I personally think the problem is not that limits are too tight - there's a ridiculous plethora of respectable gear out there.

I think the problem is that the perception of what is "semi-decent" has gotten out of hand. Part of that is likely due to the sprinkling of gear added over the years. I think another portion is the (seemingly) more prominent pillaging of a few key gear-obtaining areas, and finally compounded by a smaller playerbase concentrating this elite gear on fewer players. No-one cares when random paladin ends up with Defiance, because if that's all he's got, you kill him and take it. Paladin with that, shield of pure light, stoneform amulet, full set of that (I assume pretty nice?) diamond gear, hummingbirds, etc? Dude becomes much more obnoxious to kill (AND that dude's already probably super hard to kill to have managed to slowly acquire it all).

But hey, maybe this is where Jor's personality and I agree. Murder fields, spread the mayhem and wealth!