd prefer a certain type of armor. So like a turtle fighter would go for the heaviest armor and max out toughness and durability, naturally.

I think that definitely in almost all ways it is better to use this approach. The advantage to the +1/+2/+3/etc naming system is clarity though, it's easy to tell at a glance that 'this armor I found is better than what I have'. But I don't think that bit of extra clarity is worth it. Definitely, it adds a lot more flavor when you can click an armor you found and read a bit about it, what does it look like, does it have any distinguishing features, something that tells you who made it, etc. Even if it's just a nonmagical chain shirt, it could be something special. So that definitely adds a sense of immersion and satisfaction when exploring and completing objectives.

I like this for enemies, since it introduces a tactical element of 'using the most effective weapon', or, 'streak the weak spot for massive damage' if you will. It's not so good for player characters though, since you might not expect an ambush to have a mage with spells that fry your tank line in no time.

I think rolling should be an alternate option, like, some box you tick somewhere, but for point buy to be standard. Some people love the feel of rolling stats, but for the most part point buy is best. A lot of people might just tick that box because if you roll hundreds of times you could get great stats but yeah, I still think it's good. It's single player, it's no big deal if some people have slightly stronger characters than others. BG2 had stuff like Kensai/Mages and Berzerker/Clerics anyways, so. And if you play with expert mode you should not be allowed to roll more than... A couple times. If that.

I'd prefer if guns play as big a role in PE as they do in Torment and BG2. I'm no fan of them and I really do prefer that classic high fantasy feel, with swords and sorcery being the main elements. Guns don't really add much to make the experience more immersive or interesting imo. They're simple and boring.

Upgraded base types and cultural flavors I think that armors should be varied and definitely have various cultural flavors within the game. And I think that these various 'flavors' of armors should be adjusted versions of the base armors, that you can then enchant in a forge or the like. This gives that nice feeling of, you've managed to fight through an ancient ruin and found an excellent nonmagical leather armor, one created using leatherworking styles and craftmanship that no longer exists, one that's still in prime condition after hundreds of years in this... This tomb. So maybe that was the only treasure you found there, or one of a few, and yet it's still something to be really excited about, since you can then enchant this armor and make one of the best armors in the entire game. Definitely the best light armor in the game. That gives a really nice sense of accomplishments when you've done all those different parts right, and you get the final reward. Wizards in armor I definitely agree with the decision to make wizards able to wear armor, but that such wizards are a different type than 'normal' wizards. Perhaps more like a battle mage styled caster, who can hold its own in melee if needed, especially once he or she gets some enchantment spells going. Having lots of fun, viable builds really ties a cRPG together in my opinion, especially action RPGs like Diablo 2. PE obviously isn't an action RPG, but this is still a major factor of replayability, especially since combat is still fun like it is in action RPGs, but also, crucially, more meaningful in a more storydriven game such as this. Relevance and variety The team should make an effort to make every type of base armor relevant. It has often been the case in these games that players just immediately go for the heaviest type their class can wear and then that remains static for the rest of the game. It should be a tougher choice in my opinion. Perhaps my wizard is wearing medium armor as a compromise, but comes across a light armor with unique enchantments that grant a bonus to spell penetration, making my spells harder to resist for monsters with resilience against magic. Perhaps the game could have something like a forge where you can move enchantments from one item to another, for a (high) price? If not, I'll have to choose very carefully, and perhaps switch as necessary during my adventures. At the same time, it can create a feeling of dissatisfaction when you're stuck trying to choose between armors and you're not happy with either of them; if you're indecisive in general, like I am, that can be a real downer. In response to this, all I can say is that a rare version of a light armor should DEFINITELY be on par with heavier armors. Maybe not something extreme like a super rare leather armor being as good as full plate, but still. It should be a fairly big deal imo.